Is Driving A Truck National Good Job , Money Wise, Safety, And Respect ?

After 10 years behind the wheel, over 1.3 million safe miles without so much as an incident, I can honestly tell you that driving a truck is the least rewarding job you will ever have
No one pat’s you on the back, but that’s because no one is looking over your back.
No one thanks you when you arrive on time, usually your told to wait.
No one appreciates what you bring, after all your bringing more work for the forklift guys and the stockers.
Sometimes ‘depending on your company’ no one unloads your trailer, they make you do that.
There are no handouts, but alot of hands asking for handouts.
You are home 24/7, and if you think your home is where your at right now as you read this, then think again.
You will prefer sleeping in your bunk, in your tiny bed, with three walls and a curtain 3 feet away from you.
You will cherish the sound of a reefer firing up and revving real high to cool down the produce.
You will get used to the smell of urine in truck stops in the summer and in the winter you will love seeing that cloud of desiel hoovering just atop the tractors as they idle the night away in zub-zero temps.
You will learn what words like “gator” “bear” “county mounty” “chicken-coop” mean and your ears will be able to pick up these words even when your stereo is blasting Hank Williams Jr. or Otis Redding.
I think the biggest suprise new drivers encounter (I have trained new drivers for 5 years now) is the way they don’t get to make their own schedule. The load is the boss, you have to change your schedule to do the load. If you want to stay on a schedule get a local job. Now since the new 14 hr cap remaining on a sort of schedule is easier and dispatch can’t screw with new drivers the way they used to but it’s still an adjustment to what your used to right now.
We eat, sleep, shower, and do our laundry when we can and when we have time. Sleep is never a problem, but staying asleep can be if your a light sleeper. Showers are free with fuel, but your told where to fuel and how much you can put on your truck by most companies. Your every move is watched by a satalite so cheating on your log book is impossible. Sure you can do little things and average, but on the whole running more than one log book is just not as simple as it used to be.
Your in charge of your safety, you decide whether your going to drive a trailer down the highway and you pay for every mistake you make. In this job, there is no such thing as a free lesson. If you luck out and don’t have to pay money, then you loose time for sure. Time is money and the only time you make money is when you are on line 3. The 4 line is the charity line and lines one and two are for you.
If you decide to persue this as a job, be committed to roughing it, the best students I have are the one’s that have went through boot camp. What’s that tell you?
People think we just sit on our behind and drive all day and that’s all we do. Granted it is a lot of what we do, and the job is easier than most, and less stressful than most, once you know what your doing that is.
Now I did not tell you all this to discourage you, but to inform you. A typical cdl school will charge you over 4,000 thousand dollars.. Most companies will repay that amount over your first year, but it’s a whole bunch of money if you think you want to be a truckdriver to make money.
There aren’t many truckers on the highway that are on the highway because of the money. The money when compared to a local job is not really that good. Your never home to spend it. You can buy that new sports car or dirt bike but then as soon as you put in the garage you have to wave goodbye and go to work for the next 3 weeks.
Say goodbye to holiday’s, birthday’s, three day weekends, and try not to think about it being friday. Those things don’t exsist to a truckdriver. We live in our truck and the reason were glad it’s the weekend is the light traffic in the big cities.
This job is not a job, it is a way of life. A life that you will live on your own, on the phone, and in truckstops.
Your relationships will all be “long-distance” and your friends will be those who talk to you in the truck stop diners when you sit at the bar to eat your dinner and flirt with the old but sexy waitress.
Money, – good.
Safety, – choose your company wisely
Respect, – huh? If you look in the mirror and respect your self, you will give others respect and be respected. Respect has nothing to do with your job.
I know a man who lost his job, and to make a contribution to the family until he found something better delivered pizza’s….. I respected him more than ever, and not because he delivered pizza’s.