Trucking with a college degree

My husband has his Bachelors too in Business Admin. He has a game plan to own a few trucks so in the end it will be worth it.
He's a hard worker last job he worked 80 hour weeks for 6 years straight.
If you have a strong work ethic and a game plan you can make way more than a police officer or Investigator.
I have known several people in my life who started out OTR as a company driver and ended up with a small fleet of there own.

 

I am a pediatric critical care nurse and a superior court court reporter. I am going to do the same as you. I love the road. I feel most at peace when I am driving. There's nothing better than leaving one state going to the other and seeing how the landscape changes, the smell in the air is different, the sky is different. I just love it. And when you drive long distances you see things in a way that is different than you might have imagined. Good luck to you. Education is NEVER wasted. You will get an education on the road!

 

Glad to know I am not the only one! I am have been a L&D RN for 18 years and my hubby and I are looking to go OTR in about 4 years as O/O. He will be retiring from 31 years as a power plant operator and we driving as semi-retirement strategy for 5 to 10 years. For us it about doing something we enjoy on our own schedule. (12 hour night shifts are getting OLD!)

 

I really mean no offense with this, but have you really looked into trucking and done your homework? I'm making an assumption (I know all about assuming, lol), but I take it you're planning on running team. You do realize that one of you will be running at night, and I driver shift is typically 11 hours. Just saying it sounds like you're getting out of the frying pan and into the fire. Please, do your due research about this industry. It's not a cake walk, but can be.

As for the OP, I too have a degree, but cannot find work in my field. I have an engineering degree in drafting and design. I absolutely love it, but can't pay the bills off of a bit of freelance here and there. No companies want to hire a grad with no work experience in the field. I met a guy that is literally a nuclear physicist, and he was going to truck driving school. He worked in his field for almost 30 years, and has something like 8 degrees. He was faced with layoff or early retirement, so he took the second and wanted a job that he in his words "didn't have to think so much." lol

It's all on what you want. Don't let others live your life because of their expectations. You won't ever be happy if you do. If you want to drive, drive. Be safe, and good luck.

 

This is one reason the turn-out is so high.........

 

I don't know 123456. I have an AA and a Bachelors and both were paid for by the transportation industry using the living at mom's/working/saving/quarter off-attend school/return to work program.It took forever or so it seemed.I have held many different positions within the trucking industry yet always migrated back to that of a driver.I have no prepared answer as to why that is other than I must actually enjoy being behind the wheel.

Yes the turn out is high but I am inclined to think that is just how things are today.People are unable to stick with anything inclusive of relationships,jobs,life in general and move on in search of whatever they think they are seeking yet have no idea what it is they seek.The demands of trucking get to them a bit quicker as opposed to other occupations and they act accordingly by moving on.The broad scope of all the government intrusion and oversight will push drivers such as myself out and the new breed will plop on in and feel at home due to being ignorant of that government intervention.they have grown up accustomed to it which is why the noobs love eobr's and having every move recorded.It is all they know.

 

I'm just saying,

this is a temporary job , filling in until their real field opens back up.


if it ever does.....

 

more than likely using that perspective. come 2013,hopefully America was awakened and those fields do indeed open back up,albeit slowly after the attempted tear down of the economy-

 

Don't you know that EVERYTHING is nothing more than temporary? Just make the best of it, and enjoy what you can, because it is likely to be different tomorrow. That's not to say it will be either better, or worse, just different.

 

I'm 45 and been in sales, in some form or fashion, since I graduated from college in 1995 with a B.S. degree. I've sold office equipment, medical equipment, financial services and software. I even decided to take my hobby and make a business out of it. Big Mistake by the way!! That was a BBQ restaurant and catering service. Now I don't enjoy doing BBQ anymore and I can't compete or make enough money to pay the bills. After payroll, fixed expenses, food cost and TAXES I don't bring anything home.

Now I live in rural NC and the job opportunities aren't there and we can't move at this point in time. I could get another sales job and hit the road and I would be gone all the time or get my CDL and hit the road and be gone about the same (regional). I would rather drive the truck and make less rather than get back into the sales. And, yes I have done my research about trucking and understand the pros/cons.

I'm not the one that has "always dreamed of driving a truck" or raised by a truck driver who was raised by a truck driver..... However, there are aspects of the business that I'm very interested in and think I will love. I'm sure there are aspects that I will hate as well, but that is the case with any and every career. I have a great deal of respect for those in the industry that make and keep this country working. I also find the subculture amazing and diverse.

Of course all this is my perception looking in from the outside. I hope and pray that my assumptions are close to correct and I've done my homework (no pun intended) well enough that I'm making a decision based mostly on reality.

So, I think I'll go for it!!! Learn as much as I can from those who have the knowledge!

There is so much to gain from this experience and little to risk. This is the case for me at this point, so here we go!!

God Bless!!