I really don't know if I like the career path I have taken. I went to tech school for tel-communication and went to work and hated being stuck in one place, REALLY hated it. Then I went to work as a delivery driver for a liquor wholesaler and spent 12 years hating everything about the job except being home every night and the three day weekends. So I get the bright idea to buy a car hauler and go to work for myself, which I like, But am not really busy enough to justify hanging on much longer.
The thing I really hate about trucking is nobody really give to hoots about the driver, the motoring public hates us, management hates us, wives or girlfriends hate the long hours or that we are gone all the time. It is a very hard way to make a living. I understand some people are built for this career and enjoy it and do very well at it..
I'm just not to sure if it is for me anymore. I have spent many long hours looking back at every decision I have made that has lead me to this point in life, and need to decide what's next... I'm pretty sure it will not be trucking..... BUT then what... I just don't know
This is just my answer to a very tough question about a even tougher career choice, Please don't let my negative attitude about the industry as a whole affect your decision's regarding the career you choose...

What an #######. But I guess that's what they're paid for? Guess it's a crime to help out another student, huh? Maybe a little toooooo much like cooperative learning or something ... wouldn't want any of that now would we?

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And it's official: I Start school in Lewiston, ID - 15 Oct 08

Trucking is more than just a job or career. It is an addiction. I came off the road a year ago and I have been wanting to get back ever since. It is difficult to go to another line of work after driving. I just with the government would leave us alone IE: HOS, seperate speed limits and letting the Mexicans come in and take our jobs.

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Even if I have to live a nightmare, it is still my dream to drive.

some days i think to myself "i cant believe they PAY ME to do this"
others i think "what the hell am i doing, this job sucks"
the one constant is it robs you of time, you see as you get older time (months,years) go by quicker. well with trucking they FLY by.
it seems like months ago i was in school, but it has been 1-1/2 yrs. where the hell did they go? LOL

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tip for new truckers: to err is human, to forgive is not D.O.T. policy.
"i've been working all week, and i'm tired and i dont wanna sleep and i wanna have fun... it's time for a good time!!!!" alan jackson

I am a rookie with less than 3 months experience... I LOVE being on the road, constantly moving, I'm also a loner, like solitude , don't have family... so, this job is the best for me. I couldn't find any other job that would allow me to live this life style. If I weren't doing this, don't know what else I would be doing. Despite of the difficulties, challenges, dangers, disconforts, etc (BTW, I am a vegetarian female and this is another challenge for me), I have never been as excited as I am now, doing this job, living this life style. It's more than a job, it's the life style that I like. I can be the gipsy that I am. The pay is not good, I know. But that's ok. I got financially prepared to support myself for a year, even if I were not working. I was making more money before than now and resting more and eating better too. But that doesn't matter, because I wasn't happy at all. Now I am happy and that is what matters. After a year or so, once I get more experience, and a good record, I know I will get with a good co. and make more money. I am still in the very early phases of learning, and adjusting, and adapting... The main difficulty right now is working with partners. The co. that I chose has a mandatory 6 month teaming and that has been the most challenging thing for me. I have been teaming for a little more than 2 months and going through my 4th partner... And I may have to get another one, for this one wants to split... But that's all right. As long I do my job right, no accidents, I will continue moving on, no matter how many partners I have to go through until my 6 months are over. Anyway, what I am saying is that when you find something that you really, really enjoy, no matter how many obstacles you find, you will do whatever you can to continue doing it. Best of luck to you.

After 30 years of trucking I'd say I have a "love/hate" relationship with it. I love what I do, I damned good at it, I love the freedom it gives me, I have the CHOICE to go where I want, when I want. I run the Arctic, the Ice Roads. I enjoy my life, as a woman it gave me the opportunity to earn a wage I could NEVER have earned anywhere else.

I hate the long hours, the endless waiting that comes with the territory, the long times of sheer boredom followed by moments of absolute panic of the freak storms that blow up in the far northern mountains of the Yukon or the -70 windchills of the Northwest Arctic or the 9 MONTHS of winter it entails.

But after all that I simply CAN'T imagine doing anything else!

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Never Drive Fast than your Guardian Angel can Fly!

For the most part i enjoy my job.I come from a trucking family. I run alot of chicago the people they can wear on you though nobodys in a good mood and allways in a hurry. But when I feel myself getting to act like them I grab the wife and kids and go south. I love trucking I just wish it was back like it used to be when every body had a good time going down the road, or sat in the truck stops and old coffee houses that had a sign in the window that read it cool inside because there was no ac, or cell phones , laptops,and all of the other things that have made trucking what it is today. Sometimes I just feel like a dinosaur waiting to fall into the tar pit.

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I want to die like my grandpa peaceful and in my sleep. Not screaming and hollering like the people in his car.

A weekend in downtown Denver, two days walking the streets of Manhattan, eating seafood in Boston, watching the Twins play in the twin cities, many cross border walks into Mexico and a decent paycheck to boot...I love this job.

Let's see I:

1) "Work" just 2-2.5 days a week and make $800+ if I work 3-4 days i can make well over $1200.

2) I sit in a comfortable climate controlled cab listening to my favourite tunes watching various landscapes.

3) Basically make my own schedule.

4) The closest thing to labor that I do is opening/closing the trailer doors.

Yes, I love what I do. (And this is coming from someone who couldn't find himself and had more jobs than I can count) It doesn't even seem like work.

However don't expect it to be like at any starter company.

I have connections to many owner operators in Chicago who use my driving services on an "as need" basis.

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Truth will always be "hate" to those that hate the truth.

What border towns do you go into? I am always affraid of going down there. Also, do you know a guy Glen Walker in Paducah?

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Even if I have to live a nightmare, it is still my dream to drive.