So,
these replies are from the 10% that survived more than 1 year in trucking.
Really makes you wonder what the 90% were like !!
so correct me if i am wrong, but what you all are saying is...
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by dougnificent, Aug 10, 2012.
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I understand the original posters sarcasm. There are lots of negative post on this site. That is to be understood. When people feel they have been wronged, they want the world to know. This is a good soap box for truckers.
Trucking is like no job you will find anywhere else. It is one of the highest paying no brainer jobs out there. No degree is needed. Just point the truck down the road and go. That fact is what throws so many folks off. A monkey can do the job, but a monkey not be a success at the job. All successful people have something in common and that is the desire to be the best they can possibly be at what ever task they are performing.
Trucking has different levels. Level one is Company driver. That is the low rung on the ladder. That is where I am. Been there for 7 years. I am well paid for a company driver. The second rung is the lease purchase folks. Now, you can jump from rung 1 to rung 2 and be successful but it is more likely for you to fail. Rung 2, you must start thinking like a company. You have to deal with paying your cost. You are looking to make a profit. That can be difficult because the information you need to make a profit and the power to act on that information is denied you. The company makes money by finding freight to haul. That freight is not priced by the mile, it is priced by the truckload. The company has a sales force out there finding freight. A leaser does't have anyone. If you find yourself on rung 2 you need to move on to rung 3 as fast as you can. Rung 3 is Owner Operator lease on to a company.
Rung 3 folks know what it cost to run as they own their truck. They have more options then Rung 2 folks. They take advantage of the company's resources but have to pay for them by not fulling getting all the revenue.
Rung 4 is the top of the line as far as driving goes. That is the Independent Owner Operator. He finds his own loads and does not have to share his pay. He can also use load boards and brokers but every time someone else is helping his share gets cut.
Each rung gets you more money and also more risk. To be successful, you must be willing to grab on to the risk and overcome it. Lots of folks would rather just blame someone else for their failure. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what excuse you use, you have failed.
Learn the business. That means, learn how to drive, learn how to maintain and repair your truck, learn the freight lanes, learn the economics of transportation (fuel prices), learn tax laws, learn banking rules, learn how to invest, just learn. The more you learn the more likely you are to secede. Spending time listening to folks bad mouth the industry is not learning. It is practicing to fail.Sam Hell, geppetto, truckerdave1970 and 1 other person Thank this. -
truckerdave1970 Thanks this.
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20 yrs and thats all u learned how sad.I have done the exact opposite of what you have said and I enjoy my life. So what if lifes not greener on the other side of the fence. We deal with what we got and move on. The only one I agree with there is #8.
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Don't forget you're boss will always be the biggest A-hole and you will always drive the crappiest truck.
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Thank you Gearjammer. It's nice to hear some level headed thinking.
Just about any idiot can get a CDL and a driving job and there are plenty of them out there. Mostly the ones that can't spell or form compete sentences. But I have great repect for the drivers that can see the future and commit to their career, move forward at the right pace, and move to a good job making good money.Last edited: Aug 10, 2012
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*** caution: this is all one paragraph. my phone doesnt let me space things out correctly. sorry in advance*** apparently i must clarify my post. i got some hate mail from a few people because of my post. wow people, really? did i aim this at any one person (other than the trainer that crapped himself)? i see that the reality is that there are some rather cynical people in this business. my post was made for humor purposes. now, this is where someone will say "if all you are gonna do is joke, we dont want you on the road." calm down now. i have too much respect for the job at hand to make it just "some dumb joke." this is a message board and most of you all get it. some of you just look for reasons to complain... or you have that keyboard courage flowing through your veins trying to act like a ###### that all you are doing is just making yourself look like an idiot (none of that directed at anyone who posted in this thread). someone said "this business is what you make of it." that is true of anything. my plan is to drive and learn and keep learning and then buy some trucks and start a company of my own that the first priority is taking care of drivers and their families. trust me, you want more people in this business like me. you want people that have short term and long term goals that doesn't just include themselves and "screw everyone else." i know how the mega carriers work. two semesters of college doing research and investigation into logistics emphasised on the trucking industry shows that while drivers are being paid a decent wage, certain companies profits are in the millions and in my educated opinion, the drivers are getting shorted daily. yes companies have overhead, but some of the hard working (notice i said hard working) drivers are not being paid what they are worth. i didnt just decide to become a trucker overnight and jump on the first nightmare that came along. i am taking a break from my college degree to actually get involved in the business and really understand what it is all about from the ground floor. i know that i could graduate with both of my degrees and get my masters and walk into a desk job bossing drivers around not even knowing what the drivers go through. but i refuse to go that route. why? there is something bigger than ourselves that strives for fair treatment of all workers in this industry and if that means working my arse off to do something to shed light into what you guys, as drivers, have to put up with on a daily basis... then so be it. i started my research on what company/training i should do back in march. i have been studying the industry for almsot two years. it doesnt matter how much studying one does, if you dont get off you couch weight and go do it, you will never understand this business. does any of this make sense?
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Sorry for asking but do you known a clutch pedal from a brake lining. I know I'm not part of youre industry but what you are saying doesnt make sense
to me. It seems to me you are only here to test the industry, and see where you can find a cummfy spot. You are the the type of of guy, from which I read so far, that will make a perfect broker. Go for it and see how far you can get. Good Luck.
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