Where's the *good* bits?

Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by ExtremeUnction, Apr 24, 2016.

  1. ExtremeUnction

    ExtremeUnction Road Train Member

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    I work at Amazon. Amazon has a program where a local CDL school comes to the Amazon facility and does onsite CDL training. Participants in the program get their tuition paid for by Amazon.

    I'm 48 years old, single, kids live with their mom halfway across the state, and stuck in a dead-end job making peanuts. So I figured "What the hell, eh?" and signed up for the CDL class.

    Once I got approved, I started doing a lot of research into trucking, trying to find out what I could expect as a trucker. I found this board and a few others.

    And man, I've read a bunch of stuff that makes me think I'm making a bad decision. Truckers getting screwed by trucking companies, getting $80 paychecks for two weeks of no loads, companies expecting their truckers to log illegally, truckers who can't get their rigs fixed, etc etc. It wasn't until I started surfing the Tanker forum here that I actually found a bunch of folks saying "Man, I love being a tanker and wouldn't drive any other way." (Which, btw, has heavily predisposed me to look into driving a tank truck once I pass the class and get my CDL.)

    So I guess I'm wondering: What's the upside to driving a truck? I know it's not really human nature to talk about how you rolled out today and everything went exactly like it was supposed to. But I figure there's gotta be some positive stories out there to make me feel less nervous. :D

    Thanks!
     
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  3. sawmill

    sawmill Road Train Member

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    It's not all bad. Keep in mind that the horror stories come from guys who made two dozen catastrophic mistakes and then came here to ask why it went bad. Your advantage comes from you coming here before you screwed up. You'll be fine.
     
    JReding, austinmike and ExtremeUnction Thank this.
  4. 8thnote

    8thnote Road Train Member

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    Trucking has provided a good living for me and my family. Its not a perfect job and definitely isnt easy, but if you do your due diligence you can find good trucking companies.
     
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  5. truckthatpassesyouby

    truckthatpassesyouby Road Train Member

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    I don't know what your nervous about. Trucking will either work for you or it won't. You'll find out soon enough. Either by crashing, dropping a trailer or by finding yourself complaining a lot. If you don't want to do the jobs given to you and you quit and keep quiting til you find comfort in those hourly jobs, then so be it. You either become a local trucker working for company or you find your niche and love the job your in. That's pretty much it.
     
  6. street beater

    street beater Road Train Member

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    All ive ever been is a truck driver. I worked a choke n puke from 15 to 18, a loading dock from 18 to 21, and driving in one form or another ever since. (Going on 40. No hs diploma, did a few other things in failed attempts to get out of the seat. I like driving. Im good at it. My local gig pays well enough for me to work 40 to 50 a week home every night and weekends. The upside? As long as I don't do anything stupid, theres always a job for me. May not always be happy, but i can get along well enough till i find something better. I get along with the other drivers at my shop, a few of the bosses are ok. Dont have to see them much, its a job, gotta do something with myself other than bum round here, :)
     
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  7. Straight Stacks

    Straight Stacks Paper Cha$er

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    Farm house on 45 acres paid for. 2011 Peterbilt 386 paid for. Got my own authority. Go home when I want. Hold my wife's hand and go to church and thank the good Lord for all he's blessed us with. You get out of it what you put into it. Good luck.
     
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  8. uncleal13

    uncleal13 Road Train Member

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    No such thing as a stupid question, just stupid answers. And you'll get a few of them on here.
    A lot of us had to take some undesirable jobs to get enough experience to get a good job. Some had the fortune of knowing someone. And some were just in the right place and time. A lot of times it's not that the job is bad, it's that the job is bad for you. That's why there can be a lot of bouncing around until a person finds a good fit.
    Although I was impressed with how many crooks there can be in this business. Both behind the wheel and behind the desk.
    But like a lot of things in life , it's what you make it.
     
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  9. Pedigreed Bulldog

    Pedigreed Bulldog Road Train Member

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    Attitude and your individual personality is everything. If you enjoy a challenge and don't mind getting your hands dirty, flatbeds, dumps, and pneumatic tanks are great. If you want to take it easy and simply swing doors and bump docks, dry van will be up your alley. Tanks generally pay well, but can be quite hazardous either due to what you're hauling (chemicals, flammables, etc...) or because of what you're hauling (food grade, smooth bore). Then if you want to make a steady paycheck, there are dedicated runs...same lanes every week. If you'd rather not drive the same roads all of the time, you can do irregular route and never know where your next adventure will take you. There is local work, home every day. There is regional work, out for a night or two at a time. Or you can run OTR and stay out for weeks or months at a time. If you want to stick to the big road and "get there quickly", you can. If you'd rather shave some miles off the trip and run some 2-lanes wherever it is legal, you can do that, too. There is so much flexibility in what you can choose to do in this industry that it gets frustrating every time the feds come out with another "one-size-fits-all" type of regulation to abide by. It is what it is...so you either bend over and grab your ankles, or do the most American thing there is to do and figure out a way to either make that new rule work for you or find a loophole to get around it.
     
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  10. ExtremeUnction

    ExtremeUnction Road Train Member

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    Thanks for the replies, folks. I appreciate the more positive outlook.

    I'm definitely not afraid of hard work. I have a 2nd job which involves me throwing 50-lb bags of feed around all day.

    Just got back from driving my kids back to their mom. Was paying attention to the trucks on the way there and back, and noticed that most of the tankers were day cabs. Are most tanker jobs regional and/or local? Do they have OTR tanker jobs?
     
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  11. Longarm

    Longarm Road Train Member

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    Plenty of OTR tank outfits. Just because a guy is in a day cab doesn't necessarily mean that they go home every night. Some companies will put you in a hotel.
     
    ExtremeUnction Thanks this.
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