Warning to newbies

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by eptp88, May 16, 2007.

  1. eptp88

    eptp88 Bobtail Member

    38
    7
    Jun 26, 2006
    Nashville, Georgia
    0
    I quit a 40,000 dollar a year job to work at schneider. Thankfully I can go back to my old job and I am on the 1st of next month. Before you take this job you had better make sure you like "you" and I mean alot. You will get alot of time to be with you so make sure. The pay sucks, 500-650 a week to live in a truck without your family and get 2 days off? My old and now new job is 6 days on 3 days off. I thought I wouldn't mind all this. It took me about a year to decide to try it and during training and t.e. it was okay but on your own is different. It was the most depressing, boring and lonley job I have ever had. Although I only drove 2 months more or less it sucked, I mean SUCKED. I told my t.o.m. when I quit schneider can not pay me enough to drive again. If you have a family find something else that will allow you to spend time with them and not in some stinking truck stop and missing life at home. I feel sorry for truck drivers that feel like this is all they got and are scared to quit. I know some people like it and I feel sorry for you. Life only happens once, kids are only young once and this lifestyle will cause you to miss it all, 2 days off in 2 weeks work cycle, what the @*$# is that? I know I knew that when I started but my warning is wait until you are alone, missing your family and lost, then your paycheck is 490.00. You can pick up cans or work at a supermarket and make that much. Think about it long and hard, it sucks!!!!
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. longbedGTs

    longbedGTs Heavy Load Member

    974
    717
    May 8, 2007
    Texas
    0
    I dont mean to start an argument here, but just imagine if everyone thought of it as you do. This nation would come to a grinding hault. That toilet paper you need, would still be at the factory rather than on the shelves in the store. The veggies you eat, would still be in the field. So on...
    Remember, if youve got it, a truck brought it!
    Everyone has their own reasons, and there is no need to degrade them.
     
  4. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    12,905
    12,201
    Sep 17, 2006
    WY
    0
    BOTH of you have good points.

    I'm glad I put in my time in purgatory and now have a good local job.
     
  5. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Medium Load Member

    594
    29
    Jun 11, 2006
    Texas
    0
    Yeah, if that was all I could make, I wouldn't do it very long either. However, I made more than that just starting out in the early 90's, and when I left the road in 2003 I was making far more than that.

    Don't paint the picture full of doom and gloom for everyone, sounds like you just had a bad experience.
     
  6. eptp88

    eptp88 Bobtail Member

    38
    7
    Jun 26, 2006
    Nashville, Georgia
    0
    I Did Not Say We Dont Need Trucks Or There Drivers All Im Saying Is The Pay Isnt Worth The Time Away From Home And All You Miss Out On. I Think You Should Be Better Compensated For The Crap You Have To Put Up With. The Average Driver At Sni Makes 50k And Thats A Stretch But Sni As A Company Makes Billions, What The ####.
     
  7. ajb1972

    ajb1972 Bobtail Member

    44
    1
    Oct 27, 2006
    Springdale, AR
    0
    I don't think he was degrading truckers.
     
  8. Burky

    Burky Road Train Member

    Based on the fact that you only drove for a period of two months, and as anyone knows there is a strating period in this or any other job, I have to question the validity of your advice. We spend a lot of time on here pointing out the facts of what the beginning of a trucking career is like, and most people that start give it a much longer period of time than you did.

    for the record, I think that we have always recommended that someone stick out the first year and then reevaluate their career choice. making a decision to dump it after only two months is not one of the best bits of decision making I have heard of. If we assume that you spen the normal 4-6 weeks with a trainer, you drove solo for 2-4 weeks maximum. Not enough time to make a reasonable evaluation of the job.

    Sorry it didn't work out for you, it does for many others.
     
  9. kd5drx

    kd5drx <strong>Master of Electronic Communications</stron

    485
    101
    Nov 28, 2006
    Some where USA
    0
    I used to tell my trainee's you are not starting a new Job your starting a new LIFE and thats what it is trucking is not a job its a lifestyle. Its not for every one that is for sure. But like has been said before you have to give it atleast a year and sometimes 2 before you have the expereiance and the skills to be a wanted comodity by some of the better companies. I was a company drive a trainer and a owner operator befor i got off the road and went to be a driving instructor at a small vo tech school and i loved teaching the young folks how to drive and to back up. It wasn't over the road i was teching i was teaching them how to get the truck down the road so they could haul equipment for there heavy equipment training and it was fun. I am now over seas working in a war zone and i drove over here for 2 years. Now you think trucking in the states is bad try drivinh thru a war zone and getting shot at bombed and blown up every time you leave the gate. In 2 years i was blown up as we xall it 12 times i had something go BOOM around or under my truck and took small arms fire every time we went out allmost. Now i am working in another field i love that beeing comunications. But the one thing i look forward to when i leave this is coming home buying a truck and trailer and getting back on the road. It is best described as an adiction worse than any drug you can ever imagine. Its like deisel fuel is part of your blood stream. My wife drives also so when we come back we will be out on the road again and back to what we love. My son will be going to school in a month or 2 and start his driving career he has been in adn around trucks his entire life and he tried to make it with out geting in a truck i wanted better for him but you know sometimes it just doesn't make since in todays cooperate world to kill yourself in a 4 by 4 foot cubicale for nothing. Any way like i said in the start TRUCKING IS A LIFESTYLE you either are a trucker or you aren't if you aren't it will never make since if you are no need to explain.
     
  10. CommDriver

    CommDriver Road Train Member

    1,315
    479
    Dec 9, 2006
    0
    I worked in a couple of call centers, one for Avis, and the other, Sprint. I was lucky to make $325.00 a week after taxes. If I could make $40,000 a year doing that, I probably would though.

    I'm not married and don't have kids so that's not an issue for me right now. But I agree with you there. If got married, I would definitely have to turn in the keys for awhile just to know who I'm married to.
     
  11. Army91W

    Army91W Heavy Load Member

    743
    717
    Nov 3, 2006
    San Antonio, TX
    0


    I not a truck driver, I'm in the military but you sound pathetic. Try staying away from home for 365 days. Don't judge people because they can stay off the couch at home for longer then a few days. You put down people's ways of life because why? Did it make you feel better?Good luck on picking up cans.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.