Is Trucking that bad.....

Simple answer to your question is "YES!"

OK smart arse mode off now.

First off, you can gain a lot of knowledge about companies when you read these forums. And there is not a company, or a job in the world, that does not have negative aspects to it.

There is the old saying that "If the troops ain't beeching, they ain't happy." And there is a lot of truth in that, particularly for some people.

But the fact is that there are certain companies that you just would be better off not working for. THAT is where going through these threads can help you, a whole lot.

You are not going to find the "perfect job." You WILL have to "pay your dues, like everyone else." Most of us have worked for both good and bad companies. Sometimes, you need to work for a bad company, just to realize the difference between the good and the bad.

One thing I strongly suggest though, is that if you have doubts about doing this job, if you have doubts about going OTR, HEED THOSE DOUBTS! It is a tough life, particularly for a family man. And it is a tougher life on the folks they leave at home.

Is your wife going to be able to handle those emergencies that come up while you are gone? Sick or injured kids, (or herself for that matter,) sudden plumbing problems that flood the house. Appliances that decide to quit working the morning you are getting ready to leave, or right after you are gone?

There are many things to think about with this as a career.

 

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If you have been reading from this site for a couple of months, you are missing alot! There are alot of positive people on here and alot of people have good experiences with a company that others dont. It's not a career for everybody, thats for sure, but just keep on reading and learning, there are alot of great people on here, and good advice too.

 

Every company has it's short comings and none are perfect. Trucking is hard work and takes an emotional toll, especially on new drivers and even more so when there are wives and children at home. If you compare the hours worked in a week vs. the amount of pay a new driver earns, you are making minimum wage at best. It's a dog eat dog business and you, the newbie, are wearing milkbone underwear. You will not get good runs until you prove you can handle getting the short loads delivered on time and legally within your HOS. You can expect to be away from home at least 3wks at a time put should plan on longer. You will be disrespected by the terminal manager, the fleet manager, the driver manager, the dispatcher and even the custodians. $h1t runs downhill and you're on the bottom rug of a very tall ladder. About the time you start getting respect and decent money your 2yr stint in hel is over and you will be free to look for local work. You will be tired and hungry and lonely. You will miss your family. You'll be 1000mi. away when the washer quits, or the car won't start, or little Ralphie get bullied at school. You need to make dam sure you can handle all that or you will get chewed up and spat out like so many others. Good luck.

 

The thing you won't see on here is although we are all complaining 24/7 we generally make twice as much as the avg person, and have good lifes. for the most part. trucking is not a job it IS a lifestyle if your just looking for a job you are definitely looking in the wrong industry.

 

Many guys are never happy and those are the ones you hear from the most. People tend to take the time to post negative stuff more than positive stuff. Some will dwell on the one negative thing they can find and forget all the positives.

One guy I worked with quit one place because he was making no money. Then at my company he was making more money than he planned on but was upset because he wasn't running all 48 constantly enough so he quit here too. I guarantee the next place he goes he'll quit because they didn't pack his lunch for him or something stupid. As Big Don said there is no perfect job and unfortunately this guy is devoting his life to finding it. He'd be one of those guys complaining on here if he posted here.

On top of that many of these guys simply can't handle the lifestyle. If you're unhappy with the lifestyle you will be completely unhappy with the job. There is no "At least I'll be at home soon when the day is done" mentality with this job if you're OTR. Many of these guys that are unhappy with OTR itself get very worked up and will spout off a lot of crap that mostly will be exaggerated because they're just angry with the whole thing at that point.

So I guess my point is you have to put it all into context, power up your BS filter and remember there is almost always more to the story than you are hearing.

 

I would think for every bad review of a company there are 100(if not more) good unposted ones...Happy people tell few, unhappy people tell everyone they can...