Question:
Hey guys. I sent this message to a couple of guys that I have great respect for on here but for those of you that I don't know very well, I'd like your opinions. Here is a synopsis of me and my situation:
I'm 30 years old and I get married in 2 months. My fiancee has a wonderful 8 year old daughter. I'm a also moving from Tucson, AZ back home to Huntsville, AL. I've always had a passion and want to get into trucking. However, I don't want to be gone all the time. I am currently a manager for a large company and I make $70K a year. I also have an MBA from Arizona State. So, I have business and management skills. I'm at a point where I'm ready for a change. My fiancee is getting out of the Air Force and she is planning on opening a day care at our new house that i"m building in Alabama. She also sells Mary Kay on the side and she'll is retiring from the military so we'll have abouta 2K check a month from the government each month on top of whatever our earnings are. We both have strong entreprenurial (spelling) desires. I have narrowed my new career path down to:
Trucking- to learn the industry on someone elses dime. I looked at Roehl 7 on 7 off and then I can run a part time business the other week. If I like the trucking, I might consider O/O later on.
Commercial and/or residential cleaning- VERY low initial investment- good money in this but obviously hard work. A good friend of mine with business sense started this 2 months ago and is at 5K gross a month in contracts. Hard work and odd hours like nights and weekends though.
Mobile Car detailing service- Seems to be a good industry with a low initial investment of 6K or so.
So, knowing my situation, what is your opinion? Thanks!
Anthony

Answer:
Stay out of the truck, you got better things going for you. At least stay home until the daughter is in college. BOL

Answer:

More of the same
You seem to want to keep asking basically the same thing over and over.
mo
Answer:

A common occurence here. Ask until you hear what you want.

Change? Middle Class to poverty? Normal to Mobile Homeless? 70k is a delusional dream
in OTR driving for the most part.
Answer:
Take a month off work and give a try at Alaskan sea fishing after that throw in a simple climb up Mt Everest. You'll be ready to get back to the office after that.

Answer:

Then forget about trucking.

Double what you would make in trucking.

Which would be wasted as a truckdriver.

Which will be wasted as a truckdriver.

Aren't we all. I'm ready to become a multi-billionaire and King of the Earth. Not necessarily in that order.

Anything but trucking. I cant imagine how someone with a high entrepreneurial spirit would be happy imprisoned in the cab of a truck for 15+ hours a day 1000 miles away from home and loved ones. I can't imagine how someone with an entrepreneurial spirit would be happy being told when and where to go by idiot dispatchers, being told how to run by various regulatory and law enforcement agencies, and being watched 24 hours a day by the eye in the sky AKA Qualcomm (or some similar system) that most truck companies use nowadays, to say nothing of the data logging that your electronic-engined truck is doing. I cant imagine how someone with an entrepreneurial spirit could be happy spending all that money financing the long-haul lifestyle without some sort of a return on your investment.
As a truck driver, you'll always be just a number and considered part of the truck. Your only worth to the company will be in your ability to deliver freight when and where they tell you to. And you wil be spending the same or more money as you do now to live, but your compensation will be slashed in half, without much hope of it ever reaching the $70K mark you no doubt enjoy now.
Don't shortchange yourself - feed that entrepreneurial spirit and do somethign opther than being just another truckdriver for the rest of your life.
Answer:
Anthony,
I would stay put and start your family, you have a far better chance of succeeding if you work with your wife and her daycare than if you were to go OTR.
Its not for everyone, its hard in some ways,(you will not be home much, you might not ever see more than $70,000 a year, your new family life will suffer), and easy in some ways as well (you will get to see every major highway in this great country, get stuck in traffic in some of the greatest cities, and live the life of a nomad in a box).
But seriously, it sure seems like you would be better off if you stayed off the road,..maybe you could go and get your CDL as a back up plan?.....but you would still have to go through the first year or more of company driving........WOW,....you know what, I can't think of one good reason for you to go OTR,....not one.
I have been a company driver for 3 years, and then took 3 years off, now I am going back into OTR as an O/O, but my situation is completely different than yours,....good luck man, and keep asking around, you will probably find out that its really not for you.

Answer:
Don't waste your education. Trucking is a thankless, low paying job for many/most. I imagine since you are turning 30, you are evaluating where you are in your life/goals/dreams. There are plenty of opportunities out there for someone with your background/education. You know where they are if you have an MBA. Keep looking and pass trucking by.

Answer:
After 30 yrs driving experience I have to agree with "ALL" of the above warnings of truck driving. It is all true, with the only difference in what they say and what it is like to be a trucker.
Is: Everything they say is intensified many x's over.
Do yourself and family a favor, Stay out of a truck, Be there for your new daughter and wife, Make enough money elsewhere for your wife to go shopping
It aint going to happen while in a truck....
Answer:
I had to go back to driving because I don't have a degree. Even with years of sucessful management behind me, they wouldn't touch me without a degree.
You have a degree, and a family, there's no valid reason for you to consider driving a truck.

Answer:
Theres only one sentence in your whole post that stands out to me. " I don't want to be gone all the time ".
This one sentence eliminates truck driving as an option.
There are two good things about driving a truck.
1). Drivers are in demand. You will never find yourself out of a job unless you lose your license or cant pass your physical.
2). You can make decent money but to do it, you will have to put in the time. Im talking ALOT of time. Say goodbye to a 40 hr work week.

Answer:
I'm still thinking a nice vacation in some exotic place would do him good. Take a video camera.

Answer:
"Recreational Trucking" is okay as long as......
1) You are DEBT-FREE BEFORE going to trk drving school.
2)You have (12) mnths of "ready cash" in SAVINGS for emergencies.
3)You pay Cash for trking school or sign a contract with a carrier to pay for your school or you get a government funded program to pay for school.
4)Your spouse's income is enough to pay household expenses while you go out & play "trucker".
5)Your spouse is okay with the idea of you playing "trucker".
6) You and your family are okay with Your Substantial Pay CUT.
I just want to make it plain to you & your family that for the 1st few yrs you will NOT come close to earning what you currently earn.(as a part-timer trkr or as a full-time trkr.)
That's why I stress to you to Cut Your Lifestyle & Be Debt Free Before you start trucking.
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Don't misundertand me....
I have nothing against wanting to be home with the family....however, I also believe in PROVIDING for my Family FIRST, BEFORE I go out to "PLAY"
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Anyway, Back to the Topic.....
If I'm not mistaken, I think Old Dominion, will train you & I think they're set up so you can spend time at home.