How do you keep going on?

I've long told folks that OTR is a meat grinder, always has been. It's a place where you get some experience, build up a clean record, and get the heck out. The more anti-social types can thrive out there long term, but it will just chew you up and spit you out if that's not you.

If you want trucking with long-term viability, you have to move into a niche market. It's not always easy to break in to those as a young guy, so you need to be better than most. Fewer tickets, no accidents, some stability in your job history. It will take some experience, but it doesn't have to all OTR. Do your couple years on the road, find something bearable local, and always do the best #### job you can. After you've got 3-4 years of stable history, the good jobs will start to open up to you.

I spent 30 years in the truck, and only a 2 of those OTR, and another couple running out and back every 10 days. I was home at least weekends for 25 of those years. And the money is what kept me trucking.

 

Autoshift is great in the NE aint it?

There were days I lost function of my shift arm to the elbow when the muscles have had enough before getting out of freaking Conn. (115 miles of mind bending traffic...)

 

Is it not the purpose of life to suffer and be awarded eternal happiness in heaven? The life span of an average truck driver is 60, so .... the suffering does not need to be that long at all. All trucking martyrs hang in there!

 

Some days I want to park the truck and catch a plane home. Other days I love it. Give it another year the first is definitely the most difficult. Soon you'll find yourself doing something without even thinking and remember how you first struggled with it. Take the bad with the good. I take ####ty loads without complaining and get rewarded with 2-3 kick ### loads in return. If it's your company that's the cause, talk to other drivers see how their company is.

 

Find a different company. I wouldn't be too worried about the one year experience either. It sounds like you work for a large company. Look for a smaller company, say 20 trucks or so. Don't settle for anything less than you are worth. And don't take a job simply as a way out of your current deal, otherwise you're just moving sideways, not up. You mentioned you're ok with $800 a week net. That's fine, but don't stop there. That's slightly better than starting wages.

Once you find a job that pays you what you're worth, and you're happy with the job, it's no longer work.

 

Well, OP for the sake of the discussion you have to separate "hating trucking" from "hating the trucking company." Huge difference there.

It reads like your working for Swift. If so there is indeed plenty to hate there. Swift has their apologists, but the basic fact is Swift can't keep meet in the seat with their 100% annual turnover. So you are not the only one that hates it there.

But Swift isn't trucking. Sure it is like trucking, but Swift is a training company; If they didn't train they would have no drivers! Thats how they can treat their employees like 'meat in the seat. '

Well I was at Swift. Hated the company from start to finish. Still hate it today. But, I love trucking. Even the worst moment at Swift would not have me mistaking Swift with trucking.

 

I think the golden lesson that is not taught when new guys come into trucking is :

1) Where do you want to be in 3 years.

Now consider how many places there are to go in the trucking life.

Decide where you want to be, and DO NOT take your eye off of that mark ever, and you will get there.

A sub lesson in that is : DO not jump all around employers in that time, you want 3 at the most.

 

Actually 56.

I suppose with the airride and plush sleepers it might have gained 4 years length in span during the last 10. Make it another 40 and we might make it to retirement eh?

Anyhow Im almost at 56 but there is no loss or disappointment when I go It's a wonderful life. It's a shame we like it so much lest we should have it taken as it happened to so many.

 

Your rant is actually should be a sort of Bill of Rights about what not to do with company drivers. You are a robot. And being treated as one. Your freedom to communicate with traffic managers at shippers, recievers and brokers is zero. (Go to staples and buy the USA 800 number data base dvd on the entire nation, it's 10 dollars for each current year, you will access the people who do the traffic. (How in *&$% did you get this number?! DRIVERS DO NOT *&^%$# GET THIS NUMBER.... lolz...)

And frankly the frivilous messages are not for you, if you are already in a higher thinking about the poor schlubs who are not functioning very well and require a multi dose messaging medicine to keep in line....

As far as the company people who refuse to talk to you about anything specifically to your truck, trailer, safety, load in especially.... and so forth they are hamsters in a gigantic construct of illusion amusing themselves. They have no value to you. So you have no value to them, actually afraid that if you actually possessed some information that is actionable you would run off with it. It's silly.

Follow me so far?

You talked about faster trucks. 61 too #### slow. Ive expounded on that too many times.

You need a truck that will get up and run, maybe talk to Lepton1 about it. But just because you got one that will get up and run, does not mean you go do it. I have lived fast trucks 135ish top speed, just never had the room in the midwest and NE to really try the 150. It takes a few miles to get to it with 40 tons. And it becomes a momentum problem in the eastern mountains during good weather.

It still does not deliver any faster between say Toledo to Camp Hill PA. It's still overnight.

You need to be talking with recruiters. And you apparently sang songs about Costco. That would be a oppertunity. Here is what I do....

When I pull into Costco (I never have in my life, but stay with me here...) I check every tractor on the property and write down MC Numbers and company names. That information is googled for headquaters and contact information. Next thing you know is who to call with the right phone numbers. (See DVD you bought in Staples...) And most likely you will find a outfit that runs Costco.

That is one tidbit. As a working driver currently employed you might actually be hired in a single phone call (I was once.. that was interesting.. and novel.) way better than some orphan waif on the street clutching a shiny CDL and no brains.

Good luck.