Be honest, is trucking a good job?

I'd like to thank the community for another good topic for a wannabe like me to read threw.




However with this topic, I really don't see what is hard about trucking.
But, that might just be because I've spent the past 6 years working in the low paying and physically demanding environment of retail distribution centers and loading docks.

I laugh at people all the time when I see them coming to work at a warehouse thinking "How hard can it be?" and I really do not want to make that mistake when it comes to trucking.

 

The owner of the school I am attending claims he left trucking because of all the BS regulations and traffic and such. He opened a school and a small trucking company but he does not drive.

By the way, trucking is NOT the only industry to be down in Obamatime3.5. The City of Murder (Chicago) has laid off many police officers, have not replaces the ones via attrition or retirement or discipline reasons, and are scrambling to move officers from behind desks to out on the streets.

The skilled trades other than plumbers having been hurting in this area since 2006.

 

i did something like that once.

was an auto mechanic in my previous life. doing a rear disc brake job on a pontaic. slammed my fingers into the hoist trying to brake the bolts loose. put away my tools. locked up my box. threw box in my truck. and left. never loooked back.

 

Hey everyone been reading quite a bit here and am grateful for all the info.

I did want to chime in on what some have said about corporate America. I currently work for a major bank and can tell you that sitting behind a desk all day aint all it's cracked up to be. Right now I'm still looking into this industry as a possible alternative to where I am now. I can tell you, at least where I am, the money isn't what you'd think, and the opportunity to move up isn't either.

Seems that every job that comes up has about 1000 applications. Talked to a manager in another department that I was looking at who told me that he posted 1 job and had over 900 applicants in 3 days. The big problem is, a lot of the people are way overqualified for the position so you have guys like me going against people with masters degrees and decades of experience. There's no way these people should be applying for the same stuff I am, but it's becoming the norm in this economy as people are continually displaced and forced to seek positions beneath their current one just to stay employed.

Of course, this also drives wages down since folks are working longer, willing to accept less money, and work crappy hours. Don't know what it's like for you guys in the trucking industry, but I can tell you what it's like in corporate America.