CRETE - A Year in Review

Wow. I don't know if I would want to take that big of a cut in earnings...

 

Yes I did, right underneath a msg that said for a free bl*w j*b call me 1-800-bl*wj*b, signed HDkindaguy.

 

Civil,

Endearing. The proportionate response. A perfect example of why when you approach another driver to ask for information, they only crack their window and think you want spare change.

 

Okay, I tried to keep out of this, but I can't.

HDkindaguy: You having to sit in the middle of nowhere for multiple days waiting for an empty trailer sucked. It was uncalled for, and even though all of us know that when you're dealing with weekend dispatchers, you're not dealing with sentient life, they should have moved you to somewhere that had either an empty trailer or a loaded trailer you could grab and move with. If I were you, I'd push for layover pay at a minimum. If denied, I'd take it all the way to Tonn Ostergard if necessary. That's just not right for them to do that to you without any compensation.

Now that I've laid out that position, I'm about to say something that few people involved in this portion of the thread are going to like.

HDkindaguy and CivilWerks, you're both being immature donkey pits in this thread (look up synonyms for donkey and pit to get my meaning). I'm not saying this because I dislike either of you. I'm saying this because I hope you will each re-examine what you have said here to each other.

I read an unrelated article on another (non-trucking) site recently, about the loss of civility in modern society. I'm afraid the author's conclusions are correct, and I have been trying to do my own little part to help reverse that trend.

 

Makes perfect sense to me. Who in their right mind would work for free? This is one of the major reasons that otr stinks. Imagine if you got paid your mileage rate and then hourly for all other on duty time? You would see the turnover rate drop immediatley. What a concept! Any companies listening? Any drivers listening?

And as for this being a lifestyle, not me. Maybe for some though. I view my employment as a career that affords me the lifestyle I choose outside of my truck.

 

You already did.

 

How so? The post I replied to mentioned an annual income (I assume pre-tax) of $50k-$60k. My pre-tax income last year was somewhat higher than that.

 

anybody that doesn't like OTR can go do something else. I enjoy it. This is what I want to do.

 

Easier said than done these days.


Not much out there for decent earnings, of course depending on where you live and all..... Trucking is still relatively easy to get into, but very difficult to make a decent living at. I still follow some O/O threads and see that they are making a decent living (JD), as well as some Company drivers like ET. I don't think the average bear is going to earn that, but they can still manage to find a way in.

I wonder though, how many folks are driving trucks right now that really DONT want to be doing it, and are doing it out of necessity? I had that internal fight myself, coming from a mid level executive background, but loving to drive trucks. The only thing that keeps me consistently in a truck is the low income. Within a month of being out there, I think to myself that there has to be a way to make much MUCH more money and start to lose motivation. I guess I'm still addicted to my high income lifestyle that ended upon layoff in 2007.

 

Once upon a time, I was a network administrator. I grew up loving computers, and that naturally progressed into a career path, which I found I hated with unbridled passion. I started in technical support and moved upward, but I hated cubicles, offices, fluorescent lighting, office politics, and users who held graduate degrees and positions of power and influence but couldn't find the power switch on a desktop computer.

Now I actually make more money than I did then (even adjusted for inflation) and I like what I do. In all, I'm very glad I do what I do - even with all the headaches.