Am I completely 100% off my rocker?

Will try and keep this brief. When I was 12 and anyone asked "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" the answer was "A truck driver". I grew up in a small town, doing your typical small town things - riding dirtbikes, playing baseball, working on cars, etc. Fast forward to my senior year of high school, I got a job as a full time welder. I would go to school, come home and go weld from 4pm till midnight. I loved it, however right after I graduated I had to have an operation on my back. At the time I had the chance to go to school for a lighter duty job such as an accountant and have it paid for. I gave up welding and did that. I got a job ironically enough with a trucking company at age 20 in the billing dept. Due to my work ethic and ability to get things done, here I am 22 years later, in an upper management position, with a major (700 million/yr) trucking company and hating EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT!!! I cannot stand working in an office. I haven't liked this job for years and years but I had 3 small kids to raise who are now all grown and in college or on their own.

I am 42 and it's now just me and my wife and I know I am not getting any younger. For the past 6 weeks I have been reading and soaking up as much information here as I can. As far as I undertsnad from reading this forum, I almost have to go OTR for a period to get enough experience to even have a chance at something local. What I have found is I think I want to drive tankers or flatbeds. I would love to get into the marcellus shale business since my hometown where I want to relocate to is in the heart of that area. Also, I "think" from what I have gathered on here, realistically I can expect to make around $40,000 my first year, and up to around $60,000 in year 3. Do those numbers sound about right?

Let me ask without sounding to bad. If you had a job you hated so bad that by saturday night you were dreading getting up and going into work on MONDAY, but it paid very well - like 6 figures well last year and just slightly below that this year, what would you do? I am not trying to boast about income, but I am really, really struggling with the quality of life vs pay thing. I feel that after 22 years of sitting in an office listening to #####y, gossipy women, pissed off customers and arrogant bosses all day long, every day, that getting in a truck,by myself would be heaven to me. I know the work involved in the gas industry as I have a few friends who work in it. I know the work involved in flatbedding from reading info here. That's all what I want. As silly as it sounds, I want to come home with dirt on my boots. I want to feel like I just worked a full day. I am happiest when I am building a deck, or fixing a car, or shingling a roof or cutting firewood for camp. But money is money. Would you stay totally miserable and depressed at a job you hate just for the money?

As I said, am I completely off my rocker?

 

Yeah I hear more saying I am nuts than those who don't. Generally though the ones that say quit and do it are usually my family and close friends who realize just how unhappy I am at my job. I don't see anything wrong with living a modest life making a modest income but enjoying what you do. It's gotta be better than dreading waking up and driving in to work, regardless of pay.