Question:
A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO I WENT TO SEE A FRIEND OF MY WIFE GIRLFRIEND WHO IS A TRUCKER. BEEN WITH TOTAL TRANPORTATION IN JACKSON, MS FOR SEVEN YEARS. WANTED TO GET THE LOW DOWN FROM A DRIVER AND NOT A RECRUITER BLOWING SMOKING UP MY #$%. A NICE GUY THAT WAS SO NEGATIVE THAT I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY HE WAS STILL IN IT. WAS TOLD BY HIM, THAT HE RATHER WORK THREE 7-ELEVEN JOBS AND SLEEP ON THE STREETS THAN TO GO INTO TRUCKING AGAIN. BUT IN THE SAME BREATHE HE MADE OVER $60,000 AND JUST HAD RECEIVE A BRAND NEW TRUCK AND WAS WAITING ON HIS PLATES TO COME IN . I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO TALK ME OUT OF LEAVING THE FIRE DEPARTMENT(before any one comment their is not great money in f.d. in jackson,ms) TO PURSUE PROFESSIONAL TRUCKING, I MEAN I'VE GOT MY WIFE SUPPORT AND NO SMALL CHILDREN, I'M THIRTY-FIVE, SHE'S FORTY. WE HAVE DISCUSS BEING ON THE ROAD AND SHE IS OKAY WITH IT. SHE HAVE OFTEN TALK ABOUT GOING ON THE ROAD WITH ME FROM TIME TO TIME, AND WHEN WE TRAVEL MOSTLY ALL OF THE DRIVING IS BY ME AND REALLY DON'T HAVE PROBLEM WITH IT. ANYWAY DECIDED AGAINST LEAVING THE DEPARTMENT ALTOGETHER, GOT MY PERMIT AND GOING TO BE TRAIN IN DRIVING BY A FELLOW FIREMEN WHO DRIVE LOCAL & AND SOME SHORT HAUL. BUT I STILL HAVE THAT ITCHING FEELING TO GET ON THE ROAD.
de KJ5KX

Answer:
seeing as how you don't have to travel far,pack up a few days change of cloths and go live in your car at the pilot truckstop for 2 days
get a taste of the good life,pretend your out of town and no visit from the wife
If you enjoy it,throw away your job security,ask the owner operator that pulled up to a low bridge stopped and inched forward to see if he could make it,nope it didn't fit and he did minor damage to the trailer,he got fired by Landstar and now nobody else wants him,because it's in a computer that he topped a trailer.
Retirement plan,hahahaha,the trucking companies close up and get bought out so offen,it don't exsist
60k sounds good untill you look into the hours worked per week.Thats if he didn't pump up the number a little.Most drivers are in the 35k to 50k range.
How many fireman get charged with killing someone,how many fireman get fined while preforming their job.
sounds like your going to do it no matter what anyone here says,so enjoy.
I got to go to work,it's 3:20am in CT. and I have to be in NJ at 7:30AM.Weds night I got off work at midnight,great hours.
I'm sure you will enjoy the hours and the cold up north also.Burrrrrrr it's cold out -->
They enlisted the Teamsters’ help after the company decided that it would no longer pay them hourly wages but compensate them based on mileage, which would have cut their income in half
http://www.teamster.org/03news/hn_030110_1.htm
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Answer:
If you desire to join the ranks of the # 1 group that is "profiled" by every law enforcement agency in the country, then jump in!
If you enjoy working under poverty wages, when you take into account every hour and every task that you must perform, then jump in!
If you enjoy working under unsanitary conditions, peeing in bottles, #hitting in restrooms that my dog wouldnt even take a "dump" in, then jump in!
If you enjoy sitting in one position for hours on end, not getting out and getting any exercise, taking a chance that blood clots will form in your legs, then jump in!
If you enjoy being away from those who you love and the ones who love you, then jump in!
If you enjoy walking into a truck stop and 90% of the people in there will not speak, they all have "frowns" on their faces-----a real homely place---and then eating food that is very unhealthy, then jump in!
If you enjoy driving in all kinds of adverse weather and having some dispatcher sitting in a warm office, who has never driven a truck, telling you that you can make it, then jump in!
If you enjoy missing special days at home, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and birthdays and missing doctors appointments, then jump in!
But you have already made your mind up. You are going to jump in. I can read between the lines. After a few months or a year, come back and let us know. I know, 40 years ago on Feb. 18th , I started my driving career, it was a good job then, but about 25 years ago it all started to change and it has been going down hill ever since. I would strongly advise you against this move.

Answer:
if she is going to team with you it should work out. otherwise, see all of the previous posts

Answer:
Also try this when you meet new people don't tell them your a fireman tell them your a truck driver,if you like the way your treated and looked down on when you do this then you'll be ok.

Answer:
"ask the owner operator that pulled up to a low bridge stopped and inched forward to see if he could make it,nope it didn't fit and he did minor damage to the trailer," I had a very simular problem in Philly. Two low bridges. One said 13.4 and the next one said 13.3. They looked way to low. I inched forward and stopped just short of going under or hitting them. Then I got out and had to play monkey getting as High as I could to see it. Luckily there was room to go. If not I would have backed up almost 2 blocks and around corners to get out of there. Funny thing no warning signs and you can't see them until you round a couple of corners. I was lucky I would have gotten a ticket or two not to mention the traffic jam if I had to back out.
You never really know how high bridges are. The road could have been resurfaced making the bridges much shorter.
It's hard to make up someone elses mind. But, if I was a fireman with the amount of days off you most likely have there are lots of ways to make money. You could start your own business, be an ebay seller or what ever. You have a steady income so your options are close to limitless. That itch for trucking does wear off.
If you do choose to go into trucking make the best decisions you can. Don't just settle for the easy way out with the big companies and high priced schools.
As far as your friends $60k a year. Very doubtful he made that much but who knows maybe he did. If he did it's doubtful he would hate the job so much. But then again trucking isn't a picnic for most. If you don't listen to people here then listen to him. There are reasons he hates it.
In the end it's your decision and no one elses. You have to live with what you decide. Just be smart about it.
Good Stuff
"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of all who threaten it"
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RC Universe


Answer:

I know, 40 years ago on Feb. 18th , I started my driving career, it was a good job then, but about 25 years ago it all started to change and it has been going down hill ever since. I would strongly advise you against this move.
That sums it up very well. It's been down hill
and still headed that way. But the"youngsters"
don't believe it. My first OTR job 1981,$.30
per mile,no OTR experience and I wasn't paying off the company"loan"with indentured servitude. -->
Mike
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Mike

Answer:
BEFORE you decide to Go-For-It, I suggest...
1)Being Debt-FREE BEFORE entering the trking industry.(b/c trking is NOT the career to have to TRY to get Out of Debt.)
2)No little kids at home.(b/c you'll most likely MISS more than a few bdays, graduations, doctor's appts, school plays, etc.)
3)If you are Married...Spouse should drv TEAM with you.(especially, if 1 or both of you can Not handle being away from the other for WEEKS at a time or if either one of you are INSECURE about your relationship.)
There are a few more things that need to be considered before taking the "leap", but I'll let someone else help finish the list.(I have to go to work right now)

Answer:
To an outsider it is easy to be confused by the trucking industry. Heck pal, I am a driver and some days I am still confused.
For starters trucking is one of those occupatuions that it is very easy to both love and hate at the exact same time. You get to love the open road, the fair amount of independance, but at the same time you get to hate the hoops you have to jump through every day trying to satisfy the shippers/recievers, your company, and the federal, state, and local laws which seem to change at every city limit or state border.
Now then the guy you talked to may very well have made 60k last year. After 7 years with a single company he is probably getting good miles every week as well as a decent cents per mile rate, but I can promise you that it took him a while to get there. Now to someone used to going down to the Piggly Wiggly and buying his groceries 60k sounds like a lot of money, but your expenses on the road (just for food) are a lot higher than they are at home. Even if you eat just one "cheap" meal per day a a truck stop you are looking at $10/day, $70 week, and this doesn't bring into play the money you have spent buying bread and other sandwich fixings so you dont starve. In a single week you can easily expect to spend $140-$200 just to keep yourself fed and watered. Also keep in mind that as a newbie at best you can expect to make $20-30k your first year and $30-$35 your second, and that is before taxes and paying off your tutition for driving school which you will have to attend before a reputable company will hire you.
The reason this driver you talked to is so negative is simply that he is fed up with all the hoops he has had to jump through while jugling flaming samuri swords and doing back flips for his $50-60k gross pay per year not to mention all the time away from home he is probably spending and knows that he probably can't find a local job that will net him what he gets in trucking.
If you are really serious about getting into trucking you should do a ride alongwith someone for a couple of weeks if you know a driver who can and will take you along. If you do go then be sure to be awake every minute the driver is awake and that you follow the driver everywhere and see exactly what it is you are in for.
Only two things I know of are infinite. The universe and human stupidity, and I am not real sure about the universe.
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I guess you dont have to pay for food if your not a truck driver. Every job has its downside and most of the time a person doing that job for many years has nothing good to say about it simply because he or she is burnt out. And remember money isint every thing. By the way $10.00 for lunch is about what all americans pay for a meal!!!
Democrats will bankrupt this country.

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If you eat out you will pay at least $10 per meal. But you know I can feed myself, my wife, and my son for about $12 per day at home and eat three good meals.
Only two things I know of are infinite. The universe and human stupidity, and I am not real sure about the universe.
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