Advice on exiting the industry

LOL yea I've been told its almost a dead zone where most accept dead heading out of there. Most dump truck companies I have seen here in the Carolinas pay by the hour. I imagine it would be similar there, as with all things I imagine the pay depends on experience, work, and company.

 

Get a job on a cruise ship. Free meals and lodging.
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Oil field drivers make good money and can live in a man camp.

 

@Tallahassee--another option to consider....

with tickets on your record, and if you're still at a "mega"....it may be best just to stay where you are.

What do I mean by that?

Well, at a true "mega"...those are also an incredible bonanza of opportunities.

The available options for different dedicated accounts, routes, etc....can be absolutely amazing.

With over a year and a half under your belt--request for a transfer to a different division, dedicated account, and/or a different type of freight.

Maybe one with more home/off duty time, that will give you a better consistent opportunity to destress/decompress.

In your case--I would avoid intermodal work--if in fact that's an available option.

And yes...."living" in your tractor....is generally a bad idea, long-term.


Stay there (at the newer position)--until those tickets come off your record.

In the meantime---DON'T GET ANY MORE TICKETS.

And don't hit anything, either.

Most really good trucking jobs are reserved for those with spotless records.

--Lual

 

When you find the right place you'll discover that it's a night-and-day difference from all BS you're used to.

In the meantime maybe you should take a little vacation, just a bust out of your current routine/rut and recharge your batteries.

 

Screw the Megas, find a place that respects you. No wonder you’re burned out and wanting to quit. We’ve all been there. Truckings always there, as far as Jobs go. Not many other fields that almost guarantee never being out of work. Take a deep breath. Re evaluate things. Don’t take the first offer. You know you’re not going to stop Driving. Take a break between jobs. You’ll be itching to get back. I got my first ticket on a moped at 15 yrs old for careless Driving. I was totally legal. The day I got my Auto Drivers License on my 16th birthday, I started with 6 points that transferred onto it. That’s what I got for doing everything the Legal way. The careless Driver was a friend of mine that got away on a stolen mini bike. Life’s not always fair. Take charge, leave the mega and their BS behind. Don’t look back. Start over from this point. Stop and start a bad day over, 10 times a day if needed. Best Luck to you.

 

You can’t live in that truck FT
Take some $$ and go to an Airbnb or resort or something nice
Get out and forget about work

I personally take about 6 weeks off at resorts each year plus my home time on top of that and I have a big bunk so on the road isn’t half as bad as it could be but you need to get away from that rig even if you do just 3 days a month it will make a difference and btw Sun-Fri AM are cheaper than weekends by usually 1/2

 

Find someone with a few trucks that either lets you run how you want, or just stay within say 500 miles of the house, sure you spend more time loading and unloading, but you just don’t feel like all you do is wake up, drive 10.75 hours, just to go to bed to do it again in the morning.
More time home helps and stops the burnout.

 

IBEW power lineman or UA pipefitter or whatever that boilermaker union is or whatever that elevator mechanic union is. All $50/hr jobs. 4 years to hit journeyman give or take. I was eyeballing the pipe fitting option because my girl wants me home. Takes a while to get in. Time and a half after 8 and double time on weekends where I live. As a master tradesman you can almost hit 200k