40-something corporate guy ready to quit the rat-race

Chinatown - I've seen you on many threads - you always seem to give helpful advice. I appreciate reading your thoughts.

 

I hate to ask who you drive for....

 

I'm not doing bad. I can't complain. But this industry sucks anymore. It's run by ######## and nitwits all who know nothing about trucking. Now it's a lot is owned by investors as opposed to truckers.

 

The industry is definitely run buy a bunch of idiots for sure. Did not take me long to figure that one out.

 

I am not taking a shot at Millis but if you like having your privacy invaded then one can choose to drive for them. They put cameras inside the trucks (in addition to the dash cams) facing the driver now. This is not hear say. I personally know two people that drive for them.

After all my research I thought Millis was the one for me. Thank God it did not work out. I ended up at a much better place.

 

Driver's should get organized and universally boycott those carriers that have internal cameras. That is crap.

 

I hear you. If someone does not trust me to be responsible behind the wheel of their truck then I don't need to work for them.

 

So let me get this straight. He wants to quit his high paying white collar job, a job that will give him a $150k bonus to go drive a truck for $500-$600 a week? Either he's a fool or going through some kind of mid life crisis.

 

I think that it's great that you are in a position to get out of a job that you hate. So here are a few things to consider.


First, you have to get your CDL. I think (I could be wrong), but even at a community college, it still costs a few thousand dollars to go through the course. Do you have any medical issues? You will have to get a physical and take a drug test.


Then you have to find employment, most likely OTR for not a lot of money, especially in the beginning.


There is a certain freedom in driving. However, there is more to it than it just being you and your truck. You have to deal with dispatchers, who have often never been in a truck and who often play favorites. You also have to deal with DOT, which if you are not familiar with them, let's just say that they are basically always right (even if they are wrong). Different states have different regulations, and as the driver it is up to you to know all of them. This is one of the most (if not the most) heavily regulated industries in the U.S. and you are subject to all of them.


I did enjoy being OTR when I did it, but it gets old. You do meet different people and see the states, but it's mostly from the highways, truckstops, and distribution centers/ final destinations. Your down time is mainly to sleep so that you can get back on the road. There will be times that you may sit in a truckstop for a day or two waiting for a load.


If you have a wife at home, be careful. I think some guys run the road to get away from their wives, lol. But sometimes a wife can be very supportive of you going on the road... just because they can do things knowing that you are 3,000 miles away... just sayin...


Also, no home cooked meals, no snuggling up with your wife every night (and no shimmy sham), you won't see your kids, you will be showering and eating at truckstops, and most of your human interaction will be with other truckers, shippers and receivers, and unfortunately DOT.


I am sure other people have done what you are considering, but really look over this whole site and get all the information that you can. It might be a perfect fit for you, then again maybe not. I think that it is human nature for people to be negative about any profession that they have been in for any period of time. Only you can make that decision. Good luck.

 

I wonder if it is the 'right' move. I can't help but wonder if you should first look at other career paths before you make the jump. One of the reasons why I say this is because there is a lot more than just going to school and learning how to drive a truck, which is the easy part. The hard part is not planning, not socking money away for an exit strategy or not having a contingency plan if something happens on the road. You can easily get a CDL, the tests are simple and very easy, the road test is the same however if you lose that CDL for say something stupid, then what?