Just curious

I have aways been a trucker I do not regret it . How ever there are some cold hard facts about it , one is If the wheels don't turn you will not make any money, and then its hard.
The rest of your questions you will have to ask yourself .

 

it wasn't really a career change for me, more like I need a job that can pay the bills. I moved to an area of florida that $8.00 an hour is the average wage. that wasn't going to cut it. I looked to Trucking because of my clean MVR, no DUI's in any state, a clean criminal record, and no serious accidents in the last 20+ years. I'm no angel, just never got caught doing anything serious.

not any regrets, just wished I could get on with a decent company to start with, I needed 4 months minium OTR to drop back to student status with Crete. I faxed off the app today they recieved it now the ball is in thier court.

 

I myself have a four year degree for teaching and a 18 month degree for broadcasting. Broadcasting was the first and I couldnt live off of bread crumbs. I went into teaching and after my second year teaching, I was not renewed. Lots of bad feelings there. I feel bad / dumb not using my degree as I dont want to have gone through all that time in college for nothing.
I got into driving truck because there is a big boom and need for drivers out here with the potential to make 70k. However, I didnt have a CDL and got hired on with Schneider and Im making....less, lol. Just slightly less, lol.

However, now we are stuck because we bought a doublewide at our last town and its still sitting there and we can't afford the mortgage and lot rent for that place as well as rent for our current town. Don't want to foreclose, but this is really starting to stink...especially since our realtor didn't show our house within the last 2 months.

 

We also live in Florida and the wages here suck. I was a Parts & Service Manager for a land clearing company and made $13.00 an hour. My wife worked in customer service for the local cable company for $10.75 per hour. Together we grossed about $50-55k a year. We turned to trucking as a team to see the country and make better money. If our projections hold true (based on our first few paychecks) we should close to double our previous income in 2008.

For those of you who insist on dividing the $$ by the number of hours you spend in the truck, what difference does it make. The bottom line is how much money can I put away for retirement and retirement investment while paying our bills. The nice thing about a husband/wife team is all the money goes to the same place so it doesn't matter how much you make individually, but how much you made total!

 

I kind of fell into it. My grandfather drove truck and then started his own trucking company which got my dad into trucking and now he has his own trucking company. Which baisicly after working for him since I was 13 I started driving truck.

All in all I have no regrets love every mile I drive.

 

Haha, you're not too far away...want a double wide? The thing is that Im surprised it hasnt been picked up because of the huge oil boom here in WY...and its cheaper than most houses.

 

i worked in the HVAC field for 15 years. once i had back surgery about 5 years ago, then last year the EPA regulations changed making all the equiptment TWICE as large, my back couldn't take it anymore. not to mention the fact that the closets they went in and the condo roof hatches they used to BARELY fit in to begin with. weren't getting any bigger!!! LOL
i am having a good time out here, and am glad i did it, especially saying as construction in NW Fl. has dried up big time. what const. there is ,the mexicans are doing for half the pay!!