Am I Crazy? Need Advice

Retired Navy Seabee who did twenty years and five days. You don't know what will come up in the next ten years. I had the trucking itch long ago but stayed in for family security. Guess I was well regarded because I was selected for a program that you could not apply for. Spent most of the second ten in civilian clothes, travelling and making some extra pay. The connections made there put me into an interesting very well paying follow on job. I've just finished twenty years there, grown kids, no more wife, paid off mortgage and plenty of money in the bank. The pension is what paid the mortgage and the medical was a plus.

At fifty-nine years old I still have the itch . I've had a CDL since the mid 80's when it was a Chauffeurs License although rarely used it. The problem is that working part time two days a week I make more than what the drivers I read about on TTR make in a week. I'm trying to decide whether to put out the $4k for school and sign on with an OTR company or stay where I am.

I guess back to your question I would stay in and in ten years you will have options that you don't have now. The pension and the medical being there give you the ability take chances and not put your family at risk.

 

well I don't know what to tell you, because when I first wanted to be a truck driver I didn't know about this website or had any miss information from anybody. the only person I had telling me to get out there and do the job was my dad and that's the only person I actually listen to. so you don't know what you don't know. First you pick a school that gives you a lot of time on the truck and that doesn't charge you more than $2,000. they also need to let you use their truck for DMV test without charging you. then after you get your CDL in the mail, you can start to worry about a driver manager

 

STAY PUT, you have the pat hand. From an Army retiree, 24 years, stay the course. Set post military life goals. Get all the education you can handle, all the high-speed training courses you can and start networking those careers out here you believe you will enjoy most. By the time the next 10 are done you will be a step ahead and ready to make the transition.

When you step back on civilian streets you'll never feel as valued as you are now. Mostly, especially as a trucker, you are a resource and little more, and you are expendable. (in that the industry always has someone else ready to jump in your seat) You are underpaid, under appreciated, misunderstood, and always away from home, it seems, when needed the most. Though you are use to being gone from the family while deployed or training it's a different animal out here. Especially when the sippers and recievers seemingly could care less when or how long you have been waiting for them to do their job while your hours of service dwindle to nothing and strand you 60 miles from the house or out in the middle of nowhere.

Other issues include getting/paying for good health insurance for you and your family at a reasonable cost to you. Many, many, many, former service members rue the day they left service when they reach the point in their lives that they or their family start needing more extensive health care because of failing health or a catastrophic event. Even the ones who are still generally healthy struggle balancing enough health care coverage and take home pay. Something, that at 28, isn't such a concern. At least it wasn't for me.

And then there is retirement pay. Even if you only take home 2k a month in retirement income, about 2600 gross, you are that far ahead of everyone around you who has not yet reached retirement. And in your case that can be as early as 38 years old for the rest of your life. A lot of folks out here would give their left, you know what, for that.

Lastly, no matter what you think you know are prepared for when leaving the service go back and double check everything. If it's not in writing question it. if it is - read it yourself.

Best of luck to you and thanks for your service,

A retired First Sergeant

 

Can you transfer/re-enlist to the reserves ? As a enlisted reserve you only have to work one weekend a month and two weeks a year,and you get a housing allowance of 1,900 dollars a month tax free,money you can spend anyway you want,on top of your other bennies..

 

I appreciate your sentiment, but if you think that these trucking companies will treat you any better you are mis-informed. The ONLY way you will get any freedom at all in this industry would be to buy your own truck. I wouldn't ever recommend that for a relative novice. Company drivers are on call 24-7 and subject to the whim of their dispatchers. The rule is: If you have the hours you have to take the run, and if you refuse you can forget about making decent money for a long time.

If what you are doing now sucks try to get a transfer into something more enjoyable, but really you are half way to a good retirement. Id stick it out f I were in your shoes. You will still have a lot of life left in you in 10 years AND youll that 20 year pension backing you up too.

 

First and foremost, TY for your service !
Secondly, JB HUNT is a good company, but just like another poster posted , all recruiters are bottom feeders, just like military ones. They figure get your ### in the grass, or in this case in the seat and who cares what happens after that. It doesn't effect them cause they did their job to get you in the seat no matter what. Now having said that, I checked into something similar up here where I live in iowa to what you checked and I couldn't stop laughing. The recruiter told me the same thing that you said , I asked about incidentals like detention, layover, etc etc and he couldn't answer any of them other then " I'm sure they have that figured into that high end revenue". Really ? Anyways, I have picked up and delivered in rail yards before and it's no fun unless your hourly. Not to mention you have to take what chassis they give you and you never know what shape its in and if it needs repairs, you got it, you have to sit there till it's fixed. a lot of times without pay. Add to that waiting where you take the container to, and walla. I'm sure you can make a decent living doing intermodal, but , and that's the key word, make sure that you ask a lot of questions. The first being, ask yourself why a company would outsource their recruiting to a third party recruiter instead of doing it themselves. Me personally that would throw up a big red flag. Good luck and God bless. Thank you again for your service from one vet to another.