Question:
is it true that it reeally sucks or what?
i keep hearing things that kind of discourage me, now im not a quitter but dont wanna regret my decision. people say that you cant make more than $10 dollars an hour and you dont really have benefits. every job that i have seen offer alot more than $10 and prety good benefits. people say that im wining before i even get in because of the thing i want out of my job. ui think every com[pany try to take advantage of a new worker so why not the worker try and get the best for themselves. i want a local or regional job in which im home every night or every other night and make more than $12 hr. in other words i want to have a life outside of work. is that really to much to ask for? i have no felonis and have a few moving violations but nothing serious. no dui,accident license suspension. none of that. a guy in this forum said try to get into something medical, now i have been a medical assistant for 3 yrs and in order to make good money you have keep specializing yourself and that means "going to school" im not a school typ of person id rather work hard than sopend 2 yrs in school and then come out and have to kiss a doctors a$$ who thinks your a piece of garbage cuz u didnt go to school for 6 or 7 yrs. i started out making 10an hr and now making 75 more cents, and cant really make any more unless i go back to school for 2 yrs and speialize in soimething else and im not willinmg to do that.
so what im asking is if become a trucker is it realistic to get what i want because i know i wiyuld really like this kind of job.

Answer:

depends on your definition of what sucks.

Most if not all the medium to large companies offer benefits like health insurance, 401k, etc.
As for pay, if you make 30 cents/mile, put 3000 miles in a week, and are home Saturday and Sunday, you will be putting in at least 14 hours a day probably more. If you only put in 14 hours a day, doing the above, you will making just shy of $13/hour for your work time. That doesn't take into account that you don't go home after your workday is over, or that you are never really off duty when you are on the road in your truck. it also doesn't take into acount how much money you will spend on the road because you are gone from home.
Is $13/hour good pay for being gone 5 out of every 7 days? Some would say it is. I would disagree.

Maybe - some local trucking jobs pay onlt $8/hour, and you put in 16 hour days, so you don't really have a life outside of work on weekdays. Other local truck companies pay considerable better.

What do you call serious? ANY moving violation can potentially stop a trucking career. If you have more than 2 convictions in 3 years, many companies won't consider you.
Answer:
If you go to truck driving school, get through training with a training company, it will probable take more than a year for you to get settled.
Most of these training companies will want a one year commitment from you before you do anything on your own.
Depending on what you want, it may take several years. Some drivers get lucky, being in the right place at the right time.
Remember, there are many thousands of drivers out here ahead of you, and they are constantly looking for something better. There are only so many good truck driving available, and they are few and far between.
With a good job, driver turnover is very low.
If drivers stay until retirement, how fast do you think your going to get hired??

Answer:

1) In hotels everynight; This means free breakfast, free heating and cooling, free pool, free cable, real bathroom not the woods.
2)What fast-food worker can approach these wages?
a) Some of These sad-men keep saying they can, but they can't offer no proof.
3) Enough said.
U tell me if trucking sux.

Answer:

No,it's one of the best vocations to have. Look at all the self made
millionaires posting here. The Carriers spend millions every
year on recruitment efforts,it must be a good job.

Hmmm... no ambition and the unwillingness to work for the future.
You'll be a success at trucking.

Another Wannabie with a crystal ball.
Answer:
Instead you would prefere kissing some Fleet manager's/Dispatchers azz and shippers/receivers azz's. That makes no sense. Well considering the hype you've probably heard maybe it does. Perhaps the first thing for you to do is to get rid of that "freedom of the open road" bs that you might be thinking. Your not going to be some free running trucker cruising th big road. Your going to be a hired on truck driver working for a company that is going to watch your every move. They'll know where you are, what your doing, if your late or early. Hell they know where you sleep and eat most of the time. You'll be almost as tightly supervised in a truck as you are in a hospitol. Most Over The Road trucking companies don't give drivers much room to think for themselves. You get your load, point your truck and head for your delivery. What sin't dictated by the company and load you hae will be dictated by your log book. It's going to tell you when your tired, awake and can afford the time to take a break.
As far as not willing to go to school to get ahead in life thats more than a little wrong. It shows no ambition what so ever. Your ina field with lots of advancement possibilities but your not willing to do what it takes. Do you think driving will be the answer to being unwilling? I can tell you straight out there are alot of drivers who wished they were in a position to go to school for a couple years to get ahead.
I would rethink why you want to drive a truck and give a little more thought to your other possibilities.

Answer:
All the above posts are correct. low pay, long hours and no life. I've tried for 1 yr and its the "pits". Many forum members here are career drivers, they know there stuff and they know what they are talking about. I'm getting out of this business. It's a Damn shame that the trucking business is not compensating drivers better. I would expect them to pay local drivers a min of $17 per hr to start and OTR $30 pr hr plus mileage. But, that would cut into their profit margins.
Oh well, it time to look into something more lucrutive. Like selling drugs . High profits, very risky, prison life or death. Choose your poison. Ivey EnviroTech Services
Start Up date: 3/1/06

Answer:
Even local jobs you still have no life (Q in Sac is a local driver and he is still getting out, I keep thinking about it) you have enough time to maybe get home eat, sleep, and $hit and get hopefully 6-7hrs of sleep and get up and do it all over again while working saturdays, (while dealing with subpar equipment and owners that don't know their @$$ from a hole in the ground), now you tell me if thats a life . Most guys on here have lots of experience and speak the truth somewhat. It works for some and doesn't work for others, if you go OTR you might as well stick your head between your legs and kiss your @$$ goodbye. Good luck and have fun on your paid vacation .
Answer:
That's true about local driving.
Some local driving jobs, your working yourself to death.
I know, been their done that with Albertson's. (I got more time off driving OTR) than at Albertson's..
Our local drivers work (it's either 80 or 84 hrs a week) it's AG exempt from the HOS rules. They get a 24 hr restart. Calf is the same way.
If you get into LTL local peddle, the hrs are pretty good, pay is good, a lot of unloading. Weekends/Holidays off, for the most part.
Sometimes you can volunteer for weekend work. I use to work SUN 9 to 5pm delivering shoes that were floor loaded ceiling to floor in a 28 ft pup to all the Payless Shoes stores. This included malls too.
I'd be done at 4pm and back in the yard by 5pm.
I'd recommend LTL, but you'll need lots of exp driving trucks first if your working the city.
I worked local for years before I ever ran OTR.
I like OTR, I run all over the Country and I like it.

Answer:

Huh????

Answer:

*DISCLAIMER*
Your results may vary. Results shown may not be typical of the results you receive. Work conditions are not typical of those the average truckdriver will experience. Monetary gains are not typical of average truckdriver earnings. This has been a wholly voluntary contribution, subject was not compensated for this endorsement.
Answer:
This is a fine example of, no matter the field youre in some one thinks it sucks. this poster is in the medical field, the best field to be in for the future yet he thinks it sucks and wants out. Guys here that are in the trucking business say it sucks and they want out my point being no matter who you ask about their profesions there is always going to be the disgruntled element that says their job sucks and they want out.

Answer:
I sucks and its great. You hook up with the wrong company. It sucks. You get the right company your life can be real easy.
Some drive trucks for the check each week. Some do it bcause they love it. Some do it for free just to do it. Some even pay to do it.
You can earn a MUCH BETTER THEN ADVERAGE living driving a truck.
Even the starting rate that many low ball now at 30k is better then many white collar jobs.
Check what your first year accountant, account specialist(stock broker) earn their 1st year, then check their 5th year.
Nice thing after about 1-2 years. You do not have the 50k in education expenses.
Depending on the kinda person you are depends on the OTR. I would say get the OTR out of the system as soon as possible. It can be the best and worse part of trucking, at leased you will know.
I did local before I went otr. Now I am back to local. I miss OTR so much, I like it alot. Much easier then locl home every day. I was abe to have a better quality of life being gone for weeks at a time then home for a whole week then off for 10-12 hours. takes me a hour each way to get home. That gives me 8 hours at the house. Its hard. This local is MUCH harder then OTR and I earn LESS money.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

Answer:
If you think trucking is the cat's azz, you are one sick S OB. I honestly can't fathom it being better than anything.______
|l ,[____],
l---L –OlllllO-
()_) ()_)-(-)_)
I'd rather die on my feet like a man than live on my azz hiding in a truck.........Sir James Brown

Answer:

Picking flies outta bulshit.