Am I completely 100% off my rocker?

That there is good advice.

 

I'm not a trucker but I really find the discussions posted here to be interesting so I read the forum almost everyday, plus I live in and drive a 43' motorhome so I find the motor and driving stuff interesting. Anyway here is my two cents. Have you talked to your boss about your current feelings toward the job. Why don't you propose a plan to him whereby you would get your CDL, get out in a truck and by doing this you could be in a position to provide incites about the way things get done out on the road that will help upper management improve their bottom line.

Maybe I'm naive here but the very large company that I eventually retired from, over 200,000 employees nationwide, would always consider a proposal that would help the bottom line.

Gary

 

Gary...

There are some companies (Knight is one) that make anyone who deals directly with the drivers get a CDL A..whether they actually drive or not they do have them for the most part....(I did some time with knight out of Memphis and they all had cdl's right up to the terminal mgr and any new dm that hired on either had to have one or acquire one..was mandatory)

On occasion they would take a trailer dropped at the yard to a consignee as long as it was within 2 days drive time if no other drivers were available..but yeah..On the flip side of things it wouldn't be a bad idea for a company if everyone had cdls and at least 1 month on the road to get a small taste of things..

Would it hange the driver vs DM attitude in the business at some companies..maybe..but probably not...

Its a truck driver's nature..we gotta blame somebody for us sittin not having a load LOL or not getting home when we want to so DM's everywhere catch unholy hell from at least one driver a day...whats the saying..you can make some people happy all the time..everyone happy some of the time..but never everyone happy all the time? It is so true in the trucking industry

Truckers (myself included) are or get complacent and lazy..and things start to go screwy and we get upset cuz we have to work to get loads when all we should have to do is log and drive...is the mentality..when its just as much the driver's responsibility to communicate with their dispatcher eta's and availability and such to get a load as it is the dispatcher to use that info and get them a load..we get ten hours off to sit there and figure it out for our truck..dispatchers get 8-10 hrs to not only worry about us but 20-50 other trucks as well..Driving might be a vacation for em LOL

Petey

 

Yes.

But most of us are.

You'll either love it or hate it within 6 months. My guess is you'll never go back. I won't. They can take cube hell and shove it where the sun don't shine.

An ex-engineer.

 

First time I was out driving in the early 90's, lot of 40-50 yo engineer/professional types on the road....

Now I are one too....

 

That was the main draw for me when I first started..nobody looking over my shoulder...no office politics....no daily commute..

Just me myself an I and nothin but highway

Petey

 

I recommend a former best selling book titled "Die Broke". First line in it says "quit your job". The meaning of that is, it is only a job. The only people who have it right in our culture are professional athletes. They are mercenaries. They go where the money is, have no loyalties. I read the book a couple decades ago and it changed the way I lived my life. I walked away from a six figure gig in radio (SF), retired at 50 and lived in a motorhome for about 3 yrs. Then divorced, remarried and landed in MN (don't ask!). Worked at Barnes and Noble for a few months making $7.25 an hr. Then went to Wells Fargo as a banker for about $31,000 a yr...then a credit union for a bit more. Quit all that and got a real estate broker's license. My wife is our bread winner and now I want to drive an OTR truck. I'm 63 and not afraid. Next!!!

 

First, $40,000 your first full year of driving a truck seems a little high. Now $30,000 to $36,000 for your first full year sounds reasonable. Contrary to what I hear, I am not seeing a big demand for entry level truck drivers with a CDL class A. Experts feel free to disagree with me -- no problem. I hear them talk about increased recruiting but have not seen that with my own two eyes.
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.The economy is still soft. The layoffs are pretty much over but hiring has not dramatically picked up yet. The CBO (congressional budget office) is projecting that the US economy will grow at 2.2% for year 2012 and 1% for year 2013. The only one who thinks that the US economy is roaring back is Obama.
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And then there is the China question. China's economy has been growing at a 9% rate. But, the Chinese government has been pushing their economic growth with deficit spending. If the Chinese economy faulters, there will be economic repercussions in the US economy and also in Europe. Think double dip recession in the US.
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Think long and hard before you lose that high paying job for an entry level trucking job. I suggest you stay put and save up money for school, pay off all your debt and save a wad of cash. The current and future economy may be in for a bumpy ride.

 

Xcis..the tremors are sartng again..light..but there.

Hiring freezes are quietly lifting for some companies..depends on who their customers are

Petey

 

Why has no one posted what you obviously have done wrong all these years?

You should have been training the wife to do your current job! Then you would still have had the big cash and you could be out of the office and on the road!

Mikeeee