Why not quit and get out?

i keep hearing that the pay now is what is was 30 years ago... i don't know if that is true or not..

im still on the new side of this but i cant see doing anything else

more money would be great but being happy and having fun is worth more to me and i always see something i missed or something new... and the 4wheelers never sese to amaze me at their stupidy... so for me it is worth it

 

I work about 60/65 hours a week, I don't remember ever being "abused"...I used to work the 100 hour weeks in the 70's and 80's but I was paid for what I was doing quite well.
I do this because I love doing this and because it's a very lucrative business for me.
If I ever stop enjoying it....I'll walk away and never look back! But after 38 years I still love the sound of tires on concrete as much as I did the first day I heard it.

 

Could not have said it better.I make good money, if I didnt I would find something else. I found out this year how much I love driving. I moved in October and didnt start driving again till december. All I could think about was getting back in the seat. Missed the sound of a the turbo pulling a grade or the sound of the jake coming down the other side, little things like that make it worth it to me.

 

38 years is a long time working a profession to all of a sudden just leave, and that is alot of dedication! If I were driving as long as you I wouldn't even hear the sound of the tires on the concrete. I ride with the window down, so tinnitus has become a close companion.

 

The times I've quit full time driving I never missed it.... I like being home.

But when I have to work I do it... I really don't piss and moan about it. If that drunk illegal hadn't pulled out in front of me in '09 I'd probably be done working by now... but I had to re-finance a truck I've had paid for twice just to get it back together again...

The new guys to the biz think a $40k paycheck is a big deal... the national average US workers wage according to the Feds is about $55,000 right now... talk about taking a pay cut to be away from home...geez!

I get my first social security check next month.... I'll probably have to spend it on fuel!

 

that 55k is for house hold incomes, i believe single income average is more around 30k range i could be wrong though. either way i think the pay for OTR is cheap considering what you sacrifice. you really have to wanna do it and love it. when i go OTR i dont know how i'll like it but its gonna be a hell of an experience.

 

I love being on the road. I miss it. but because of DAC I find it hard to get hired by companies. I now am considering being an owner operator. just waiting on some money I'm gonna be getting. I loved the open road, always seeing new things. It was a change of pace from my home life here in Las Vegas. Love the freedom. The pay was pretty good. better than what I make here in town at any other job. So I love driving. Cant wait to get back into it.

 

I had an LTL linehaul job making $70,000/yr.
It was a good job except that I HATED it...it was the same road day after day after day after day.
Right now, I'm on the way out of trucking...but it can be a good job if you get in the right gig.
The key is to stay away from the big McMega/training carriers and the companies that push you to run hot.
Find a smaller/mid-sized company in a niche area of the biz...and you'll do well.