Why a truck driver?

It's no different now than in the old days; just more drivers and trucks and traffic.

 

I was promised loads of money and truck stops full of beautiful women that idolized truck drivers, like the buckle bunnies of the rodeo.

 

So, Paul, I see you started off backing up perfect right? Never had to learn anything huh...... I would never hire you.

 

Paul, your question is weird. Backing is the most challenging aspect of this profession.
Most of us do it to get away from the nagging shrus; wife, gf, and just want to be left alone.,very isolating life but sometimes rewarding where you least expect it.

 

Many times backing is an acquired skill that takes some longer than others, especially if the instructor is teaching incorrectly. Then the student has to unlearn the bad and re-learn the right way. The easiest way is to find a wide open section of parking lot and practice. Making mistakes when there is only lines on the pavement to hit is easier to learn from rather than learning from hitting another drivers truck.

As for the original question...some do it out of necessity, others are following in a family members footsteps, while others are following a desire for what the job offers, and I am not just talking about a better paycheck then what a 9 to 5'er makes.

In some ways, today's newbie drivers have it harder than we did. Oh sure, today's trucks are Cadillacs compared to the stuff many of us had to endure, but look at the increased pressure for JIT deliveries, excessive traffic, crowded truck stops...and let us not forget the ever increasing number of tougher regulations that Uncle DOT keeps piling on.