So many new drivers so much turnover.

Selling your life for a few dollars,for u have no life when stuck in a truck 3 or 4 weeks at a time. I know we do what we gotta do to survive these days but there is no need to look the other way and pretend that all is gtand and glorious. I see myself going local, or no more than a week or so away from home,life is to short u start realizing this as u get older and youre perception changes.Yeah otr is great for young people full of piss&vinegar fresh or some old timers who never been anywhere doing the 9to5 rut routine for 30yrs and want to see the and get away,me I've been a gypsy for 30yrs. and I'm tired and given up the illusion of making it big by working harder,been working since I was a kid.Money is a tool,not my GOD,If you have food for the day,aroof over ur head for the night,good friends and a wonderfull family and youre health,life is good I believe. I've learned to tell the differrence between ones needs and wants,it's the wants that mess up alot of people I see it all around me all the time.Today I live for my needs it makes life so much simple and free. The best to everyone be safe and enjoy life.

 

Let me get this straight..at the age of 36 your house is paid for and you had savings to boot? Do some research and see how many truckdrivers (or any other profession actually) you can find that has a home they have bought and paid for by age 36...not counting 1975 mobile homes on rented lots lol..I dont know what kind of work you did before being laid off but if you made that kind of money I would definitely do everything humanly possible to find something somewhere in the same field.

 

hey calm down you're being a little too optimistic about the future .

people get involved with driving because they think "hey this will be easy i'll drive a truck no big deal". let me just say one thing i've learned in my short 22 years here on planet earth; PICK A JOB YOU TRULY ENJOY DOING OR ELSE YOUR PAYCHECK WILL ALWAYS BE LESS THEN WHAT YOU WANT IT TO BE! a job cant always be about pay. i LOVE driving. granted i'm a local guy and home every night, but i work f-n hard! i move around 12,000 pounds of milk a day, thats liquid weight and its heavy! but i truly LOVE it, i'm by myself all day. and thats how i like it. i can pay my bills, and have a little extra cash to spend on some crap i don't need. it seems that people think truck driving is some special career that isn't vulnerable to a bad economy, corrupt politicians, greedy cooperation's trying to under cut you etc. VOTE!!! this is how we truly fix the economy, and fix the job markets because trucking isnt nearly as bad as some of the other blue collar jobs markets.

 

It took me about two weeks to realize that sleeper was just a bit smaller than a jail cell...

 

Hammsterock: I did my homework like you did. We were ammassed! Bigoutfits like schnider were begging a year ago then it was 2 yrs expirience then it was up again. 0 expirience, yet there is no real money increase. And to boot, many true truckers say if someone is advertising they have a ridiculus turn over rate. Many horror stories from other forums and google. Many from some inteligent folks of where it was obviousa fleet manager or some dispatcher was simply being unreasonable. I was fortunate enough to have chatted with a guy that had his own small fleet. The bigger the outfit the easier and CHEAPER it is to have the high turn over rate. If one looks at the flow through it only makes sense. Send a guy/girls through school, train 4-5 weeks . let them loose, let them quit after 3-4 months , its absolutly no skin of thier backs-NEXT! yep you got the nail on the head. Like Iraq soldiers a dime a dozen! truly ashame. be well. Good luck

 

How likely is it, as I was told it was, to get a job right out of school that pays 40-45,000 and gets you home a couple days a week?

 

That's exactly what I got. From reading here and talking to others that isn't the norm but is far from impossible.

Seems your best bet is a smaller local company. There has to be a few of those in the Fort Wayne area. Try to talk to some of their drivers to find out what they are like. If they fit what you're looking for show up at their door and talk to them face to face.

 

Bit more freedom though.

 

right now the only thing I got going on is a school in South Bend Indiana and I guess this school has the guys hiring from different companys come to the school on your first day and pretty much hire you then so long as you pass the training. I was told I would be home a couple days a week and would make 40-45000 dollars a year. I just want to know if I should put any stock in this deal and get busy working...

 

With 38 years and over 4.5 million miles i can tell you this is a tough ####### business. If you think you will make more than minimum wage your first year you are sadly mistaken...