Becoming a trucker with a college degree?

I got a degree. Started out for in corrections thwn changed to accounting... Worked as an entry level accountant for 2 years for peanuts... Even had to relocate for it. Hated it. Got my cdl while collecting unemployment. Havent looked back since.

 

Jesus Man! I thought my wife wrote novels. You sir have her beat. My hat is off to you.

 

I am a retired.police officer 25 years. Trucking is something I always wanted to do. I remember working nights for years seeing trucks going through town wondering where they were going. Got my CDL.after retiring and have enjoyed the lifestyle even though the pay is not what it should be. Some of these companies should really be ashamed of them selves for how they pay and treat drivers. I can tell you the benefits are much better in law enforcement plus you will likely earn a pension after 25 to 30 years in.
On the other hand if I was you and you don't have kids etc. and your still young, I would go ahead and get that CDL and hit the road. Go with a long distance OTR company that travels all 50 states and see the country. If you like it long term, great! There are many different areas you can branch off in tr you can do it a few years, get that experience, then apply at a law enforcement agency. Just make sure you stay in shape, it's so.easy to get FAT driving a truck. You have to make sure you can pass a police agility test when the time comes. We had former truckers at the PD who did well. Also I know of a couple that kept their.CDL.and drove trucks part time while working at the PD. Having a CDL is a skill to keep in your money making toolbag.. Also your degree helps. Neither trucking or policing are easy, between the 2 trucking is less stressful for me although both are dangerous. Good luck!

 

Railroads have their own police departments. You drive around all day basically doing security with power of arrest. They have their own retirement system separate from SS.

From that seat you will see the logistics world pretty clearly, which I would recommend. Transportation is for people who can handle rapid and absurd changes and reversals.

 

Actually... being a cop is not dangerous at all. Statistically speaking anyway. The job is just perceived as being a high risk one while in reality is it quite the opposite. It is obviously not free of risk, but it is not even close as bad as the media portrays it to be.

Driving a truck on the other hand is actually one of the most dangerous professions you can have in the US. I believe it ranks somewhere around the fifth most dangerous job, or close to that anyway.

When you compare 1000 truckers to 1000 cops the number of truckers who die on the job is much higher than the number of cops.

 

Brother it will help you become a bigger man in more ways than one haha. This job has made a man out of me. If you use it the right way, and keep your mind open, it will definitely help you become a bigger and better man. You won't get rich driving a truck, but I would say the experience is definitely worth it. You can make a good living, and get a lot of life experience out here

 

if he's thinking about becoming a truck driver, the truck stop is the last place he needs to go to. I tell everybody to stay away from the truck stops. That's what sours attitudes on the road

 

Police work is a whole different animal than trucking. The stress level is much higher I can tell you that. Plus I responded to this post to offer advice not debate which is more dangerous..both are. Police work involves thousands of adrenaline shots over the years. When you respond to various calls over and over , man with a gun, domestic disturbances, shots fired, robbery in progress, high speed pursuit, etc. suicides, etc, it takes it's toll. Fortunately most calls turn out to be BS your body prepares for the worst. Yes statistically more people die driving a truck but there is more to it than stricly stats.

 

Police work is a rush. I was going to be a lawman once, but was told that I needed to forget it being deaf. So that pops that dream.

Now I needed to find a outlet for that adrenaline rush. Eventually I found them. One example is climbing the Maryland Heights in Harpers Ferry 1200 feet of rock wall straight up above the rail tracks without any sort of rope, metal or saftey gear. The only thing I had on was ripstop boots and those did a good job when your entire body weight has to go onto 1/2 inches of flat stone sticking out of the wall 600 feet over nothing below haflway up.

Not only got up there but came back down too. You wont catch me doing that now. Age is a problem.

I should have become a lawman, Ive always got a rush going after the bad guys. I feel predatory that way.

This has been your lunch counter post from me. That's good for the day.

Ive almost gotten killed in trucking and also almost killed other people too. I consider myself very lucky. But I don't know about the economic side of it. There is no profit in it. None. Zip.

 

Yeah, I know that. Most of my family is actually involved in law enforcement in one way or the other (I´m kind of the black sheep I guess, lol), so I do have a little bit of inside knowledge. It was not my intention to make law enforcement sound like an easy job - I know it is quite the opposite and yeah, the stress level is definitely higher than it is in trucking.

All I wanted to say is that it is actually much more likely to die on the job when you are a trucker and not a cop. That being said, both jobs are quite tough and should get a lot more respect than they do.