Be honest, is trucking a good job?

I have been in trucking for 5 years now and love it I have been at pepsi beverages company for most of the 5 years just got full time a year ago and I made 71000 last year and looking to be the same this year and I am monday to friday straight days and home every day all local anything past 8 hours is overtime too, plus I do not miss working in a factory love being able to jump in my truck and be on my own. I make 27.50 plus benefits and love being able to not sit in my truck all day but bring the product in.

 

Like a lot of the other drivers said it is a hard life and it is even physically challenging as well as mentally with all the crazy 4 wheeles and even other truck drivers out there. The dispatches sometimes dont help the situation either. I just had to quit one company because they wanted me to run illegally all the time, but the problems really started when they started to charge me for not delivering a load on time even though I told them I couldnt make the delivery when I was given the load and it was a T-Call. Go to school like the other driver said and become a doctor, lawyer, but momma dont let your boys (woman too) grow up to be truck drivers!!!

 

Yeah, 4-wheelers flying around you with just 1 inch. If you've of been going slightly fast you'd be picking the remains of a BMW out of your hood... So things that happen make our cheeks tighten. Then you hit a pothole at the same and pray it wasn't that BMW with 2 infants in the back seat.

 

It's like anything, good and bad. I made about $40,000 my first year, but I run hard. One thing to be aware of though, give La Hood (sec. of transportation) another 4 years and theres no telling what our hours of service regs. will look like. Plus with Obama tossing around the idea of a 60 mph nationwide limit on trucks we could all see our $ take a drop. I'm not trying to say these things are going to happen, but it's a possibility. As far as trucking being a good job or not you need to look inside yourself. Read about it on the forum here, Look at the good and bad, and decide if you can handle it because most people cant. Yes you can make good money, but not if your not willing to work for it.
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braggart!

 

Great attitude and work ethic!!

 

hmm.. RickG, i would think the best advice one could get is from someone who has already been down the "newbie" road. Maybe someone who has made all the mistakes already and lived to tell about it lol... to say all posts by drivers with 10+ years is irrelevent would be like saying to an old man in a retirement home that he has never done anything in life. just my opinion.

 

30 years trucking and it's all I ever wanted to do.
There's been ups and downs but it's been real good to me. I've done OTR, O/O heavy haul, cows, tanks etc.
Now I've been LTL linehaul for the last 15 yrs. and I still love climbing up in that cab!
Go into it with a good attitude, do your job right, cover your ### and keep your record clean.
Don't listen to the 2 year cry baby 'know it all's' at the coffee counter or on Ch. 19. They're mostly liars. And NEVER drive sleepy. If dispatch pushes to hard, to bad!
Your money and home time will probably be low to start. But grow some whiskers and always keep your ears open for better jobs and success will come with time.
Good luck and God Bless!

 

posted on wrong thread pls delete

 

i am a newbie but i average 600 a week and love my job. i couldnt imagine doing anything else anymore besides maybe another side of trucking instead of dry vans but overall i love what i do. eventually wanna haul cows