The negativity

Well I already regret choosing to be a mechanic for 25 years always having to deal with douche people right next to me everyday. People talk on here about how they aren't treated right by companies. Give me a ####ing break! No job has ever treated me right- I'm used to it

 

OTR trucking companies take mis treatment of drivers to a whole 'nother level. The megas even have the government in their corner. It's shameful the crap they can get away with.

That's not to say it's the worst job in the world. It isn't. And for some, it's a great job. The only thing they wanna do. You may be one of the few. You never know till you try.

 

I hate going into a walmart during the day. I have a friend that works on the 2nd shift that will carry me to the walmart here after midnight. One of the bad effects of epilepsy is being sensitive to sounds. For me it is a sudden loud child cry or scream, chirping sounds like how some people have cell phone ring tones and those dang back up alarms on forklifts. When I do go out I keep noise canceling ear buds in my ears playing classical music. It sure sucks getting old.

 

The 3 situations where a driver is bound to be around other drivers is in a terminal, a shipper/receiver or a truck stop. I can tell you from YEARS of experience Truck stops and Terminals are full of drivers simply not driving. They are angry because of a lay over or extensive work having to be done and all they want to do is ##### about something. I will tell you how to handle this. Become more antisocial and separate yourself from these crybabies. Even in these boards YOU ARE NOT HEARING THE WHOLE STORY.

 

They don't count, don't go there.

j/k, the industry isn't perfect. A lot of people get into it with the wrong expectations. Also, like anything else, the industry is always changing. Many old timers are upset to see what has become of the industry. Those two things will produce little in the way of positive comments.

So you lost your job in an industry you're glad to be leaving. Trucking can be a great career but make sure you know what you're getting into. It might be for you, it might not. It's amazing how many people get into it knowing nothing about it but knowing that they have been on a few road trips and they liked that. It's like getting into raising cattle because you like beef.

Do your homework. Many wash out quickly and leave with nothing but bad memories and a nice debt.

 

It's true that you rarely hear from happy drivers. So if you want the whole story, seek out happy drivers.

There are two reasons that this is a difficult thing to do. One is that many of them are always working. The other is that so few are happy about it.

Not to be a buzzkill, but this is a job that you can get after a month of school, without so much as a high school education leading up to it, and it's a job that most people can actually do, with just a few weeks or months of on-the-job training. If it was all unicorns and rainbows, everyone would be doing it. That it is mostly the broke and desperate who get into this field, and then quit within a year, should serve as warning. In general, even the desperate aren't desperate enough to stay in trucking.

Notable exceptions, yes, but they *are* the exception - not the rule. Fair warning. Your mileage may vary...

 

It's a well known fact...if you work for someone else...you're a butt warming a seat! If not yours, then someone elses....most employers are not going to pour gold all over you and even when you end up owning your own company, that can kick you in the can at times. It's all work & dirt until you hit the PowerBall!

 

How long have you been a trucker? Drivers today are spoiled. Go take a look at an old cab over sometimes. There are drivers in these forums such as myself that are old school. Until about 1990 these cab overs were about all that OTR truckers drove. The ACs were on top, there was NO APUs, no inverters, no QCs, no cell phones, no room much for anything but maybe a suitcase and some tools. Then try this running teams. I have a serious doubt many of the posters in here have drove a cab over day in and day out. Todays trucks are more like luxury cars. I will admit that drivers like my father had more buying power with their pay then todays drivers do. One more thing those old cab overs did not have auto shifters. Some were so sensitive to proper shifting and clutch use that it was possible to bust an axle. After driving one of those things for a week or 10 days you were tired. What gets me is all this carping and #####ing being done today. I don't remember all this negativity then. When I was old enough I would go with my father to the old goldmine truckstop in Carnesville Georgia. This was on the south side of I 85 from where the Petro and flying J is today. Those days drivers would sit around a large table and give the waitress hell, and of course she gave it right back. Today I still look back to those days with a smile. When you have lived in both worlds like I and others in these boards have you start to see this. When it comes to this job I will never blow sunshine up a drivers butt. If I could pick a time to start being a trucker it would be 1960. The early 60s was one of the best times to truck. The pay was generally good. It was cheap to eat on the road and there was plenty of places to park.

 

The first truck I drove, the one I learned on was a Vietnam Era 5 ton tractor... No AC, No Power Steering, Spring ride seats, leaf spring suspension, split ring rims, and yes we changed our own tires etc.

Moved up from there to a conventional with air ride seats and power steering... Yee Haw! Life was good.