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

My Indian family was not happy about my decision to become a trucker. They tried to talk me out of it. They think it's hard work & unglamorous. My dad everytime I see him still asks me if my wife really drives. He can't get over a woman truck driver. I proudly tell him she does and that she's a better driver than me.

Most of my family is in the medical profession. They will never understand but that's okay. I'm going to do what makes me happy. I work everyday with my wife and we get to bring our dogs with us.

If you manage your driving career right then you can make money and have fun doing it. Thanks to trucking we have favorite places to eat, shop, visit, etc all across America. Whenever we talk to people back home about what's going on with us.....they think we hardly work.

Once you two get out here and start doing this....your going too see how lucky you are. I wish every truck driver out here was as lucky as me to have his/her wife/husband with them everyday. Are we Professional Drivers ? Hell No ! We're Professional Tourist. Once you understand that then everything else will flow.

 

Driving trk by far is not hard work physically but mentally it can put a strain on you depending on the company.It can put a lot of stress on you and make you angry with each passing day.Low pay low miles dot on your back trk brksdown ect ect.Not the perfect carreer but not the worst either.Many consider this profession demeaning.You really have to wanna do this to make it work.

 

Trucking can be hard work physically. If you're doing LTL, or its driver unload, running a flatbed, about the only its not very physical is if you are 100% no touch and only have to open swing doors. By no means is pulling a bull rack as physical as some of the flat bedding I did, but even hooked to a pot it takes a good bit of strength to gate cattle at times when they don't want to funnel down or they decide they don't want to get friendly with each other. Climbing the trailer to check cattle can be pretty physical when you're hanging off the side of a trailer trying to shove a hotshot through a hole to get a downer up. Not to mention the hours I suppose that not strength physical but it still takes a toll on your body.

It does become a physical job bouncing around for 11 hours a day getting beat to hell. I hear people say driving a truck isn't physical (people who have never driven on) and just smile they get out of a car after 300 miles and have to sleep for 12 hours stretch and walk around. Its definitely a physical job.

I do agree that its a demeaning job. Some still think its an honorable profession not with the publica view of us now days were just a bunch of lazy degenerates by most peoples standards. If they only knew what we really went through this is turning into a rant so I'll stop but think about it pattyj our job is more physical than we think it is when we step back and look at what we really do ya know?

 

That's how moms are. Mine is the same way. Her biggest reservation is the fact this work is dangerous.

 

Yea doesn't help matters when her son...well me doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut either. I can lie on a log book, give DOT the run around, or tell a lot lizard I'm in swift truck number 01863 but I can't for the life of me figure out how to lie to my mom to keep her from worrying.

 

Very true,flatbed is hard work and you all should be rewarded more then what you do.I only did it for the first 3 months of my carreer and forgot just how hard it is because its been so long ago.Never did ltl.You put me in my place,lol.Some trucking jobs are more physical then others.I was referring to the mega carriers where you sit drive from point a to point b and get unloaded.Nothing hard about that.This job im currently on leave of absence,alot of physical work involved but I don't consider it hard work just part of trucking.Yes the trks I drove ABSOLUTELY SUCKED no doubt about that.The trailers you needed 2 ppl to dolly up and down,nothing glamourous about it.Ive been a hard worker all my life so what I see and do in the trucking world is just another normal day and don't think of it as hard work.Like you I do consider it a demeaning job and so does the carriers.Many of shps and reeivers feel the same way.I hear jokes all the time on tv about trk drivers.More ppl then not consider this demeaning.

 

Most of my family and friends have the same reaction. I have a degree, have worked white collar as a City Manager. I like trucking (most of the time). Nearly all of my family and friends think trucking is a weird, waste of time choice for me.

Frankly, it is a bit weird to make this choice, so I don't get too upset with them. After a little bit of time, more and more have become mostly fine with it.

 

My first seven months I drove 42 states then a 12 state region for 18 months and now a 13 state region. First four years tourist all the way and still that way for the next 5 years. Some times I feel like when I retire from the job I have had for the last 7 years I need to run 48 states again to get those last 6 states in unless OweBama tells me where those extra seven states are.

 

This about sums it up:

 

Most of my family does.

My response is this: I'm not going to go $40k in debt in student loans to make $40k/year when I already make much more than that. Simple as that.