So... what's the best advice to succeed?

I have friends with College degrees that don't make half my income. I wish I had finished college but not because of some perceived possibility of income. I have a commercial pilot license. I chose not to fly and drive instead because of the awful industry that is flying. Out of the ten or twelve pilot friends that I have only one has had a comfortable job and life. Most of the others have been furloughed more than once, are out of work completely, or while still flying can't make as much as I do as an owner operator. This industry is a great one and has excellent opportunity for people who are prepared and professional.

I NET almost a hundred thousand dollars a year. That is net after all expenses (take home before taxes). I am never more than 250 miles from home. I rarely work past noon on Saturday. Most of the time I stop on Friday evening. I am leased to a company that has fantastic, lightweight, dedicated freight. They pay everything but my tags. They pay all tolls, have an excellent fuel program, pay me for every mile, and treat me like the business partner that I am. It took a while to find this and I needed to have some pretty strong experience but I won't leave until they kick me out.

 

I have a BS, AAS, 3rd year diploma and went to a VoTech in SD for my CDL. My last two years in college I was also a student senator.

Higher ed is nothing but big business.

 

Ok bud, here is the secret to having a million from trucking. You gotta start out with 2 million......

 

Same stupid joke applies to about fifty different industries. You do know that there are billionaires owning trucking companies, don't you? In fact there were billionaires made making ketchup, toilet paper, paper clips, and just about any other thing you can think of.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/54...ricans-Shipping-Trucking-Transport_8Rank.html

 

You want to succeed - I can see your hart its in the right place , now the "mind needs to find a proper place for you" . It takes at least 1 year to know a company that you work for, and the question is do I like it what they do? I say find yourself a kind of work that suits you best (5 day runs,1 day runs,local)
You have kids, if they are young, try to work close to home .Suddenly your wife stays alone ,and that creates unnecessary stir,that does not help at all.

 

If you do your research and make good choices you will succeed. My first and only year in OTR I banked $40,294 if I remember correctly. Second year I went local and grossed about $54k (?). Now beginning my third year driving and looking into better companies...

Do your research, research is everything. Get an idea of what niche of this industry you want to be in. That will also depend on where you live in. But always remember no matter how many Swift and Wiener ads you see in that truck stop magazine there is life beyond OTR with a megacarrier. And that life is much much better. There are thousands and thousands of companies you and I have never heard of that pay a decent wage and give you a chance of actually having a life. You just have to find them.

Or just get your own truck and pay yourself.

 

My simple advice would be be patient, it pay off. It will pay off in several ways. Money, Getting unloaded or loaded faster, and atta boy messages to buildup your pride.

Number of times I show up at a receiver and they be backed up with trucks back to the highway waiting to be unloaded. When I report in to say I have arrived, Being kind and respectful gotten me moved up to the front of the line. Why? Everyone else complained and whined, where I said Ok NP I be waiting. Result I was off on another load while those with no pateints sat longer equal more money in my pocket.
ALso another case where I was backed into the dock and they never started to load me. Hour went by then another. I went in to see what the issue was and it turned out to been a disagreement between the shipper and receiver. So I patiently waited. Later I received a message via my Qualcom said the load was canceled but it was not from my Dispatcher, it was from the VP of USA Truck, he also said thanks for my patients and professionalism. Results = Built up my pride.

So Patients does pays

 

After doing all my research and deciding to make this career change (like you), it didn't take long for me to determine what is required to succeed. Almost to my surprise, I discovered that it's pretty much like any other industry.

A person needs to be professional, adaptable to change, possess a positive attitude, have a desire to learn everything possible, and care not only about my own success but also about the success of my customers and my employer and my co-workers. Do your very best to not make mistakes. Take accountability and learn from them when they do happen, though. There will be no shortage of learning opportunities for the person who is capable of recognizing them as such. Of course, being reasonably intelligent is a good quality for success too.

Go figure, right? Same qualities for success as almost any other industry. Of course, the industry is full of crummy companies/employers, crummy customers, and co-workers... unprofessional, unhappy people who just try to drag others down with them. But, those people exist in every industry, in my experience.

You may end up hating the job and lifestyle. It's an interesting world out there. But, if you do end up liking the job, those are the qualities for success. In my humble opinion.

Enjoy the new experience, whatever you decide to do.

 

If you never try, You will never fail. However, you miss every shot you don't take.