Considering trucking?

they would not care what you did within reason, when they saw former police officer on your job app, they would be falling all over themselves to hire you. that being said if you have a family you need to talk with your wife long and hard about truck driving. in my opinion you would not make much more in the first few years than you are now making, now i know someone is going to tell your they made 65 thousand the first year, am not saying you could not but that would be pretty rare. lots of luck and thank you for serving our country

 

First off, you aren't going to make $85k. Someone is telling you a fib. Companies like Sysco and other food service type jobs do pay around $40,000 - $50,000, the problem is getting hired on with them. Not to say and can't or won't happen but it certainly is the luck of the draw. Landing local gigs like that are rare.

If you decide to go over the road with a mega-carrier you are looking at about $25,000 - $28,000. If you go with a smaller carrier you could do a little better. Kind of funny but it seems like all cops become truckers and all truckers become cops! Must be the type of personality it takes to do either.

Life on the road is hard, especially if you have a family. You really have to want to live the lifestyle. Its not a job. At the end of the day or your shift you don't get to go home, sit in the lazy-boy and drink a beer. Ever been on a really, really long vacation? You would typically go out for 4-6 weeks and then have possibly 2-4 days at home.

There are many perks to the job too. For one, its not a job... its a lifestyle! Provided you don't work for a mega-carrier (ie England, Werner, Swift etc) you can do what you want and you also don't have anyone looking over your shoulder. Your office is the open road (and the pickle park!) You will get to see just about every town and city in the entire country, if you do it long enough! Ideally if you can get your spouse or significant other to do it with you then that would be the perfect situation. You could make very good money and not go crazy from the solitary confinement!

So to sum it up.... you will probably make less than you are making now for a couple years unless you get lucky and land a good gig right off the bat. Can be done though if you do your homework and cross your fingers. If you are single and have no kids, that's also another plus. Like I said I would not recommend it if you have family or kids.

I've had many relatives that were cops and also prison guards so I know where you are coming from. Just take the time to think it over, you don't want to trade one bad job for another. Its going to take up a lot of your time and money to become a driver, so put that in your plan too.

 

Listen very closely to Chompi, he nails it. No bulls hit there.

TRUCKING IS A LIFESTYLE, NOT A JOB. EVEN IF IT IS A LOCAL POSITION. Which you wouldn't qualify for anyway. Believe me, Sysco or other legit local vendors will NOT accept someone with zero experience, your an accident waiting to happen. It takes skill to maneuver in those areas.



Once again, trucking is a lifestyle, not an 8 hour a day go home type of deal. And believe me, you won't make anywhere near 50k for awhile, so get that out of your head. You will be lucky to pull in 30k your first year, IF THAT.



That's the truth....Good luck