Are we cut out for trucking? Opions/Advice needed

Like anything, it's gonna come down to what can you handle. Living in the truck is different than living in a 1200 sq. ft. house. (That's the size of our house.) Now, we have kids, and farm critters, so me going w/ him is currently a non-issue. He keeps hinting and outright saying he'd like me to come out there w/ him as co-driver. He seems to forget I have claustrophobia issues. When the youngest gets older, I'll probably take some time while the oldest is home from college (at that point, she's a junior in HS right now) and go on a ride-along.

If JCW could have made anywhere close to $40k at home, he wouldn't be out there right now. I do understand burnout happens. It happened to him. Turning wrenches for unappreciative customers can get to you. Not to mention constantly getting engine bit. We are a one income family, and even his training checks are better than some of the wrenching checks we have gotten in the last few years.

So, I guess, we have a different perspective. From mine, $80k...that's more income than I'd want to walk away from. But that's me.

 

Robingraves painted a quite a honest picture. Imagine being pulled over by every state cop you see in 10 hrs of driving. That's a bit of an exaggeration. But we are looked at closely. Go to a truck stop grab open it to any state and look for red dots. They are DOT scales that check you out.paper work correct equipment ok permits kyu# if any is not in order you now get giged.as of CSA2010

 

I don't know, part of me says to stay with what you have, the other part says go for it. I dropped out of a very lush career to drive. I spent my days in a suit and tie, carried a breifcase and spend more time in the air then I did on the ground. I had several offices around the country, and made a very very nice salary. BUT...I was not happy...AT ALL!!! The money didn't make me happy, travel by air wasn't so fun after a while, time away from my wife and kids always sucked, and simply put, I just never fit in with the other corporate big shots! Im a country boy plain and simple...I just happened to be really good with computers, networking, programming, intra and inter-net.
When I made the final decision to drive, it was very scary for my wife and I. We knew I would take a huge pay cut, but at the same time, it was worth the loss just to find happiness again. But here's the thing...I had a very exact plan before I walked in to the first day of class. I knew I didn't and wouldn't go OTR, at least not coast to coast spending weeks at a time on the road, I knew I could/would not settle for less then a certain dollar amount needed to make it, I knew exactly what I wanted and focused on my goal and nothing else. Today, I drive "regional" (SC to Canada) but for the most part I am home every night...unless it's upstate NY, Canada, or New England. My gross pay is well over $1000 weekly, my bring home is a little more then $1,000 per week.
Did I get lucky in landing the job I have? ABSOLUTELY!!! Is my story a common one? Certainly not! I landed a job that many spend years and years trying to get, and I had only been driving for a few months at that time!
My point is, if driving is really what is going to make him happy, that is all that really matters...right? Everything else you can/will adapt to... If you guys do your homework and stick with the plan, you WILL find what you are looking for. Of course there will be many many hurdles to overcome, but that's life. After typing this and remembering how I got where I am, what I wanted, I say go for it!

 

If you don't have any kids now, staying in a truck with your husband 24/7 is a good way to MAKE some. LOL.

But seriosuly, don't take the pay cut. You both have jobs in this economy and I'm assuming you like them, you're better off staying put.

 

if it was me 80k is not something to sneeze at, i would think more then twice. my income it is a no brainer. I am making less then 20k and my hours are being cut. no insurance because i can not afford it ( 400 a month on my income) not making it with this income so i have to do something to keep us afloat. so driving it is, i enjoy driving, can spend time alone in a small area. If i can not handle it after the honeymoon period wears off i stick with it till i can find a local driving job, but by then my wife will be out of college and working. although getting out of the house at this point is a good idea for my sanity. At leas ti know my money will not be taken by my stepson if i am out in a truck. I will keep it away from him and still be able to pay bills

 

And learn the effects of the new split sleeper laws . Running as a team you can't sit in the passenger seat and enjoy the scenery . When you are in the truck you are either in the sleeper or on duty . Any time less than 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper counts against you 14 hour clock . If you take over as driver you've got it for at least 8 hours while your husband is in the sleeper .

 

Don't be fooled by the big companies, teams sometimes get the same miles as solo drivers. Companies like teams because one person is always in the driver's seat- so they are always ready to go. That is, ready NOW to pick up a load and drive it 400 miles for a delivery tomorrow. Or the next day.

This is embarrassing- but I'm going to force me to do it:
A week and a half ago, my accountant called. He wanted to doublecheck things with me. He says I'm using half the fuel his other drivers are burning, I'm using 41% of gross income to move the truck and stay cool. I GUARANTEE, last summer my wife and I spent many nights laying in bed with a 12V fan blowing on us with sweat rolling off of us wishing we had enough money to idle the truck and stay cool. When you have bills to pay, it's 79 degrees out at night and it's raining- two people in a plastic lined steel and glass box are going to suffer without A/C.

So, anyway- he praised us on our effort. We talked about the cents-per-mile the truck was using for maintenance (another embarrasing admission) and finally said we were on target to make 31,400 dollars taxable income this year. (2011).

After a cup of coffee, I realized that for having twenty two years' experience in this business, after sacrificing my comfort and safety, for all the stress we go through and the effort it all takes (plus NEVER being home) that 31,400 dollars is a sad reflection of my position in life.

Well, there Ya go, I said it. If you guys quit your jobs and come in here you could very well end up parked next to us some night sweating in a truck so you can make a house payment for a house you'll rarely use. Or worse, because your company decided that it's cool enough outside (from behind a desk in a different state) and they disabled the idle option on your shiny new tractor. Yes, that's actually happening.

My advice is to stay put and suffer. The pain of being home every night and having a real job with a future -and probably nice perks like insurance and retirement- is almost unbearable, but stick it out because trucking goes up and down with the economy. The economy isn't finished going down yet, neither is trucking.

 

Just want to be sure I understand what you're saying . $31,400 for a team ? Two people logging how many hours a week ?

 

My thought exactly!

This year...not running hard...on track at 45k.....SOLO, and stuck up and down the I-5!

Where are people getting these incomes....bad word I guess, I wouldn't call that "income"....more along the lines of "servitude stipend"!

 

No, a solo driver and a passenger. Ended up away from home for so long that I let the wife ride.