Any more local jobs out there? Seems like the Big companies are taking over.

my opinion is the government is trying to make the trucking industry stupid proof. i think if they just left it to the old timers to hand it down to the right guys, the trucking industry would weed out the ones that dont belong just like in construction.

now a days its just a matter of a test and certifications and time spent at a school and all this other crap and stress to pass these tests and whatever instead of just gettin behind the wheel and have someone show you the do's and donts thats been threw it

 

I've been in the job market for 38 years. I've had many jobs besides driving. Mostly building trades like HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing. I've spent many years in one kind of service work or another.

Now I told you all that to tell you it isn't just trucking that has gone to hell. It is the US economy and the US job market in general. Thirty or forty years ago a smart man was looking for a place to work until retirement. I have carried that mentality for years but finally about ten years ago I realized that it was no longer an option.

Now all but a few elite or fortune 500 companies see their employees as an expendable commodity. They find ways to get rid of the ones making good money and replace them with cheaper labor. They out-source their customer service and technical support. They move their manufacturing facilities out of the country.

Now many are offering flexible schedules and allowing employees to work at home. This sounds good until they cut your hours and make you part-time. Then they cut the benefits. Every company that my wife and I have worked for in the past 10 years have cut insurance benefits and raised the employee share of cost every couple of years.

Don't get me wrong, I have made from $35,000 to $50,000 doing service work. I am home every night and usually on call for one week every three. So it's not all bad. Of course there are no jobs right now. The point is benefits, if there are any, are usually nothing more than health insurance for which you pay about half the cost.

One place I worked they lost every service guy but me and I kept the place going for two or three months in the summer working an average of 68 hours a week. When this happens, you can absolutely walk on water and they love you. Fast-forward a year and a half later with twice as much time as my co-workers. The economy gets bad and they let the guy making the most go (me). They wouldn't walk across the street to piss on me if I were on fire. This is what the job market has become, IMHO. You are great if they need and can afford you otherwise you are worthless.

Now I'll agree the government has their nose way too far into the trucking industry and this is not helping. But it isn't much different in many professions. However, I think anyone leaving trucking thinking the job market is a lot different in some other industry will be quite disappointed.

 

i hear you big john. i feel like i got real lucky with my new job a year ago delivering milk to grocery stores/gas stations/small mom and pop convenient stores. i'm on salary so i never get over time. the thing about my route is i drive to the plant which is less then 5 minutes from my house, i hop in the work truck its already loaded, and i drive about an hour to where i start my route, then when i finish i drive about an hour back. after doing the math, depending on the day i dont get paid for that hour of driving time. lots of people would ##### and moan, and somedays i do but heres the thing if i a company an hour away asked me to work for them and they covered all my fuel expense's i would take that job if it was doing what i am now.

i talk to my boss about working there, and even in this economy and uncertain times he says right to me "you can stay here as long as you like". and back in november i was out 2 weeks sick he paid me in full no questions asked, even had me take one more extra day to make sure i was up and running. so theres definitely give and take and one thing about this job is yeah theres cons, salary, etc, but one hand wash's the other as they say and you gotta be smart in this job market to notice the differences between people who are just roughin threw these hard times and doin what they can like my boss, or companies that legitimately screwing people cuz i learned the difference with the job i had before this one.