Police officer to truck driver career change.

It's a crime that's exactly what some police and firefighters do. A disability pension pays a lot more and I read that many firefighters in NY end up going on disability pensions then work a fulltime job while supposedly disabled.The other crazy thing in NYC your pension is based on your last year's pay including OT,so guess who racks up the most OT? I know a retired NYC bus driver who has a pension of 90G per year thank to earning $180 G in his final year on the job.

 

Nice but 90Gs in NYC probably equals 35Gs else where in the country.

Anyhow, I don't understand pensions but can he ride out the remaining 9yrs working in other areas for the city/state? I mean like get his CDL and drive a dump truck for road repairs etc?

 

The other thing I would think about is how far down the seniority list are you???

You may be bummed down to jailer for a while however I would think that the older officers above you are looking at retirement and that should move you back up a bit,....

I think anyway,......

 

That's a very good pointe, but when you're doing something you hate, that sometimes is forgotten. I know just where he's coming from. The very worst thing you can do to yourself, is stay in a place you hate.

 

I think one thing that is being over looked is that police work requires one at times to put their lives on the line. The other thing is all the crap you have to deal with on a daily bases. It would flat out depress the hell out of me. Also, I've got a friend who is a prison guard and he says the only difference between him and an immate is he gets a check and gets to go home at night. The rest of the time he is locked up alone side the prisoners. So for those reasons alone would have me looking into a career change.

 

Got laid off from an exec level job in 2007, started driving truck cause I always wanted to. Moved to Charlotte, started looking at the Charlotte/Mecklenburg PD, they wanted to pay me $38.8 base WITH a degree to deal with the MS-13 and other morons running around this city. No freakin way. I don't know how you guys do it, but I'm #### glad you do.

 

If you move look at the cost of living. 90K a year is nothing to live in New York City. You'll find jobs down in the southeast that pay almost nothing but the cost of living is good. The only place I saw that the pay didn't match the cost of living was in Southern Maryland. There they paid nothing but the cost of living was like Wshington D.C.

Trucking still has companies that pay good plus they have good benefits packages too. My last company had better benefits than the military and I have never seen better. Of course those jobs are the top and hard to get into. But you'll never get there if you don't drive somewhere else before. Those kind of companies want the best and that's want they get. The drivers stay there until they retire. It may take 10 years or more to get there and if you get tickets and such you'll never see them. But it's a good goal and takes some homework to find them.

There's a few drivers on this board that are making very good money and have great benefits. So if you plan to come into trucking as for a limited time you'll stay at the bottom. But if you come in to stay then you'll do your homework and go to the better schools and stay away from trash schools and companies. Just like anywhere else, you'll need to build your record to get the most.