Do truckers live a misarable life?

OTR got miserable for me after about 8 years. Didn't make me a miserable person to others, just didn't look forward to hitting the road for a week or two. Now I pull tanks and run a dedicated route. Three nights in the truck, 4 days driving, and 3 days off per week. I really enjoy this job, there really isn't much to burn out on. After this it will be a local job or something new altogether.

 

I spent 23 year in a iron foundry working and sweating my balls off. I now drive a truck pulling fuel tanks. This is a much better job! The pay is much better as well.

 

I'd like to say no, for the most part. And IF they do live a miserable life it probably has little do with them bein a trucker...

 

Not me... 100k a year, home every morning, sleep in my own bed, off weekends. Working nights is the only drawback. ( I run ltl night linehaul.)

 

One thing trucking has spoiled me with is commuting. The best commute ever was OTR. Even work from home IT guys don't have their workstation 96" from their bunk. For a while I had a sweet arrangement to take my unit home. I went MONTHS without buying gas for my car. I used to race to the office to punch in, then spend the whole day driving at the speed limit or lower. (In the granny lane of course) sure beat being one of the overstressed 4wheelers who'd risk their life to get an extra two car lengths up the road.

And even though I'm in a daycab now, some of the best sleep I've had in years was in my rig. Having a mandatory 8 hour nights sleep CAN be nice from time to time.

 

I think its miserable to people who are socialable. The ones that want fri nights and weekends off and be able to hang with friends daily. Be at happy hour daily. Younger crowd. Trucking is typically 10+ hrs a day even local. Day or night around the clock. People come from 8hr jobs, days that get off at 5pm. Then they start working 10hrs or more 6 days or nights a week and become miserable. Or they go OTR and realize their away from everyone and missing things. Doesn't matter if your single or not it affects everyone like this. It's a shock to a lot of people and some people can adjust and some can't. The ones that can't are miserable.

 

Trucking isnt for everyone.

Trucking is many things for many people. It can be lonely at times,.. it can be very exciting and energetic other times. You have your ups and downs like anything else in life.

For me trucking is what I make of it.

Do I regret not choosing another line of work? I dont go through life looking back at all the what ifs. Good or bad,.. the choices I make in life are of my own doing. I can not look back with regret and wish my life was anything else than what it is. I was dealt the cards I was dealt and I worked with the skill set I was given. I would not have met the people and friends I have now. My kids, family, friends. My experiences and my memories are too great to dismiss and wish I had it easier or better.

If I want a better life,.. then I need to go out and make a better life. If I dont like what I am doing, then its up to me to make a change and go after what I want. Thats how I got into trucking in the first place. Unless you come from a wealthy or very influential family,.. chances are no one is going to give you a ready made life. Life is what and how you make it. Despite any struggles or hard paths in life,.. only you can change your life. You have to make a choice and follow through with any struggles those choices bring. Work through your problems and find the happiness and life you want to have. Surround yourself with like minded people. Never regret anything.

Be strong and positive in what ever your do in life. Expect nothing. Nothing is owed to you. You have to go out and earn it. Thats life.

Hurst

 

If I had it to do over again, and I was in the same spot I was when I decided to go driving, I'd do it all over again. I was stuck in a bad spot, and driving truck let me get out of that. I would however, approach it more seriously. I screwed around the first year, and that set the stage for me not being as successful as I could be. No one to blame but me.

If I went back in time, the choices I'd change would be well before deciding to drive, and they'd hopefully keep me off the path altogether. Not because driving is bad, but because I'd want to go a totally different route several years before.

I've been driving for 8 years, 4.5 over the road, the rest in 2 local positions. I've never changed companies, just been absorbed when my first company was.

The best information I've ever been given about driving is this: If you go, give it a year. This isn't a job, it's a lifestyle as well, and everything you know will change. You're going to miss important things, birthdays, anniversaries, special events. You're going to be stuck away from all you know. It's going to suck for a while. But if you stick it out a year, things become way, way better. It sucks less, you know more, you don't get frazzled as much.

 

going back in time? if you dont like it quit. theres a reason the turnover rate is over 100% people start than quit truck drivers aren't held hostage

 

OMG!!!! You're too funny!!!