Question:
Hi,
I have recently been considering a career change to Trucking. Is Trucking really as bad as everything you read on these post? If everyone is so unhappy with trucking why don't you stop driving and get a 40 hr a week job making $10 per hour. I'll tell you about my life and why I'm considering trucking. I'm 41 years old, my career so far has been a few years after high school in factory jobs making anywhere from $5/hr to $8/hr, then 8 yrs in the Army getting to the rank of SGT. making about $29000/Yr. After that about 81/2 yrs in Law Enforcement as a Deputy Sheriff where I started at $17000/yr and after 81/2yrs left at $26500/yr. I am currently working as a Carpenter making $13/hr where it is back breaking work from anything to digging footers by hand to framing lifting heavy beams and sheets of plywood all day. Some weeks you get 40hrs some weeks if its bad weather you don't. You work outside in 100 degrees in the summer and 15-20 degrees in the winter. I've been so cold in the winter that some days you get in your pick-up with the heater going to eat lunch. All that I just descibed above is pretty much above average jobs and pay for where I live. I have never had a job even making $30000/yr and working conditions everywhere I've ever worked pretty much sucked. I think if you talk to 90% of people who work an average job they will tell you that they really don't like what they do for a living they are doing it because they have to if they want to pay bills and eat. How many of you Truckers who are on here posting about not getting into trucking for a living want to trade jobs with me and bust your (edited) all day swinging a hammer and carrying heavy building materials all day in the heat or freezing cold for $350/wk.
To me right now the sound of driving a truck for a living making $40000 plus a year sounds good, even if you are away from home for a while, sitting around waiting on a load or running your (edited) off up and down the road all day. I've always been one who thinks that a job doing what ever is what you make of it. If you work hard, work smart and most of all don't be affraid of work(lazy) any job can be bearable. And to be honest with you I can't think of ANY job where you are working for someone else that I would just be jumping for joy to go to work.
My plan for Trucking (if I do decide to do it) is to get my training, either pay for it myself or go with a Co. training plan, drive OTR for 1 year then decide whether I want to continue OTR or get a more regional or local driving job with a little more home time. There are a lot of options for truckers these days and there has got to be some good companys to work for out there. Just my opinon on all of the negative about trucking. For me, someone who is currently in a dead end job, middle aged and desperatly needing a career where I can make $40k plus and try to start setting up some sort of retirement plan, trucking don't really sound that bad.
Danny

Answer:
Sounds like you made up your mind already, good luck
Answer:
Welcome to the TruckNet Drivers Roundtable DannyM.
Knowing if Trucking is right for you ahead of , is likely any other vocation change....you can't truly know if it's going to fit until you are already working at it. It's not for everyone. However, for those it is for, it can be hard to leave....for any great length of time.
Doing your research ahead of time is key to making an informed decision. You will come across a lot of information on the forums from both sides of the spectrum, the good, the bad and the ugly (ok 3 sides). Much has changed in this industry since deregulations, not all for the better; much for the better (not many want to go back to the equipment being used before deregulation). But with "deregulation" came "regulation" and much of it. Some can work within it, some can't. Some have learned from past experiences and improved their chosen vocation to their advantage; however, not everyone has been successful at this.
You will come across the naysayers and the pie in the sky types also. Weed through what is left and to help you make your decision. Don't sabotage your decision before it's even made.
Best of luck to you in the process.

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and dont pizz off the board fairy........please
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There are different "factions" of opinions.
There are those who are anti-trucking no matter what.
There are those who are "union" and against non-union drivers/companies. They tend to have jobs where they are home every day and usually on the weekends. They tend to express the opinion that anyone who does not do it their way is wrong.
There are those who are driving semi's who think they have found "valhalla, utopia, caught the goose that lays golden eggs, and found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They tend to immerse themselves into it until it becomes their "full identity" and call it a lifestyle..
Then there are those, like myself and some of the others here who have been doing this long enough that while we acknowledge that a decent living can be made, less than a full-time Teamster, but more than two burger flipping jobs , we know that it can be a bumpy ride at times, and has downsides. And for us it is only a "job", a means to make money....and thats all.
Alot of a person's level of happiness comes from what they are satisfied with or even happy with. Considering that....at which point one arrives at later, depends very much on the level of research one does initially. There are "bottomfeeder companies" in this industry, there are ok companies, and there are companies that range from better than ok, to very good. The secret and trick to ending up better off than many others is finding the company that you would be happy working for....that meets your needs.
I can tell you this.....do more research than you think you need to, check it and double check it. When you narrow down what you think you want, talk to drivers for that company....as many as possible, and take it all with a grain of salt. Don't just listen to what they say, but listen to how they say it, and if its in person...pay attention to body language and all of it. "Tell them that you have already spoken with a recruiter at the company....that way they are less likely to sugarcoat the information in hopes of getting a finders fee on you. Off hand I don't know of any companies that pay a finders fee on student drivers...but I would imagine that as hard up as some are....they might pay one. I know that my employer does not.
Then do some more research, and then some more.
Try to avoid "company paid schooling"....it makes you an "indentured servant" for a specified period of time. If a company mentions the words "lease, lease operator" or anything remotely similar.....run, run like the wind as far as you can. These are known as "fleace deals". Not good. Pay for your own schooling....it makes you a "free agent" and if you need to, beg, borrow, or do what ever you can to get the money to pay for your own school.. as long as its legal. Look carefully at schools. The best will be PTDI certified, and some companies will hire only from those....or vo-tech courses or community college courses. Do not go to a "CDL mill".....
There are "pitfalls" and drawbacks to all jobs, not just trucking....but being aware of them and being forewarned can be protection against falling into the traps.So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:

What is sad is that a $10/hr job somewhere is about the only thing most truckdrivers are qualified for outside of trucking. Their misery might just be related to their lack of skills/education.
God forbid you move to where jobs/pay/work conditions are better!?!

Such is the song of the uneducated.

Some of us are more talented than that. $350 a week? I'd have to be REALLY slacking off for that to be my paycheck.

You think trucking isn't a dead end job? After a few years in the biz, you will top out on the pay scale. Then the only way to increase your earnings is to run harder or find another line of work. There is no promotion in trucking - you will always be a driver, 60 years old doing the exact same job as the 25 year old rookie in the truck next to you, and doing so for only a few pennies more.
I don't know what your problem was as a deputy, but the ones around here make a hell of a lot more than you did. Some of the local PD officers make even more. I know of several ritzy towns in several states where local police officers average over $60K.
Answer:

and try to avoid/ignore some of the so-called "regulars" that nest on this board...mostly has-beens, perpetual wannabes, and other social misfits that exist soley for the moment you say "white"...they will swear you said "black...
To be fair, there are a few posters here that can actually answer your questions with fact, leaving out the social/political commentary that seems to taint other areas of this site...
As Rose said, welcome aboard and hope you find what you're looking for in this industry.....
Answer:
Hey StagnantVirus,
For one I don't tell ladies I'm a truck driver. I tell them I'm a F.T.E. Freight Transport Engineer. Then the panties start coming off. What's a truck driver?DONNY SCHNEIDER TOLD ME THAT.

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Now I will have to remember that one the next time I am at a party
Answer:
If you can deal with irregular hours,working weekends & nights,working in all weather,being away from home.......ect.....perhaps you should look into railroad employment.
You'll make more money for your time & trouble & most likely be home more often. You will however be on call for a long time after hiring out. I would rather be on call than live in a truck.
There are quite a few railroaders that have a CDL. RRs are open to hiring truckers.
I've done both. I would take the RR any day. That's just me.

Answer:
ahhh,it's ok sometimes.
Answer:
If you can deal with irregular hours,working weekends & nights,working in all weather,being away from home.......ect.....perhaps you should look into railroad employment.
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OR?
Become a Merchant Marine.
Truck Driving is not the only occupation in the United States Of America where you'll work long hours, working weekends & nights,working in all weather,being away from home.
I had a job like that for years. I had my own business.
Holding a sign on the street corner saying: I hate to work, just give me the money!
It was great until one day all the lettering washed off my card board sign in the rain.
Then I got a job as a truck driver.

Answer:
No doubt in my mind.

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I have some cardboard and fresh new Markers..............need some ''