Consider what you now know about trucking, and go back to when you first started. Knowing what you know now, would still become a driver?
Why or why not?

Reason I ask is that my wife suggested last year that we both obtain CDL's and go out as company team drivers. She has been office manager for 24 years, I have been a house appraiser for 28 years. We are both burned out. We do not mind seeing the country thru a windshield. We would probably apply to Schneider National to get our CDL's. Why Schneider? We are about 30 minutes away from their Fontana, Ca. terminal, where they train west coast drivers. Also, we don't have the money to pay private truck driving school (I did appraise a rental unit owned by a trucking school owner who said he would train us for $2,000 each...still don't have that kind of money laying around).

Anyway, would greatly appreciate your honest, unbiased, answers.
dave

NO , i wouldn't be doing this job. i would have stayed in the military and would be retiring in about 6 yrs full benifits. that would make me 43 yrs old, still young enough to play and travel.

To me I probably would not because of how the industry has changed, but you or any other new driver would not know what I am talking about so it would not be an issue on you looking back over the years. Me I would say go for it, husband/wife teams pocket all the check so it is not like you are losing anything. You will be together, even though you will sleep seperate shifts. You will never know unless you try. Good luck to both of you!

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My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

well said monkey boy. i have to agree with you on that.............

I would say no just because I really miss the "normal" 9-5 lifestyle I once had...or at least I think I did...can't remember now and I just started in 2003.

I had a couple of jobs back in the 90s that I could/should have stayed at that could have put me in a place where I'd be making more money and having a better quality of life by now. But, as my father always tells me, you can't see what's ahead when you're staring in the rear view mirror.

I still love my job, just wish I could do it M-F 9-5.

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Keep that diesel burnin' and those tires turnin', but get there safe to keep on earnin'!!

Thank you bones!

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My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

i too would have to give a resonding NO. i would have/should have stayed in the repair business instead, and then perhaps moved up to management at a dealership. i may have been working more than say the "usual" 9 to 5, but i'd be at home daily, sleeping in my own bed, watching my own TV, and eating my own food, and of course, have a really "regular life".

i can't return to the repair business as its been way to long an absence now, so i'm basically "stuck" in one form or another in the trucking industry, which at least (for now) i have somewhat "regular hours", albeit a night shift, but the hours are long EVERY NIGHT.

I started in the mid 70's. Trucking wasn't as bad back then. Traffic was MUCH less, DOT didn't bother you much, a driver was treated with more respect, and I was home every weekend and once during the week, and still ran 2600+ miles per week.

I saw lots of scenery I would not have seen otherwise. I met quite a few interesting people, and had fun. I learned a lot about life. I was proud of my job and my truck.

I have left trucking several times in order to persue other interest, some jobs working for others, and I also have owned a few businesses not related to OTR trucking.

When ever I needed extra money I would run loads for local companies, or get back in full time trucking if needed. Trucking has keep a roof over my head in bad financial times.

The down side is I lost two marriages due to my being gone. I now have several health problems due to the trucking lifestyle. I don't have the money I would have had if I had either picked out a good LTL and stayed there, or went to college and picked a profession I liked.

My trouble was I wanted to drive a truck ever since I could make an engine sound with my mouth. I used to get maps of the US and ride my bike pretending I was driving over the roads making stops. I drew pictures of trucks during school. I made pretend gear shifters and played driving when it was too wet or cold to go outside. I cried for toy trucks at the store. I had it in my blood.

My dad ran local, and when he came by the house for lunch I would cry to go with him. I used to sit beside him and change the gears when I was 10. I would move the trucks for him. The first time he let me drive on a dirt road with me alone in the drivers seat I was 13. I changed every gear in the 10 speed perfectly. I had watched him do it so much I felt like it was second nature.

After I came off the road I would hear or smell a truck and have a longing to be in it. Certain times of the day, or a type of feeling in the air would remind me of places I had been.

I would forget all of the hard times I had out there, and go back like a moth attracted to a flame, only to be shaken to reality after I had been out a while.

I have a love/ hate relationship with trucking. Many times I wish I had never set down in the first truck, other times I threaten to tear up my CDLs.

If I had to be OTR today knowing what it was like when I started, I would not do it. My last long haul was Oct. 2002. I sold my truck in Feb. 2004. From what I read on here and other forums and drivers I talk to, and from what I see every day, I would not go on the road again unless necessary to survive. I have been driving a tanker four days a week, 10 hours in the evening and night, since I sold my truck, and I want out of it. It is a very easy job, but I still want out. I am burnt out.

I was just offered a great OTR job that would have me home every Friday, Saturday, most of Sunday, and one night during the week, with great pay and benefits. It's a local company that I know the owners of, pulling their materials out, and come home empty. I turned it down.

I know this is a long, rambling post, not entirely on topic, but there is more to the answer than just yes or no.

I guess I should say that trucking is very dangerous, and it will make you old before your time. You deal with much stress, you are seldom home for emergencies and family affairs, and all for not that much pay with all things considered.

If this is what you think you want, go for it.

My avitar is the first truck I bought in 1976 at the age of 19. A 1966 White, 250 HP, 10 spd. I rented a trailer and went wildcatting. I had been driving local for about a year before I bought it and went on the road. Talk about green. I had never been more than 250 miles away from home, and never out of state in a truck when I left with my 13 year old brother in law on that first mile trip that consisted of 4 loads, 13 states, 5000 miles, and 14 days. (click on the picture for a better view)

Stranger I really liked your post

I have a college education and can make just as much or more being a truck driver. (long story why I am not still in that field)

Trucking has its benefits as well its many negatives.
Positives would be you are in a since your own boss, get to travel around and see many thing most people don't get the chance to see, the kids that try to get you to honk, the girls that flash you their ****

Negatives, well the first is how unsafe it is on our roads and getting worse, pay is falling but almost every occupation pay is falling in America (hum? strange, one would think that our government should be trying to make better lives for us all not just them/the rich), very rude and angry people on the CB (till you get inside the truck stop then it seems everybody is cool with each other), Rising cost to live on the road, companies are treating drivers worse and worse

I could go on with both positives and negatives, Now I am nowhere near being an old timer in the industry, although my father was a truck driver and know much from him. But I would think most out here would trade it to be home with their wife and kids.

Companies expect you to stay out 2-4 weeks with pay that is just a little more if they would stay home and get a job. Like stranger said he used to be home every week but that is rare anymore.

I may do this for another 3-4 years then I plan on moving into something else. But that's what a lot of the old timers out here say they used to say all the time.

Be safe out there everybody and pls try not to argue on the CB so much.

Would I do this again, YES.
HOWEVER, I would have started driving truck 10 years ago, so that now I have two kids, I could have a cakey local job as an O/O. For that, I will have to wait a little longer.
I too have a love/hate relationship with trucking: My two favorite places to be are 1) at home and 2) behind the wheel. And thanks to trucking, I have seen parts of this country that I would have never seen, and met people that I would have never met (some of which are very good friends). And despite all the crap out there, between bad drivers (both cars and trucks), rude people, not nearly enough parking and cops who have eyes only for trucks, I still enjoy it, and am very proud of what I do.