Advice? Don't become a trucker.

RockyWi, you fixen to see you dont allways get what you put in.

 

I don't haul cheap freight and I make a very nice living out here...Paddington is rarely right, But he certainly knows how to paint a bleak picture.
If you know how to play the game you can get a much better mileage rate than they are offering...I regularly go to pick up loads and hear O/O's complaining that the rate is only $1.50 per mile when I'm getting $2.50 per mile to haul the same freight from the same broker...

These guys need to learn when to say no and when to say yes! Until they do...They'll be going broke a little at a time while I'm doing well hauling the exact same freight!

You will get out of it what you put into it...If you're smart and not afraid to tell them NO!
It's a tough business and it's not for everyone but I wouldn't trade this job for anything else...

I LOVE the game!

 

A gallon of water a day!!! My god, you would need a catheter for sure!

 

I go through a couple of cases of water a week...

 

I wish there was something I could do to make EVERYONE at once realize that you and you alone are responsible for your life. While there is luck involved, and bad things do happen to good people, you control your destiny. Will you be a movie star, or play in the NBA, I doubt it. Can you lead a very healthy and happy life? Absolutely! The first step is to start taking responsibility/ownership for what is going on in your life. For example blackw900 isn't complaining about cheap companies cutting his rates (although I am sure it often crosses his mind). He is talking about being good at what he does, and getting more than his competitors. That is America & capitalism. Excellence/hard work/creativity are rewarded. Complain about your situation all you want...only you can control it. You could be working for a better company, if you are a good employee. If you are great...you could do it on your own. No one offers big pay and great opportunities, you have to go find them. So many people whine about lying dispatchers and dishonest companies...how many times have you been dishonest with your company...ok I am getting a lot windy. Bottom line...you control your destiny...especially in trucking.

 

Thank You for posting this.This is a good post, but I think every field in America has employees in it that will say the same about the job they have. Things are hard all over the place.

 

Yes...things are difficult, but this is irrelevant. My real point is that we are all masters of our own universes. Take responsibility and relize success...point the finger and sit with all the wannabe's on the sidelines.

 

There are many forms of Trucking. I wouldn't say to someone don't become a trucker or don't get a CDL. I encourage people to get a CDL , but I would never say go get an OTR job.

We have lots of people where I work who have never driven OTR , we got them straight from the Community College. They are happy and making a living without manual labor. Some of these guys used to work in horrible back breaking jobs , and trucking has allowed them to rise out of that.

You hear it <read it> all the time about how trucking is a lifestyle. Well if we are talking about OTR I would agree. I urge anyone getting their CDL to take a different route and don't fall into the CDL mills and Bottom Feeder OTR companies. There are hundreds upon thousands of Different types of Trucking rather than OTR.

Now if you are set on going OTR you need to ask yourself what that Sentence actually means. "Trucking is a lifestyle".

That means that if you even have it enter your mind when you will be home while considering the Job , you don't get it. If you have to talk your spouse into letting you do this, you don;t get it. Those two things should be out of your mind in order to be happy at trucking otr and not have it adversely affect you. Try this. The next time you wake up at 2am and have to pee , Put on your shoes and walk outside about the distance of a few football fields and then take your pee. Do this is All weather even -10 degrees. The next time you need to take a crap , drive down to the local truckstop and take it. Do this for 10 days before going to school. Then consider what you are getting into.

Instead find local Construction companies and Cement or Asphalt companies. Find out who is hauling grain at the local elevator. Find out who hauls the mail every morning. Find out who delivers those rental equipments m etc etc etc it can go on and on , there are a million different kinds of Trucking besides OTR and dont fall in the trap of thinking that this mega carriers are all that will hire a new driver.

BOL to you driver.

 

Yeah, Comp Science was my major as well, but as we all know, India took over the jobs. What pissses me off to no end is turning on CNN and they are doing a human interest story about how the IT biz in India is booming their middle-class, then the camera pans to happy Indians at freshly-built Indian shopping malls bragging about how efficient a job they do compared to the Americans, sickening, where is the patriotism? Where is the "America First" attitude we used to have?

 

I used to work for a national Satellite TV company (which will remain anonymous). We worked long hours in Houston (12-15 a day), running cable in 140 degree attics day in, day out or working in the scorching sun on top of a 130 degree roof with your toolbelt and equipment, thinking your day is done and itching all over your body from all the attic fiberglass you collected while running cable, your dispatcher calls and says they need you out on one more call, so instead of thinking you will be at the shop for paperwork at 7:30pm, you are stuck out there for another 2-3 hours installing a receiver, connecting it to some A-hole's home theatre system while you're dead tired. You will be lucky to be home by 11pm only to get up at 6am and do it all over again.

All this for a payday every 2 weeks, cashing a check at roughly $867.00 after taxes.

I'm sure trucking is hard, I expect it, but I'll tell you one thing, I won't complain about it too much as I will take that over satellite TV installation any day of the week.