Is this a good loner job?

It's a very good job for one who enjoys solitude. The best runs are the long haul, coast-to-coast. The only times you must deal with large groups of people are in truck stops. Sure, in trucking school you will have classmates in the classroom and in the training truck. After that, go with solo driving with a flatbed or tanker company, then you won't have to deal with grocery warehouses full of people jabbering away as if they're in a home for dementia patients.

 

Most schools will have a week or two of class scheduled into the course. And, other than with an instructor on the road... the majority of your time in the truck should be maneuvers by your lonesome self... mostly.

 

Truckstops , loading docks , repair shops are full of DISGRUNTLED loners who cannot deal in a civil manner with people

 

This all depends on what type of trucking you want to do. On the road, hauling freight, you would be fairly isolated I would think, until you hit your destination, then would have to deal with people.

Or oil patch or construction type work you would have to deal with people. Safety meetings, consultants, other co-workers. Generally the only person you deal with 90% of the time is yourself.......if you can do that then it's probably OK for you. You have A LOT of time to think, and for some people, that can be a bad thing but if you prefer that, then cool.

I have to agree with FLATBED though. There are TONS and TONS of loser truck drivers. Disgruntled, pissy little whiners.

What do you call a basement full of truckers ?

---- A wine cellar

 

Pretty much, you meet with shippers receivers the head office when you get in the truck, any time the truck needs repair you deal with the shop guys, you will communicate with dispatch mostly, but for the most part where the money is made you will be by yourself, When you say "freight" you mean Freight in a Van truck which the call "Dry Can" There you deal with more warehouses then just grocery warehouses which to me is better then grocery because the grocery doesn't care how long you sit till they get someone to unload you because you are paying for it anyways. I wish you luck in this industry, you can make good money but that doesn't start till about the second year! Good Luck.

 

Unless you find a long road with no traffic, your going to be dealing with people all day and every day. They may be in another vehicle, but you'll still be dealing with them... only now, their poor decisions could cost you your life.

It makes dealing with a receiver who"s mad because the load is late a refreshing change of pace.

 

You will always have to deal with people in some manner. But it definitely sounds like you don't want a whole lot of it.

But I hear ya man. As much as I like doing what I do, and how easy it is, dealing with other people is getting to me too. But it was my boss that ticked me off yesterday.

I kind of snapped yesterday after being accused, again of wrecking his equipment. The other day, a rock came up, and knocked a hole in the diff oil filter. But it hit in a spot, behind the protector shroud that it shouldn't have.
A few days before that, a tire popped on the pup trailer. I was accused of jack knifing the truck and pup while loaded and double dumping. I pointed out that the tire had steel belt showing the day I became primary on it, and that we were hauling and driving on shale rock......maybe that's what caused it.

Then yesterday, pulling on location in 3rd direct I tried to downshift (no clutch) to 1st over because I could tell the dirt was super soft. The shifter wouldn't come out of gear.....I tried to kick the clutch and do it. Still nothing. Jammed as all hell. Ended up driving 6 miles down the Alaska Highway in 3rd direct, with flashers on.......flashers that can't run more than about 2 minutes without overheating the electrical circuit. He asks me what I did to his truck. I had to point out that I heard the groaning back last winter, which I thought was the front brakes creaking when starting off, but he even told me then that that noise was actually the clutch. I had to remind him of that. Funny thing is he kept saying "What do you mean it's stuck in gear ?" "I really don't know how to explain it any better"

My point is, no matter what side shoot job in trucking, you will always deal with idiots, or moron bosses, or dumb-### co-workers. Dispatch, especially in the oil patch can be VERY frustrating. That's my experience but I have also heard the same about dispatch in freight too.

Just have good tunes, or satellite radio and you can generally disregard the outside world. As well make sure your A/C works. Being able to roll up the windows and shut out the world, and noise will help too.