Is 56 to old to go trucking?

If you are wanting to get into trucking and you like driving and don’t mine beeing along. Don’t mine rush hour driving . I say start living your dream and go for it and never look back. My father started at the age of 56 he loved the business. He drove 17 years and sure misses beeing in a truck. Just last year he drove to a Flying J truckstop and spent the day talking to truckers. My dad is now 83 he still loves trucking and he would not have changed a thing.

 

If your and your wife's retirement benefits are enough to live on, you could always buy a truck, hook up a camper and see the country. That's what I would do.

 

just a thought for you:
get your CDL
keep you currant job
find a part time/ holiday replacement position (possibly with the bullhauler)
work it as a holiday/hobby till you max out your pension
then you will have the hours/ years experience to go where you want and pick the type of trucking you want to do

 

Go for it. That’s not even old. It’s immature drivers who do willfully stupid things. No common sense.

 

You better hang in there until 2025. Get that pension. Especially if it is several hundred thou.

Once you have that pension in hand you can buy a truck and get it out of your system attending shows and what not. You already did some trucking and that's awesome. But you do not want to get involved with the industry right now. Me? Im almost as old as you are and setting aside several medical issues that are truly not qualified with DOT, I still have the mindset, spirit and so on to go given the chance.

But the industry has gotten bad. Hold on to your job until 2025 if at all possible. Social security is not where you want to live on. (Never mind the VA income... for the moment)

56 is not old. But you will need to be careful what you do. There are people who fly general aviation in their 80's drive semis here in Arkansas close to 90 and so on. The actual doing is not difficult. But you need to find a way to take care of your issues that prevent you from sleeping at night until 2025. If the pension stands at that kind of funding for you per annum at several hundred thousand, you have to try and not quit before then. Once you have it in hand go forth and do whatever and I think that would be a awesome reward.

My father got bad in his 50's with the gas company, but they eliminated his position because drawing blue prints and such has largely been replaced by three dimensional modeling on computers with very good exacting accuracy. You still need someone to do the drawing, enter the 21 year old fresh from tech school and a much cheaper salary compared to what they were paying my father on his senority. It's fortunate because he was getting to where he hated going to work but kept his mouth shut going to work. Sure he got a little pension out of it. But it's not what would have been possible if he was able to retire at 65 like his father did before him.

Im not here to say anything bad to you. But if there is something that needs taking care of is that laying awake at night. It's going to eat you up if it hasnt already. 2025 will be here before you know it.

 

I rarely drive at night. My division is flatbed and we mostly work & drive day hours. Stay away from refrigeration. They mostly drive all night.

 

Follow your dreams. I am. I'll be 55 next week.

 

Same age here! I would at least wait till your youngest Graduates gives you more time with him, even though teens don’t like hanging with the Parents! Glad I waited till My Daughter finished, drove local till then. Gives you more time to mill it over also. Good Luck with your choice!

 

I'm 52, so I hope not.