Any family members disapprove of you being a trucker? Mine does...

Wages are super depressed where I live. I take home in a week what most people make in a month. Competently no one looks down their nose at me lol!

 

Show them your brand new electric sewer water trash property tax bill

Oh wait....there aren't any.....

Be jelly family.

I can turn off my phone @ any time and shun management. You try that there fams

You're right the medical profession is disgusting.
In the us ran like a business when it isn't intended as a business but to heal people.. that's commie talk though....

 

Dealing with sick folks all day, every day, can be depressing...

... then again, dealing with dispatchers and shippers all day, every day, can be depressing...

I got my CDL the first time over 30 years ago, then spent 30 years in a multiphase career, traveling to Asia and throughout North America frequently, dealing with millions of dollars in sales, shipping, etc.... then when my last business venture was getting the nuts kicked out of it from incompetent factories in Asia... I decided "to heck with it" and got back into trucking...

I'm happier now than dealing with all that stress, even with the "1st year income blues" for "newbie" drivers. My older brothers are somewhat envious and considering trucking as their "retirement". My wife is patiently waiting for my first year to finish so I can step up the income stream. "Have a plan, work the plan"...

 

My ex wife had a problem after 13 years and my current wife of 5 years, and I'm sure my 15 and 10 yr old daughters, but other then that. Nahhh wouldn't say I have that problem.

I would say team driving is very tough, and it takes a while to get use to, and some of these companies can push you pretty hard. Also with the new rules they seem to keep adding it makes driving more difficult. Luckily you guys have a pretty decent profession to fall back on. If driving doesn't work for you. But this industry can be just as nasty and dangerous as the medical field. So be careful and know what you are about to step into.

 

I'll never forget the young couple in there mid 20's I met down in Laredo. Very clean cut, polite, and fit. But they looked like Death warmed over. I asked the young lady how long they had been driving and if she got any rest. Her reply was: "We've been at it about 9 months now and No Sir, I still can't sleep in a moving truck". Man I felt bad for those two.

 

Another career to consider if trucking gets old is Sealift Command. You and husband can travel the world as merchant seaman and still be in the medical field if you wish. Look at the website; there's a short film about it. The website is sealiftcommand. I got the merchant seamans document, but the only ship I was interested in is ported in Singapore, which was wonderful for me since I've been to Singapore, but the wife refused to move there. She's gungho hard core Chinese mainlander.

 

CT, do you drive in China also? How much of the year do you drive in the states? Or are you retired?

 

xisdraw : No driving in China, just ride a motorcycle there. Decided in September to quit driving trucks also and just retire and take life easy. With a second grader it's hard to take life easy all the time though!

 

Dealing with the DOT, shippers and receivers, cops who HATE truckers, rush hour traffic, away from home maybe months at a time, isn't exactly a walk in the park either. Not to mention, percentage wise you won't last a year.

 

My family members only contact me when they want something. Usually it's money. They don't pay my bills, nor are they responsible for my support. Therefore, I couldn't care less whether or not they approve of what I do.

I too left the medical field for greener pastures.