so who makes it in this industry??

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by txboy10, Dec 31, 2009.

  1. txboy10

    txboy10 Light Load Member

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    All we seem to read about is negative stuff on here, and how everyone who thinks about trucking will go broke, hate life, quit, get fired, get in an accident, get ripped off by the CDL Mill schools, etc.

    So who does make it and how? Who is the 1 person out of 20 (or whatever the ratio is) that has a good career and what did they do that the other 19 didn't do?
     
    JustSonny and scorpiorias Thank this.
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  3. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

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    Then why bother??????
     
  4. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    Most of the ones making it started back when there was a driver shortage , not a surplus of desperate applicants like there is now . Up until a little more than a year ago a newbie could actually start with a training company and move to a better company in a year or so . The odds are against that now . Drivers with good jobs are holding onto them and fleets are cutting back , not expanding .
    There are some newbies that manage to get a job they can make a living at but it's luck of the draw . Carriers have thousands more applications than what they have openings for .
    The best bets are with something other than large carriers and jobs that require physical labor like Sygma or Coca Cola . The training companies have cut their pay rates and lost freight miles so the pay isn't near as good as it used to be .
     
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  5. socal

    socal Medium Load Member

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    Basically you have to be a gypsy and enjoy loneliness. You can't beat yourself up when your gone and your family needs you. It's beneficial not to be married but not always really depends on the women. Most certainly you cannot have kids that are constantly causing trouble for your old lady all the time. You have to be able to let anything roll of your back.

    Most people that fail get in to the industry after losing a good job and think it will be a easy way to make a living "it's only driving a truck" attitude. They never make it, and all they do is complain about how they are treated compared to before blah blah. This job is for people that love freedom and the Trucking lifestyle. It is not just a job alot of people hate hearing it is a lifestyle but when you live in a truck and work for a week, to several weeks at a time straight, it is a lifestyle.

    Just my opinion of course.....
     
  6. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    It doesn't necessarily hve to be that way and too many people think it does . They have to get away from the megacarriers and check for locally based regional jobs like ag haulers . There is a feed hauler near here that has drivers home every weekend paying $40,000 a year plus . There was an ad in the local paper for a driver for a trailer spotting company . These companies don't pull that " no recent OTR requires retraining "BS . I worked several years for Eastern Seaboard Packaging. They have the contract to supply U-Haul stores all along the East coast . They have trained several inside workers to be drivers .
    I worked for MPW Industrial Services . They always need CDL drivers nd have branches in several states . Their vacuum truck drivers don't need CDL's to operate on site and they will train operators and help them get their CDL . The thing is there you're not just a steering wheel holder and the job involves a lot of dirty physical work . But that's where the opportunity is - doing jobs that require doing a little work for your pay .
     
  7. Irishtrucker

    Irishtrucker Medium Load Member

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    So with consumer confidence back up a little and retail slowly getting back on its feet do you experienced folks think 2010 holds better opportunities for us newbs?
     
  8. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    Unfortunately the best opportunities are going to come from drivers being disqualified by CSA 2010 . My terminal manager told me yesterday our carrier is going to lose drivers and have to lower their hiring qualifications to replace those drivers .
    That isn't necessarily good news for newbies . The better carriers still won't hire trainees and the pay and miles at training companies won't get any better . Freight has been on a steady decline for 2 years and will take a long time to recover .
     
  9. Irishtrucker

    Irishtrucker Medium Load Member

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    I had a brief look at the CSA 2010 stuff elsewhere on the forum and thats gonna suck for those guys who lose their jobs, better lay off the pork pies myself or i might not even get started LOL.

    So when you say a long time to recover, would you think within 2010 or further down the line?
     
  10. southernpride

    southernpride Gone But Never Forgotten

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    now my friend it is true you here a lot of drivers being negative about everything, most of those drivers you hear being negative out here are a new breed that hasent been out here very long BUT all dont feel that way i for one do not.

    ive been out here all my life and i would not do anything else the business has been good to me but it is what you make it .

    first you need to know what the business is before you jump in it is not like a 9to5 job and it wont ever be, it envolves a lot of travel all over the country encluding places you dont want to go but if you work for a company you got to go, a lot of hours alone nobody but you in the cab, a lot of time away from home, your not going to be home every week or two but that is part of it , a lot of these guys just dont understand that its not an easy thing.but trucking in itself is not easy, most think all you have to do is hold a steering wheel and play tourist that is not the case

    a lot think when they get in the truck they just got a big toy, they in fact do not have a toy but they seem to think it is and they wind up in troubel and acording to them its always some body elses fault, you wont find a mommy out here either you got to learn to take care of yourself if you dont your going to wind up out of the buisness or worse.

    and a lot worry about things that there is no need to worry about and make a big issue out of it like the new csa 2010 regs, now as i understand it and i havent seen the exact wording of the new law but for the most part these guys are worrying about somthing that is already being done and has been for years if you get a ticket the state keeps a record of it fo at least 3 years each state, 2010 puts it on a federal level and all the information about each driver is put in a data base and it becomes a permenate record and all or most can get that information SO WHAT, they do it now on a state level if your not a screw up you have nothing to worry about.

    also most think when they get a job that the company is going to take care of them DONT COUNT ON IT aint gonna happen the company will throw you to the wolfs in a heart beat they do not care about you they care about the company your just a peice of meat that is disposible, you got to be abel to take cae of yourself and plan for the unexpected if you dont your alreadty in troubel.

    that is trucking and it has good and bad but most of it is good but YOU have to make it good and in order to do that you have to make it good, or you can sit around a whine about eveytrhing and invent things to worry about and be miserabel or you can think positive and enjoy it.

    and another thing you got to learn not to believe eveything you hear if you try you will go nuts most of what you hear is just a truck driver story aint nothing to it .

    i for won am happy with the business and i have been out here over 40+ years and there a lot of us that feel the same way you just dont here from us because we are grown men and grown men dont cry and whine about the business they chose if we didnt like it we wouldnt be here .

    so dont believe everything you here the bad you here are from those that have not been out here very long and a lot have no business being out here in the first place and some think there going to change the business to suit themselves, like that is going to happen NOT.

    its a good business but you got to make it good , but you got to know its a different way of life unlike any other you should no that before you start.

    i love it and have for a long time.

    good luck to you my friend and have a great new year. southernpride :biggrin_25514:
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2009
  11. JustSonny

    JustSonny Big Dummy

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    "But that's where the opportunity is - doing jobs that require doing a little work for your pay ."

    Aw Rick, say it ain't so!
     
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