Warning to newbies

I've been driving 6 years and now employed with a great company-Shaffer Trucking. It's been a long, bumpy, pot-filled road over the years to get to where I am today. But I survived and finally attained the pay rate of 0.44 cpm. But in attaining that high pay rate, I had to "pay my dues" in the beginning and prove myself to be able to handle high value loads, delivered safely and on-time, and all done legally and within HOS. I started as a student for CRST and was making 0.18 cpm with my trainer on the road. When my trainer graduated me, I was raised to 0.22 cpm. I new there were greener pastures and I was determined to see a better payday. I stayed with CRST 2 years knowing that 24 months experience would be to my ticket to getting hired on by a better company. I wanted to be a solo driver pulling reefer-I'm part of the machine that helps feed America. Hard work and dedication can be financially rewarding in trucking.

 

army91w....great point...as an army reservist (63b/89b) i was deployed for 18 months...saw my kids and family for 2 weeks of that time while on leave and i wasnt even overseas, and lets not even start on when i was active duty

as to the diesel technition job.....yes i tried it, yes i have 5 ASE certifications and am wreckmaster level 5/6 certified...why do i drive em instead of workin on them anymore?? glad you asked....money
i do NOT need to own 60k worth of tools to make $12-14/hr anymore
no more middle of the night wrecker/service calls
no more havin to work on some slobs nasty butt truck with 20 cats in it( guess how much fun that was)
and most of all no one standing over my shoulder watchin me work (drivers and bosses)

this is a way of life, i grew up around mechanics and drivers, so i guess its in my blood.
my dad and brother both drive
my grandfather drove to save the money to buy his own shop
the two things this world cannot live without are soldiers and truckers
wow....now that thats off my chest

its more than a job, its an adventure

 

Broncrider that ept guy annoyed the heck out of me for some reason. To me he insulted everyone who is proud to drive truck for a living. Their lives don't SUCK if they like what they're doing. Military and truck drivers have something very very much in common in my opinion. We love to complain about the work we do put we're very proud of what we do. Whether we admit it or not. I'm in the second year of being deployed. The first year wasn't much fun being over seas but now I have a cush job in Fort McCoy, WI. Just don't tell anyone!

 

Thanks for your sacrifice and service to our country, Army91W. I was in the U.S. Navy and served aboard nuclear fast attack submarines deployed in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean during the height of the cold war in the '70s. Our WestPacs lasted over 180 days away from my home port of San Diego. You're right, Army91W, I too believe that military and truck drivers have alot in common. For me, the experiences I lived through isolated in a submerged steel tube prepared me to easily adapt to the demanding job of OTR truck driving and the trucking lifestyle.

 

DRIVINGMYLIFEAWAY thanks for your service. i work with a few x Navy mostly medics though. I'd say to be in a submarine has takes some B/-\ll$.

 

91w ...yer right ...if a soldier /truckdriver isnt complianing there is something wrong.
both jobs have upsides and downsides...i wouldnt trade any of it for anything else
FT mccoy huh.....i had a school there a few years ago, ULLS-G....i dont remember much about it though...myself and a few others spent alittle too much time at the NCO club. nice facilties though. i might be back there this year if my BNCOC goes thru...we'll hafta hook up an have a cold one ( i mean a soda logsrus)

 

My first tour of duty was aboard THRESHER Class attack submarine USS BARB SSN596. After loss of all hands aboard USS THRESHER SSN593 in 1963 all submarines went through the SUBSAFE Program. I served aboard BARB after all SUBSAFE engineering modifications were retro fit. Before each overseas deployment, we did the same deep dive to test depth THRESHER did to prove BARB seaworthy.

 

broncrider the nco academy wakes me up every morning at 0530 doing pt. I live right next to them. But a beer for sure. Summer time means a lot of soldiers doing AT and McCoys will be full. Drivingmylifeaway I don't know how'd I feel about testing a submarine with all that pressure the ocean puts on it. At least it past the test right? LOL

 

Army91W:Yes, BARB passed her deep dive to test depth every time. One of my watchstations was submarine driver. On a few occasions when I had duty at the helm I dived BARB at a 30 degree down angle to the edge of her safe operating envelope.

 

I'm in a tech school now, getting my CDL license. We have recruiters come in every week. And every week the same students ask the same questions about "how much does regional/local pay" and "how often do I get home?" What I wonder is, how many people have really, really, looked into job/lifestyle of trucking? Are they only seeing the $$ signs? Why would anyone who already has a career/job (not picking up cans) CHANGE his/her own AND his/her family's life without seriously looking into the new career? I've found the experiences/advice that you established truckers have shared is honest and realistic (and you guys don't always agree and that's great because it presents all sides). IMHO, If someone goes into this career/lifestyle (or any other) without completely looking into it, be it reading forums, talking to people in the job, talking with companies, or doing research, s/he should not really be surprised at the "surprises" of the reality of what that job really is. The people that are thinking they can do this job for all this great money AND be local/regional almost from the very get-go are probably not being realistic about the sacrifices anyone makes at any job. You don't start at the top! I can tell the people in my class that are going to feel the way the original poster of this thread did. And if a person is college-age at least, has already been in the workplace long enough to establish him/herself, old enough to have a family, then s/he should be VERY serious and realistic about ANY major career/life change. Are you looking for THIS job? Or this job's "money"? Would you do this job if the money were just okay? And if you and your family need the income you feel this job will bring, are you willing to sacrifice the home time, and run the hours, be on time, and do what you have to, to make that money? Again, nobody starts at the top.

Sorry for being so long-winded!