The truth about trucking....

Trucking is a rough game. It is a piece of cake compared to when I got my Class A in Jan1970.
First there were very few openings for a driver. Ten cents a mile was good money. The only way to get trained was to go with someone you knew and have them teach you. When you applied for a job the first thing was a test drive. If you could drive you were hired. You had to adjust your own brakes, carry a fuel filter and be able to change it yourself on the side of the road. Be able to put the engine on manual when the electrical system failed. Be Able to mix a little gasoline with you diesel when #1 was not available in deep winter. There were no lumpers. Driver load/unload. We drove until we were falling asleep at the wheel then put off road and sleep. Sometimes too tired to crawl into the sleeper and seep over the steering wheel. Constantly running 3 logbooks. I could go on but I think you get the idea.

 

I don't understand the whole lease thing...sounds like waste of money to me

 

My driver instructor said back then they use to get a handful of PILLS and BILLS and you ran until you were out of both, went to Dispatch and got more and did it again.

 

It bothers me when people say things like, "stay away from company x, they don't care about you," or, "all companies lie just to get you in the drivers seat." The worst is when people say EVERY company is evil and stay away from trucking altogether! What a crock.

Guys, driving for a trucking company isn't really all that different from working at, say, Walmart. It's not rocket sience. You aren't a hero or a miracle worker. It is just another job... You fill out the application, they hire you, you sign the dotted line saying you will complete the job as assigned while following all company policies, yadda yadda yadda...... Then you do the job and get paid. Everyone wins.

My point is, when you sign on with a company, it's their name on the door, not yours. That means they run the show. Op, if you have held as many jobs as you say and had nothing but bad experiences, I would bet you are the problem, not the companies or the industry. To tell all prospective drivers that they can expect the same negative experiences you had is just childish and totally uncalled for.

Of course there are bad companies out there, but I can honestly say I am a company driver and I am quite happy. I average a grand a week easy, which is more than they promised me, doing easy no-touch local truckload p and d. It did take a bit of research and patience for me to find the right company, but here I am, loving my job and providing for my family.

I could go on, but I have to get ready for work. By the way, today I have to take a load down to the south side of Chicago. Do I want to go down there? Absolutely not, but I am not about to tell everyone to stay away from my company because sometimes they send you places you don't want to go.....

Good luck to all the prospective drivers out there.

 

Hold your horses, Hoss
Back then it was mostly a friendly game between us and the dot, and not really any serious consequences.
No csa
Today, drivers have to go to school which takes time and money, or suffer with a company like swift under poverty wages for a year, being treated like a mangy dog.
Traffic is much worse, and I don't remember .10 cpm, but I didn't start til '78
But whatever I made, went a lot farther then what I make now.
I could go on and on, but I drove then and I drive now.
It hasn't gotten easier, just different.
Imo

 

Also, trucks weren't governed at all
The slowest mule could do 80, and we didn't even consider seatbelts.
Nobody could track us or even call us
We truly were free to do our job
We knew the scales all would be closed at sunset and all weekend.
Easier now?
Not to me.

 

Some days it's easy and I wonder why more people don't do this.
Then some days it's a b*#ch, and wonder why I'm doing this!
@Sthornton31, didn't you research leasing on this forum before you signed up for that nonsense?