How old is too old to be STARTING a career in trucking?

This man speaks truth.

Also, older drivers tend to be safer, more cautious drivers, where youngsters(!) tend to think they can leap tall buildings in a single bound while texting/facebooking/lighting a cigarette, and not realizing they just plowed thru a the McDonalds...

 

Except that if you set Mick's blood on fire, it would burn for a week while releasing hallucinogenic smoke...

 

Go for it,I started at age 54 and have almost 4 years under my belt now.
I only ran OTR a year,8 months of that was regional here in the PAC NW.
Barely had a year in before I landed a daycab gig which is what I wanted from the start.
I now work mostly 5 days a week dayshift starting at 6:00-7:00am (my call) and home every night.
Not getting rich but I should clear over $50K this year averaging about 60 hours a week and I like sleeping in my own bed every night so it works for me.
Not that I don't keep my eyes open and ear to the ground for something better but with a paid vacation and holidays etc. it will have to be pretty good to pry me out of my current seat.
We'll see what comes up in a little over a year when I have 5 years experience.

 

You can do it.

 

If the lot lizard turns back before knocking on your door... you might be too old to be a trucker.

More seriously, if you are willing to learn the skills and can pass the physical, there is no reason to think anyone would be too old to be starting out. No one is ever too old to enjoy the open road!

unloader

 

I'm on my second go round being an OTR driver at 59 years old. I first started OTR in 1978 at 23 years old.I drove off and on for 15 years between 1978 - 1990. I will have to say I have a more professional attitude now than then.I'm convinced this comes with age. And for the record. Trucking is a lot easier now than then. I run the west coast every week and I don't notice the traffic being any worse in L.A. than it was 20 years ago.Now we have cell phones(which I only use when I'm not driving) GPS and E-Logs. Compare this to back in the day when you had to find a pay phone in a bad part of town.I swear I was always a nervous wreck using a pay phone in NYC. Then you had to call ahead to get directions for the receiver and would run into a closed street and have to find a detour on your own.Not much fun.I know there is pros and cons on e logs,but running team I don't have to be as concerned about my hours as a solo driver.I just log on and push buttons for the rest of my run. I do a 34 hr. reset at home so I always have plenty of hours.All in all it's been an enjoyable experience this time around.

 

I'll be 57 in another month. It fits me like a glove. You'll be fine.

 

But remember that is usually occupied by a perfectly healthy and capable Fedex driver with the doubles curved sideways through the spot and the tractor hanging 10 feet out into the lane.

 

Hi youngclarkh, I agree with the rest, this is one industry that doesn't discriminate against older people. Choose wisely, however, as there may be times you may have to unload a trailer, or move stuff around. In my 35+ years, I did a LOT of that(truck tires were the worst)but there are drop and hook jobs that appeal to older drivers, which is what I'd do if I went back. Flatbed is a lot of manual labor, chaining, strapping, tarping, dump truck is ok, although pretty boring, if you can handle that. Best of luck.

 

@ 50 I can still and do all those things,,except the McDonalds part,I'd rather plow through a guard shack filled with youngsters that are rejected "wannabe" cops that cant even check seals right....