Is this the end for me in trucking?

I visit my good childhood freinds (Brothers) in their machine shop a lot. I stand there and BS with him while he stands there....all day....running a CNC lathe....making little parts.

No way could I do it.

 

Seems like a very intelligent group here.

Electricians have it made! Could learn it all pretty quickly.....3-5 years...and then you are set and you will never need a boss.

 

Maybe it’s time to be an owner vs a driver? Find a good woman and settle down with some little ones in your future? I wouldn’t waste time I’m 38 with a 6 yr old and a soon to be 1 yr old and feel over the hill some days. I’d love to have a third child but the clock is always ticking and I don’t even drive anymore.

Time to build a sustainable business and get some offspring on the ground sounds to me like.

Edit: If you want something new, become a haz carrier or something along those lines. Become a broker as well. Work both sides of the fence. That’s what I do and I can’t complain if you know what I mean. After all I am an esteemed member of the super ultra TTR millionaires club. lol

 

When I leave trucking I won't look back. I have had wealthy freinds offer to invest in me and purchase trucks and hire drivers.

I laugh and say go for it! No amount of money....no amount....would get me to own a bunch of trucks and hire a bunch of drivers.

I am sure it awesome for some....heck I know it is! I know Pitt-Ohio really well.

But nope. Life is to short and I have zero desire to build much here.

I kinda wonder how we even got to where we are in the world. I mean it took a LOT of HIGHLY motivated money loving people to get to the massive massive industrialized world that we live in today.

It is pretty mind blowing really.

 

No offense intended, but you sound like a person who has been burdened by the comfort that comes with moderate success. 1st world problems if you will. Nothing like a little tragedy in your life to make you appreciate things...

 

Me? None taken. Been there done that. That is exactly why I have no desire to build a castle here.

That is exactly why I can walk away from any THING easily.

Because I love life...as in actual life....like dogs, my wife, my kids.

I don't like comfortable. I like action and challenge and I embrace change and have yet to make a move that put me in a worse position than I was.

Well.....trucking comes close I guess. Not money wise.....just aggravation wise.

Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who owns a truck and is a carrier and operator.

If I am awake I am thinking about the business.....plain and simple.

And I have had enough.

 

I read the whole thread, though it's not possible to sum up a life and all the factors in any length of thread on a forum.

Not liking comfortable is a young man's energy and dilemma. Later in life, we crave "comfortable", even if we still search for challenges and dynamics in other ways.

I've been trucking only since 2014, though I've taken time off regularly to spend it with my family, finishing my bachelor's, now working on my master's, publishing books, presenting at academic conferences and museums- doing what I need to do in order to squeeze the most out of the life that I choose.

I'm not apathetic to what seems to be your frame of thinking on the topic of trucking and an exit strategy.

I guess what I'm trying to convey is some caution about taking where you're at now for granted. Many people in the industry, at any capacity, would give a left toe to be where you're at now. And it seems you understand the trek uphill for starting another path in employment or business.

Perhaps the way to "balance" between work-life and doing what you want to begins with thinking about trucking differently; thinking of it more as a tool to do what you want to do, instead of as an impediment.

Have you really leveraged ownership as much as possible? Have you really put in the planning and effort to achieve more work-life balance?

I know you're here asking for input from fellow O/O's, trying to find some answers to those types of questions. I'm not one, so I can't really give that kind of advice, but I'm sure there are O/O's out there who have it all figured out for them and what they need.

That said, I'm just advising some caution and patience and not jumping ship without really, really thinking things through.

Like we say, sometimes when we get froggy, it's out of the pan and into the fire...

 

time to do stuff

 

Maybe you just need to explore a different segment of the industry. You seem to be in a financially solid position. I had my septic tank pumped out last year, and the guy charged me $600 for what equated to about 10 minutes worth of work in my yard. I even dug the lid free for him, so he just had to stand there with the hose! He can be home whenever he wants or needs to be.

I refuse to drive any truck with a sleeper on it. There's a reason I bought a dump truck. I work normal hours. I never travel further than 100 miles away from my house. I'm not even insured to operate past 100 miles as the crow flies, and this suits me just fine. I bill every single minute I work hourly, including travel time from my house to the job site. Am I always busy? No. But my overhead is low and can accommodate that.

I don't even drive the thing in the winter. I park it, since where I live sees some of the most brutal winter conditions in North America, and I don't feel like slinging chains all day long or wrecking my truck. If I need beer money I can drive someone else's truck during that time, or go work at a hardware store or whatever until spring comes if need be.

 

I feel like I’m in a similar place as @gokiddogo often enough, but not often enough to pull the trigger and actually move on. Though I don’t have the same marketable skills mentioned to make as easy of a transition to another field.


Having an OO brings its own set of headaches, and I expect would likely leave you feeling the same way you do now in short order.
Worth a shot; you won’t know what could be without trying.