What are you looking for?

From a career in trucking I expect to to see the country and maybe some of Canada, all from the driver seat decent pay at least some half ### benefits good mostly reliable equipment. From School I expect to learn the basics

 

I'm looking for the remote, dang it ! Andy Griffith starts in 5 minutes..........

 

Well I've been a millwright and an operator in a papermill for the last 16 years now and I do believe my lil ol job at the mill is into a major death spiral,they've just shut down another paper machine so now we have 2 out five left running.
I'm 45 years old and been around construction and oilfield most of my life,I would like to try out trucking because I have always loved to drive.
But I do understand driving is only a small portion of this career and realize that this job is sometimes overromanticized.
I do believe that there is a lot of opportunities if a man can keep his nose clean in this career,and that is something that's getting harder to find nowadays.
Another thing,at 45 I'm ready to find something a little easier on the body especially around here in southeast Texas where temperatures will fry you alive during the summer.

And last but not least I am certainly not looking to make a killing in this career but I do believe it'll put beans on the table,plus I think the bottem line is you have to enjoy driving I locally drove some International cabovers long time ago when I got out of school and enjoyed it.

Later........

 

Kittyfoot,

This post may be a bit more than you asked for but anyway here's my answer.

I'm an accountant (actually a CPA licensed here in FL)...for the past 15 years, and I am sick of it. Always stressed out and no one is happy regardless of the outcome. If it's a refund position, then it isn't big enough. If a balance due, he's mad as heck at me for not being willing to cheat for him to reduce the amount. I won't even start with trying to get people to pay the bill...that is a whole 'nother story.

Bottom line...I'm a blue collar guy trapped in a white collar world. Mandiesel, I grew up in a papermill town, actually worked there 6½ years after one failed semester of college 30+ years ago. My Dad retired from the paper mill and two brothers still there, 25-30 years seniority each. I'd be over 30 years there myself had I stayed. Wish I had at this point. That mill is actually doing well when compared to others around the country.

I left the paper mill town and joined the USAF. I needed a reason to breakaway from the mill. Served the 4 years and went to college at Florida State. (I know, the football team continues to suck.) Accounting and finance undergrad and a graduate degree in accounting (yes, one of those over edu-ma-cated guys) ...then went to work for one of the large international public accounting firms.

I've made great money and education is good but life is way too short to hate what you do. I'll always have options with my background. But, my wife is supportive of me doing this and I am ready to give it a shot.

When they lay me 6' under, no one will care how much money I ever made. They'll think of my family, whether I was happy in life, etc.

So, why driving for me, you ask?

I am ready to get on the road, see some of the country, and just do something different. I am tired of being in the same place at the same time, day after day, week after week, month after month...you get the pattern. I know that this isn't a glamorous, sight-seeing tour bus job, stopping off at scenic overlooks and staying in luxurious hotels.

And I may be mistaken on this part, but I see this as much less stress than what I have been through for the past 15 years.

If the majority of my stress will be to move this freight from point A to point B, safely and on time, then I think I can handle that just fine. I also know that there are lots of uncontrollable factors to consider, but I can't worry about what I can't change. All I can do is the best I can. My family won't be devastated if some idiotic company doesn't see it that way and decides to fire me. So, this isn't a desperation move for me.

My wife works, provides the bene's for the family (wife of nearly 23 years). It wouldn't be the lifestyle we've enjoyed in the past, but her pay, meager as it is, would actually be enough to keep 'em fed and keep the lights on and mortgage paid. My kids are 1) a 20 year old college student son who's currently serving a mission in the Philippines and 2) a 16 year old son, junior in high school). My 16 year old son actually thinks it is totally cool that I am learning to drive a semi.

It obviously ain't about the money for me. I could go to another accounting firm tomorrow at about $80-$90k/year, probably 3 times what I will make in a truck in the first year. Money isn't what drives me (no pun intended). I long to be happy.

I am also a bit of a loner...that is probably the only real accountant trait that I have.

But in the future, when I am driving across TX or through KS or up in OH, I won't have to worry about my phone ringing at 6PM on a Friday because someone just got home from work, got an IRS notice in their darn mailbox because THEY forgot to do something I told them to do. And their ineptness it just became MY life's priority to fix it....NOW. So much for the weekend.

In addition...given the economy, I think the timing is just about perfect for the industry to really begin to turn for the better. It may still be a few months away, but it can't be that long....can it? Certainly the trucking industry is a leading economic indicator. We've got to get people back to work. For me, I am looking forward to the 2010 elections...the beginning of the end of the current sitting POTUS.