Advice for wannabe trucker?

This kid is graduating from high school next year.
My point is you have no right to tell this kid to stay in school there after, you don't know him, his charicter or situation from a bar of soap!
Certain people are a lot better of with out staying in school after they graduate.

And I have no wish to debate this with your hard head so I won't respond to you again!

And I'm NOT your "friend" my friends don't have attitudes that suck!

 

I'll debate it with you....

I'll debate this issue with anyone. I have been on both ends of this INDUSTRY, the best of times, and now the worst of times. I never attended college and would advise anyone NOT to unless they are going to go into a "VERY SPECIFIC" field of employment which requires them to obtain a "VERY SPECIFIC" degree in something. as just going to college to get a degree in something for the sake of having one is a complete waste of their time and more importantly a WASTE of their money....

Let's debate Higher education, then we can move to why is it a waste of their time and money. How do you define higher education? From the University you attend or from the knowledge you obtain? From the money you give to people who "can't do, so they teach" or from the money you invest, from working, into your own happiness and future? How do you obtain education in general? Is it simply the memorization of what someone else has already worked so hard to achieve? Or is it obtaining the ability to create yourself?

Debating your issue sir is NOT a hard one at all. Your advice of "staying in school" is absolutely wrong as he will have learned nothing he couldn't have learned on his own by first learning to think for himself and then visit a library. However the problem lies with the fact that being told what you should do, and what you are going to do, is instilled in each one of us, almost from birth. The second problem is, how smart really is a person who goes from security of family to debt without learning how to first create wealth?

Universities are nothing more then a place to push agendas. They do not welcome free thought nor teach it. It is their way, or no way. "If everyone thought this way, there would be nothing. Some of the most brilliant minds came not from any University, but simply from the wombs of their mothers and the free thoughts of their minds."----SRV

It takes intelligence to thrive in todays society and "I can tell you that you will not learn intelligence from any University. Intelligence comes from within, education comes from everywhere and everything, Universities are simply the sum of both debt and propaganda."--SRV

Debate with me and you shall find intelligence, Debate with me and you shall redeem your misunderstandings that societies create, Debate with me and, if true in heart, you may actually experience a kind of intellect you never knew existed.

Wow!!! I even amaze myself sometimes lol! This is dumbing it down for most who don't get it...

"Hard work by you yourself will be the only means of obtaining a happy and prosperous life; there is NO "rights" given you to steal one from your neighbor."--SRV

"When a well packaged web of lies has been gradually sold to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic." UNKNOWN

 

Now srvmcmxc is a man with "higher education"!

Hell I'm even willing to bet, the longer you stay in school the lower your iq gets!!!

 

You said a mouthful with that...

Learn a skill set (or many of them) and get paid for it...all the while expanding your options and opportunities.

Not tooting my own horn, but I'll use me for example...

I started out hauling glass (specialized freight...pays better if the miles are there)

After a while I was offered a chance to try heavy haul...VERY hard to get that experience and it pays even better...not much home time though.

Then I decided to try dry vans so I could be home more (we had a baby)...didn't like it, I got so lazy I didn't even want to walk back there to open the trailer doors.

Then I did the regular flat bed thing...I liked it,pays good, good home time...but always missed the $$$ I made in heavy haul.

A few months ago they started talking to me about going back to heavy haul...and here I am...heavy haulin again.

Thats a lot of experience by anybody's standards (glass, steel, coils, aluminum, machinery, building materials, manufacturing machinery, vehicles, farm equipment, HVAC, military stuff, you name it I've probably hauled it...I'm about to add combines to that list BTW)...and it opens a lot of doors. Every now and then I find a company that interests me enough to give them a call just to see what they have to offer...even when companies were "thinning the herd" during 2008-9...and every time they do their best to hire me. I've even been offered sizable sign on bonuses by a few...lol. I'm happy where I'm at though...they have gotten me this far.

I never had any interest in bulk or reefer stuff...


The point is this...the more experience you gain, the more jobs will be open to you...and the more THEY WILL WANT YOU. Instead of trying to find a good company to hire you...you will be trying to decide which GOOD job to accept

For clarification: I don't mean be a job hopper...I got most of that experience at 1 company (that company did change ownership a time or 2 though). I did change companies to try the dry vans...but the flat bed company kept calling asking me to come back.

EDIT after reading some of the latter posts: I quit school in the 10th grade, got my GED when I was 19...never cared much for school myself...I was plenty smart (intelligent), but I told MENSA to go to hell too. I was then, and still am, more interested in huntin, fishin, and livin life.

 

CSW,

I want to get back to you brother, This was a thread started by you and you were simply asking us "truckers" for advise....

I will tell you this, trucking is NOT for the faint of heart, it is NOT for the weak minded, it is NOT for crybabies or those who want to complain about everything. Trucking is a mans or womans job, NOT a little boys or little girls job. It is tough, mentally draining, stressful and to be, a "professional" in this field, a very demanding and mentally intense job.

Why is there so much turn over in the industry? That's VERY simple to answer. As you can see there are not as many "professionals" in the industry as there are everyone I have just explained should not be here. You see a BIG truck, think its empowering to look at and you talk to a couple drivers who say "my paycheck was $1500 this week." You say WOW!!! I can do that so you try and join this world for the "WRONG" reasons. Money and power.

Now you get to orientation and you find out that everything you thought was just one big lie to get bodies to the company to fill the empty seats they have. You are irritated first and foremost because you have been lied to but secondly because you did not prepare yourself properly for the experience that awaits you.

You, CSW, are already ahead of the curve. You are on this forum asking questions and finding out that in this industry you will almost NEVER get the same answer to the same question from two different drivers.

Drivers have to deal with companies that employ them that sometimes (most times) care more about their bottom lines then the drivers who make them their money. You need to know this is GOING to happen and prepare for it mentally.

Trucking is a "THANKLESS" job for the professional and much more so then being a soldier. Am I comparing the two, you bet I am as "professional" drivers sacrifice their lives also. They sacrifice their lives for the good of America and for the good of their neighbor so that there neighbor may eat and dress in new fashions and keep warm in the winter and be able to buy what they want when they want, all while the driver is away from home, struggling mentally with problems he/she can't deal with until they return home, people thinking we mean nothing as they KNOW nothing, and we do it all without complaint.

This is TRUCKING! We are the backbone of America, without us this country and many others come to a screeching halt. The bread and milk you find in the stores would no longer be there and now more then ever, a trucker is providing for the well-being of millions and they don't even realize it.

So as for your plans, I've already informed you about how I feel about "staying in school", now I'll inform you about how I feel about YOU "joining the team".

Do it ONLY if you have the mindset that you want to help others and that you are willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of others.

Do it ONLY if you want adventure and can hack the rough terrain you are about to encounter and you are both physically and mentally tough as you will need both thick skin and a hard head.

Do it ONLY if you are willing to set aside the B.S. and you are willing to learn, educate yourself, and advance yourself, by yourself as you will be given a lot of bad information and must learn to rely much more on yourself then you ever thought possible out here.

Do it ONLY if you "truly" have the heart and want to become one of the very few "professionals" out here.

OTHERWISE,

You will simply be another driver who "MAY" make some money but will hate your life, my life, every aspect of life, complain about everything, hate every company you have ever worked for and tell everyone else what to do and how to do it.....

Trucking is HARD and most don't do the research that is needed to make an informed decision and they either quit or keep searching for that greener grass. Make the best decision for yourself, then stick it out no matter how bad it gets until you truly learn about this industry, only then will you be able to move from one company to another for the "right" reasons....

I welcome you and hope I have been helpful.
If you have questions about anything, I am more then willing to answer them (honestly and without bias)

 

U want some real advice?forget about trucking and go to college get ur butt a real education.

 

I dont agree with you entirely on telling a young guy not to head for college. There are plenty of colleges that arent liberal brain wash farms. Although I do understand your point entirely.

I am 100% in agreement that CSW is a young man with his head on straight. Dont think Ill have to worry about finding him on the obama teet.

CSW, Coke, Pepsi are all places to get your foot in the door. Plenty of non union LTL places to start too. And you certainly dont want to over look dump trucks. Its all experience and it all adds up.

 

can anyone tell me does canadian companies hire irish drivers

 

Absolutely not. Canadians hate the Irish.