I hate this...Mind games! Argh!

What 883 said. If you're old enough to think before you leap, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I was 33 when I quit the "manager" lifestyle and decided to do what I always wanted to do... Drive! It's been great and it's sometimes been a nightmare, but I wouldn't ever go back. Sit down, make a list and decide whether or not you really want to do this. I you do, never forget why you decided to, try not to have unreal expectations, and don't let anyone tell you you're going to fail. Trucking ain't easy but if you do it right, it ain't that hard either!

 

Oh, yeah! Just about every day I walk into my office. I, too, haven't really taken any real chances. I have plenty of money banked so the dreaded first year money won't really bother me. Well, I say that sitting in the office, but very soon I am just going to step out of my comfort zone and do what I have always wanted to do.....come what may.

 

Very good, scratch that, GREAT posts on this thread! OP, keep in mind that the majority of folks who want to be drivers, go through the following. They quit their jobs, go through driving school, spend a few weeks with a driver trainer, get their assigned truck, and in less than a year, quit the industry. Because it just is not like they imagine. There is no romance, there is no glory. There is drama, there are headaches, I'm not going to beat a dead horse here, but just read over these forums.
This is not a life style for the majority of people. But for the ones that it really works for, they wouldn't do anything else.

It's a tough grind. You find yourself caught between your own company dispatch and safety. Your dispatcher is pissed at you because he makes his money on getting loads where they need to be, when they need to be their. No matter how impossible it is for the driver to do it legally.

The motoring public, HATE TRUCKS AND TRUCKERS. Remember, these are the folks who are totally clueless. They are the ones who are texting and driving, pass you then cut you off, and never even know it. Or they are just so self centered they can't see beyond their noses.

Customers often treat drivers like they were something lower than dog doo. A lot of little people think a driver is the perfect one to take out their frustration on.

Law makers are constantly making the trucker's lives more miserable. They aren't doing it deliberately. They are clueless, and could care less anyway. They just want to keep making laws that will keep their names before their constituents. They neither know, nor care what the ramifications of those laws will be.

DOT cops, whether in the scale house or out beside the road, have a job to do. And if they want to keep doing their job, they will be doing it with gusto.

BUT! If you get into it, and find that it is a good fit, you will never want to do anything else. Just keep in mind that it is a really tough life.

Oh, one other thing: LIES! Recruiters, for schools and recruiters, for companies all make their living by the number of bodies they get to go along with them. They will make used car salesmen look like dear sweet little old ladies, by comparison. . .

Great post, as usual Chinatown!

 

well the one thing I will say
I recruited at over 30 schools in last 2 years and Netts
was by far the best school I went to

 

just finished my first year in a truck....

the good,

view changes every minute

cant get a speeding ticket on a 65MPH road

see some parts of the country I hadn't seen yet, I do love mountain views

company I work for gives more days off the longer you stay out

the bad,

ill be lucky to crack $35k this year, industrial maintenance job I lost in '12 was 60-65

paying minimal rent (just bunk with parents for hometime, give them a couple hundred a month)

dispatcher/planner section seems to have minimal common sense quite often, and they control how many miles ya get

even though im single and kids grown, I do miss being around my hometown....


that's all I got for the moment


NETTS, I graduated class of 03/12 in '12 in Andover

take the 22 week course, take the 22 week course, take the 22 week course

if at all possible, take the 22 week course

yes, there is a lot of wasted time in the 12 weeks classroom, but it is worth it for the 10 weeks of yard/road time.

pay attention in class, TJ jokes around a lot but knows #### near everything. the Map module is crucial to success on the road.

when in the yard, be in a truck practicing backing skills every minute you can

the reason I stress the long course is two fold

federal student aid available

more practice so ya don't pull some of the jackalope crap we see done out here every day

 

If you saw their Bridgeport, Ct campus you might form another opinion.

 

You know.. I should also mention.. that, when I was young we had a neighbor who was a truck driver.. so, he was gone a lot.. my dad was in the military and gone a lot too.. but both my neighbors and my parent's had good marriages... Even better then some of my friends parents who were not separated for weeks or months at a time..

When my dad was home, and even when he was away, my parents did argue or bicker about small stuff.. they wanted to make the most of the time they had together.. and when my dad got home they was always plenty to share and talk about..

I would talk to others here.. maybe find a thread or start one
hat is just about trucking and relationships... Of course there will be those who will say It ruined their marriage.. but, look deeper.. chances may be they messed up their marriage.. and kt was trucking..

 

I could have written this post in the mid 90s.

I actually started, briefly, in 1994, and chickened out. Big mistake. Knew the reasons for wanting to do it....researched it the best I could (before the internet), went ahead....and missed my family. Two years later, I restarted (with great expense). '

You have to tame your fears, whether those fears are genuine or merely perceived. And be prepared for the emotional roller-coaster once you start. The ups and downs of your feelings you're currently experiencing will pale in comparison to those once you actually start.

Hang in there, and good luck.

 

Ah crap. You see a lot of folks blaming a ruined marriage on all kinds of things. Except for the ONE THING that is really to blame. SELFISHNESS.

One word. But it says it all. Because selfishness is the root cause of every problem in every marriage. If a couple is willing to put the needs of their spouse and of their relationship above their own wants and desire, they will have a strong marriage. Not saying there won't be problems, of course there will. But when those problems are approached from the point of "what is best for our marriage," then they can be figured out.

 

Once you get past the bad the rest is good. No regrets whatsoever. But you have to be one of the few, proud and ugly!