which path to take?

Let me make this easy for you. $45000 = approx 2 weeks of work to pay for that refresher course.

Take the promotion and stay with your family. The truck will always be there but your family will not.

 

Stay home...your son needs his dad around.

 

I drive truck right now because I am not married and don't have kids right now. I do have the girl picked out and we are working on getting married. She is also overseas which is another reason I still drive otr right now. Once I have her in Canada, I am done with trucking.

There is no way I will be raising my children over Skype or getting that phone call asking when daddy is going to be home and not being able to say for sure.

Being close to my family is priority number one!!

When are you going to marry the girlfriend and make things legit?

 

One does not need to be a trucker to offer advice in answer to your request. Take the promotion and raise your child, that time is irreplaceable and invaluable. Be a family, be father, and pursue trucking, if you still desire it, after your son is grown, he deserves to have his father present since you can make that happen.

 

I'm about to retire from government service and am too young to retire. I thought about getting into trucking as a second career. Good idea or not?

 

Excellent idea! Get all the endorsements plus TWIC & a passport for the better paying tanker jobs. With the endorsements, TWIC and passport, many good companies will hire you right out of CDL school.

As for scifi question; I know what I would do and that's go with TMC or a hazmat/tanker company. That's me though, I'd go crazy being a pencil pusher and dealing with everyone's problems in a warehouse. Give me the solitude of a truck with a thermos of hot coffee and XM radio any time.

 

Stay home with the kids