Bad economy and trucking what it like now?

Economy is bad, people are getting laid off. They aren't spending money like they did. Therefore, not much freight moving.
Auto industry is in the crapper, parts aren't moving like they used to.
Not enough freight to keep everybody moving enough to make a decent living. Lots of trucking companies shutting down. Others are letting drivers go.
Lots of experienced drivers are sitting around looking for an opportunity.
Hopefully, the economy will get turned around soon, and everybody will be able to go back to work.

 

Yeah, it's bad out here. OTR trucking is a lifestyle not a job. It's like being gay or straight. If you want to be OTR it's always great, even if the miles are bad. One week I might get 1300 miles, the next 3400. I love being away from home, so I don't care about the miles, too much. Most companies dropped the starting pay, and a lot of truckers are going to retire in the near future, plus when the economy turns around and they're more factory jobs, a lot of drivers will go back to the factory so they'll be home every night. I have a great time OTR, miles or not.

 

Nothing personal... But why is it only when people get laid off, they look at the trucking industry?

The trucking industry feels the effects of the economy before everyone else...

 

I think you are definitely in the minority on this comment. I am glad you are happy though.

Drive safe

 

....what is it like? in a word? (two really) .... IT SUCKS.

 

Don't limit yourself to OTR. Traditionally, that is the lowest paying type of trucking out there. You can read about it all over this site. $12.00 per hour is a lot more than most OTR drivers make when you average out the time.

Drive safe

 

You are correct, when you say 'it is a lifestyle'. Not everybody can hack living out of a truck for weeks on end. If you are one of the LUCKY ones, you're home every weekend. But just to see if you can handle it....try camping (and i mean really camping) in a 2 man tent all by yourself. You get a coleman grill, a big cooler with unlimited ice, and you have to live in the forrest for 3 days. If you couldnt handle it, then dont bother.

What gets me is that so many people who have or had good jobs are so desperate, they all think "hey, i can drive a truck..." so they blow $4,000 on school, saturate an already flooded drivers market, then wonder why their felony back in the 1912s is coming back to bite them in the butt.

It would be as if the Titanic sunk in Southhampton, yet everybody still wants to get on even though the ship is going down.

 

Sorry to hear that. It does not "suck" everywhere though. You must work for one of the big OTR companies. If you do, I can totally understand.

Drive safe

 

trucking is a lifestyle - probably the insightful comment i have seen on this forum! - so, so true!

currently i don't drive but i am planning to purchase a truck within the next 60 days or so, with the dream of lifestyle trucking! driving where i want to go and enjoying the drive while doing so! (we'll see....)