Am I thinking wrong?

The OP did not say if he was married. For future readers who are considering entering the trucking trade, one important question you need to ask yourself is (assuming you think you're in and want to be in a committed, monogamous relationship) ... "How much do I trust my spouse while I'm 800 miles from home, weeks at a time, and will my spouse at home be able to trust me?" If you're satisfied with that answer, then you can proceed to the next researching steps.

 

How many years have you been on that job? What level of seniority do you have there? What is the likelihood of a promotion to a supervisory role in the coming years as your body becomes less able to handle the physical nature of the job? What sort of pension/retirement package would you be giving up if you left?

I'd think it over long & hard before you change careers.

 

He is married.

 

If I didn't trust my spouse, I wouldn't stay married. away or not !!!!

 

If you go with a large carrier you will not make good money for several years if at all. Does your wife work? Could you take her with you? Are your kids grown and out of the house? Is your house paid off? Just some things to consider. Also you said you'd like to see the country, most of the time all you'll see is white lines goin past your windshield. It usually never works out that you'll get laid out waiting on a load somewhere good. Most of the time if your laid out its somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and when you do pass somewhere you'd like to check out your under a load and don't have the time to stop. Not to mention you're driving a 70 foot long truck so you can't just park anywhere.

 

here's my advise. stay where you are at. you think your job is S#%@, pal you aint seen nothing yet. sounds like you got a nice union job with good bennies. you wont find that trucking. you will be lucky to clear 30 grand your first year. out for 5-6 weeks at a time then home for 5 days. most of your home time is spent asleep. rude shippers, receivers, dispatchers, drivers, etc. all day every day. thankless job with no respect.

 

Just go for it!! I understand where your coming from I'm kinda in the same catagory I guess, spent the last twenty plus years in a huge plant working on machinery all day , and am still there now, and watching it dry up and go overseas, as they cut half the people and cut the hours and cut the retirement and all the othe perks that were there through the years. and now working forty hrs. week and not making squat... ready for a change myself getting ready to get permit, physical, and make a decision on who I should shoot for..right now it is , Millis, and Roehl..49 yrs. old and need to work for another fifteen years..so beleive I will give it all I got..I growed up around trucking , I have rode with my dad summers around the South in a Brockway Cabover which would fly..anybody remember Byrd Motor Lines? .It is a lifestyle change for sure but ya gotta be happy , knowing ya tried..