Whats the good, bad and ugly sides

Things are different now with Elogs etc but the complaints people have are all the same. The only way to find out is jump into the industry and see if it works for you.

 

The trucks are nicer if you like technology. My company truck has fridge and inverter and microwave/air fryer. My truck has all disc brakes, automatic transmission are basically standard today.

My new company truck has to be towed to dealer because of transmission fault. They want drivers today to run full 11 hours on ELD. Then take your 10 off and get up get rolling again.

parking can be a mess you really have to plan on you parking spot every day. The truck stop start to fill up about 5-6pm. The paid parking is usually has parking available. Paying to park in the same spot that was free years ago kinda sucks. Hopefully the company will pay for it. It can get expensive at $20-25 a night. Some drivers start at 4am just so they get free parking at end of day.

 

With your cpat and cat issue you’d better off local.

 

I think that really depends on you, your personal situation and the lifestyle you want. Many say that trucking is a lifestyle. Not me. Truck driving was a career that provided me my lifestyle. Personally, I could have never worked for an OTR company. I have this strange idea that I should be paid in some fashion for all of my on duty time. I worked for a local HazMat company first pulling freight and then dedicated tanker for the last 18 years. I was represented by the Teamster union. I retired in 2024 at age 60. Full pension and retiree medical. But again, it's totally up to you.

 

What does a test given to firefighters have to do with a cat or driving semi’s

 

It depends on your money goals, personality, working conditions, schedule, how much of a non-work life you want/need to keep normal.
I'm not asking you to post answers online for all to read, but you need specific numbers, real answers to those questions. General answers are not good enough. EVERYONE wants a good job with decent pay and decent conditions with a decent schedule and some time off. With those general conditions then any job will supply those. We know not every job supplies the same money, conditions, schedule, etc. So you need to replace each one of those "decent" above with numbers, specific words or times or the info needed if you were telling someone how to do that job. Vague answers mostly just increase anxiety with no clarity. So you need a money number. You need a specific schedule, if you have any schedule limitations or accept any schedule if you have nothing that can't be done whenever you are not working. You need detail, detail, detail. "If you don't know where you are going, then any road will take you there." If you have a specific 'destination' then you have to pick the right road and ignore the 'roads' that don't go to the 'destination'.