Career Change or Not?

I am kind of tired of the corporate rat race. After a career in the Air Force it took me just over ten years to realize that corporate America may not be the place for me.

My wife and I began talking about going OTR as a team. We are 53 each, together that makes us 106, I think! The kids are grown. Currently we live in Phoenix and we don't plan to retire here. Financially we are comfortable but that is meaningless if you are miserable too. We have nothing on our driving records and no involvement with the law at all. I have a bachelors degree in business and have worked my entire career in engineering and logistics. I have the background and experience to run a business so the thought of becoming an O/O at some point has been discussed.

I began doing research on the industry. I have read several websites and forums, discussed training with a local school, discussed the pros and cons with the wife.

Our plan is to go on the road full-time with the goal of making enough to put a significant portion away for retirement and a nice living for now. Home-time is not that important to us since there is nothing to go home for. If we could make it home as needed (once we figure out what that is) that would be fine. As soon as we can assess how well we like the lifestyle we will sell the house in Phoenix and begin looking for a new home back east.

The bottom line, we need to clear slightly more than $100K a year for this to be workable and attain our goals in ten years. Can this be done?

Are there sources available to help me understand the contracts for a company driver and O/O? ie, is it a good thing when the contractor says 80% paid to the truck? What is 80%?

What is the likelyhood that in x amount of time OTR that we will be determine that we can acheive our goals?

With my background, when should I consider buying my own truck? I want a large sleeper.

Thanks in advance to all that can help me begin to grasp this business.

Mark

 

this might be stupid, BUT....

If you and your wife are both ready to roll, I would hook up with a company sponsored school.....more than enough training and gets you started in a hurry.

Personally I would do 1-2 years as a company driver team, save $$$, you can keep expenses under $200 a week total if you eat out of the truck. Save $$$$ for a down payment and buy a truck from an independent source, that way you are not locked into one of the less than good company leases.

1-2 years as company drivers at .38-.40 a mile and 250-300k miles a year would net you a good nest-egg....and allow you to get aquainted to the trucking industry without an upfront investment.

Once you have some experiance and a truck you can pick and choose the company you want to work for.

K

 

There is a far greater chance that the Phoenix Cardinals will win back to back Superbowls than there is that I will do a company lease! When the time comes I will buy my truck outright.

 

I also am considering a career change to trucking and have been reading everything I can find on the net. The career I'm leaving is corrections with 17 years. The main problem is liberal, bleedinghearts continually grant dirtbags more and more rights. At the same time giving staff less and less tools to control them. It seems remarkably similar to what I have read on the trucking industry, politicians making regulations for things they have no experience with personally.
Anyway, like the previous poster I am considering team driving with my wife. Though first I will go through training and spend the first 9-12 months as a solo. I haven't decided my best route yet, whether to be trained by Roadmaster, a company(Swift is eager, yeah I read) or the local vo-tech. I guess that is my first question, does it really matter?
A couple of other quick questions:
Do any of you really regret your chosen career? Or is it a case of love the job just hate some of the paperwork and bs?
I'm also a writer[ see Demon Reich on Amazon ] and use my laptop a lot for research. Is wi-fi readily available at truckstops and terminals?
Spending most of my life in law enforcement I realize there is a difference between bending the rules and breaking them. I can't see running 3 or 4 log books for deception. Is it not possible to run legal for the most part and still make a good living?

 

I think the most important thing is the 1-2 years experience BEFORE you BUY....


K

 

I appreciate the insight. At this point my greatest concern is a two thirds reduction in salary for the first couple of years while we, as a team, get the necessary experience. We could sell the house. That would eliminate the mortgage payment (and the tax write-off, ouch) and would provide enough to buy a truck outright. Doing that means we better really like trucking because we would have given everything up to go do it. Making this change is all or nothing. If I quit my job to go trucking I will have pretty much screwed any hopes to go back into the tech industry or program management in a few years if I decide trucking isn't for me.

I pulled mobile homes back in the early 70s around Colorado. It wasn't the same as OTR in an 18 wheeler but I didn't have any trouble with a large vehicle on the highway. I was too young to cross the state line.

However, she is beginning to have cold feet because she doesn't think she would ever feel comfortable driving mountain roads or snow and ice. Part of our plan is to relocate to the east where the mountains are nothing like those in the west. This would reduce the threat of mountain roads. There is nothing I can do to help her get past the concern about road conditions.

The community college here has a truck driving certification program that costs about $1100 but takes 6 months to complete. It consists of four course that appears to teach everything ahout trucking from regulation to business to actual operation. Most of it is night classes so I would be able to use vacation time to take the road class. Unfortunately, it is clear across town five days a week durning the worst of rush our and this session is closed so it must be full. We wouldn't be able to start till August and that may be uacceptable.

OK so the bottom line is that we have to make a decision and live with it. I see occasional references to $65K solo incomes and Team incomes to $125K but I don't see any of the people on the board talking like this is at all a reasonable expectation. It also looks like if I want to earn that kind of income that I will pretty much have to put in 70 hours every 8 days or 140 in 8 as a team. Don't take me wrong, money isn't what it's all about but I only have our current income as a point of reference. I think this is going to a tough decision to make and a little like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane when we do!

Regards
Mark

 

My home network is WiFi, at work I use EFDM (aircard which uses cellular network) and soon WiMax will be available. WiMax will give data transmission the ability to handoff from one cellular base station to the next so you could browse the web while trucking down the highway. (I didn't say it was a good idea but why not as long as you don't try to put eye makeup on at the same time!)

The key to good performance with an aircard is an external antenna. They cost about $30 from your provider or you can find them on the internet. The problem with an aircard is the cost, about $80 a month for unlimited use.

Sometimes you can find someone running their home network wide open meaning you can connect and they won't even know you are there. I used to run mine open just so others could use it. Recently I locked it down for the security of my data.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Regards
Mark

 

Thanks for the info MarkS. Looks like we're in the same boat, different income level but same decision. I'm a Mensan and never make a choice without first researching to make an informed decision. I have done several weeks of research on this and have come to the conclusion that there is too much data both positive and negative. The problem with the info we can find is most of it is subjective versus objective. Personally I have put up with a bad situation for almost 17 years for employment, we do what we have to for our loved ones. This may very well be the same but at least it will be different. I'm going to jump off with both feet. The exparatrooper in me says sometimes you just have to make a leap of faith. I'm gonna see if I can keep the shiney side up and the dirty side down.:smt112