Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

Ya. I gotta nip it in the bud prior to employment. Gotta make sure I'm firm with the employer, hopefully they are honest with me... My buddy owns a dump truck company but ya know how that goes working with friends or family... makes for bad relationships... haha...

 

I was friends with someone for about 10 years or so when they talked me in to moving to Hawaii and working for them. I moved to Hawaii in Sept of 2018 and moved back to the mainland in Dec of 2018 and I haven’t spoken a word to them once I left Hawaii.

 

Mercy. Thank you. I been trying to tell them, it ain't meant to be...

 

Plenty of Local jobs around here. Jobs I could only wish to have years ago. ABF looks good. So does Dayton. I used to work local. M-F 40-50 hrs. Last job was 60 hrs. Last few months it was 4 days with wed off. Add 1 hr. Commute each way. Money was good, Paid 72hrs. (60 in 4days OT after 8). But no way would I want to stay there forever. Time does go by fast working Local. Easy money. It’s the daily commitment I dread. Along with the 5 day routine. Mondays being low, Fridays being a high. Weekends never being long enough. On the other hand, punching out and leaving it behind sounds good. When there’s a problem it’s theirs, not mine. Seems I live with this Trucking Business 24/7. Even while relaxing at home, I’m uncomfortable knowing I’m either losing revenue, or neglecting something that needs done. I’m grateful that at least I have a choice. Wasn’t always that way. Having a lot to do, kind of sucks. I bring it on myself. Still beats being bored. I see a lot of people like that, in their later years. Retired, or floating along at a job they hate.

 

I'm 39 with 16 years experience. ABF and any bump dock companies is a hell no 4 me. Im looking at dump, trash, or something like that work. Same here. My trucking operation is a 24/7 deal but the pay off isn't enough compensation. Not to toot my horn, cause I'm not a fat redneck, like ive been accused of but, with this truck and trailer paid off, when I sell i should get a decent check... the "open road" isn't so open these days... more of a job than a lifestyle...

 

I recall you having mentioned going out to Hawaii in the past. Maybe even when you were there? What all did you not care for about it?

 

Didn't get enough miles.

 

Rent is insane and nobody will rent if you have a pet. He offered to build a tiny house on his property and I’d live there as part of my pay. When I got there there was only a shell of a space and no work done on the interior. So for 4 months I lived in an office trailer with no insulation or kitchen, it only had a fridge, and I had a potapotty outside. I had to walk to the shop to shower. All the while there wasn’t any work being done on the other place so I left.

The job itself was great. I hauled macadamia nuts to the processor, then I’d load shells out and take them to a gen plant that burned them for energy. We’d haul landscaping rock. And we hauled a lot of cattle.

I saw the joke about miles but it was pretty easy to get 4-500 miles a day running around the Big Island.

 

There seems to be a good number of local jobs here in the DFW metroplex. My issue with them would also be the slave labor mentality. I’ll work for myself for 14+ hours a day but I am not trying to work for someone else for 14+.

I know just reading some of the reviews on here of drivers posting about how you can drive for 10 and then work another 4 on the dock. Lolol. Sorry but I don’t wish to drive in DFW traffic for 10 and then roll around the dock another 4 hours and go home and rinse and repeat, I’m 57 I’d go down as a Walmart greeter before I would give some LTL 14+ hours of my life a day.

I’m like @JonJon78 but I’d be willing to do the 8-12ish a day but when I’m don’t driving I’m gone. Which actual jobs get you that I don’t know. Even on places like Glassdoor and indeed reading reviews. Who actually posts reviews other than jaded people on those sites so it is hard to actually gauge which are good and bad.

 

It's funny how life is always about looking on the other side.

So many people come on here thinking the Holy Grail is to be an owner operator and most of them have no clue what any of that involves.

Then you have people that are owner operators that say wow you know it's a lot and the money and the working and the insurance and whatever else if I had a job that paid this much and it was 8 hours a day and...

I just think it's very hard to make the transition especially if you've worked for yourself for a any period of time.

Not that everyone would do this but I know a guy that has a couple trucks and one of the places he delivers to a concrete place the guy there said hey man I'll give you a job You'll Be Your Own Boss I just want you to run the shop and make sure everything is maintained and you know you do anything you want to do and I'll pay you this amount of money and at first the guy was all excited about it.

I think that lasted about 2 days and all I heard from him was I work for myself I had enough of this you can't tell me what to do the hell with this guy who the hell is he think he is.

Myself I've been around trucks and Equipment my entire life. When I would get into a company truck some plastic electronic piece of junk that's governed at 58 miles an hour and some slob was in there before me and the steering wheel is greasy and the truck is dirty.. that stuff really bothered the hell out of me.

So I guess I'm just saying everybody has their own reasons for doing what they do but even if you got the dream job that you think you would get it may not work out unless it's really something insane like you make $150,000 for working 8 hours a day.

That would be incredibly hard to say no to but at the same point in time I think it could be incredibly frustrating.

Just some random thoughts everyone please be safe in your travels.