Career change to trucking

Oh no.

Forget the money. Consider the expenses. For example 8000 dollars to retail for food etc. annually. You would not have built up stamina in your first year therefore you might gross 40K give or take if you had a perfect one employer year without getting fired for the smallest stuff.

You will end up sitting or spending 100 plus hours mentally involved with the semi each week. If it is not one problem it is another. You might even understand that you, the bottom man on the totem pole don't get told anything that is really of value sometimes in situations impacting your ability to deliver.

When you are tired of waiting, you wait some more.

3 years is just getting good. IF you make it that far. If you did, then you can go work for Walmart and game their pay chart to get that 90K they are beginning to advertise for those with three years or more.

I can go on. But This is not a career. This isnt something that you will live out your life and retire from. ANY day is a day you have a possibility of something happening that is good, bad and really bad. Possibly injury, death, unemployment, prison, enforcement actions such as big tickets, fines etc I can go on. This industry is one of the least stable for anyone. We go through 100 truckers every year so that we can find that 10 who will make it 3 years. The rest are dismissed for lack of a better word.

Driving is mindless. Then again we have to have good people who can do magical things with a 18 wheeler in very tight spaces built 120 years ago and should not be able to fit a 70 foot 18 wheeler at all. without damage.

If you made 112K where you are with just 1400 hours of your time. STAY WHERE YOU ARE.

In 2001, wife and I teamed with FFE and both of us turned in a tax gross pay of 67K out of 10+ months, 221000 miles and more than 7000 hours on our engine. Which means we were in that truck doing something. If the engine was off we were home. That was only 59 days of that whole year. We were out a total of 306 days (That's two drivers, 24 hours round the clock all weather all terrain and all the time.)

67K is pretty pissy pay versus your nice cool 112k for 1400 hours of your time. It would be better seen at 34K for each, myself at the top of my game in this industry and one of the ones the company would call on to travel hell to get this load through. It's not that good in those days.

24K in 1980's and then 67K with two drivers in 2001 shows inflation. The costs stayed relatively the same without housing or expenses essentially other than what you require on the road when working. Economic losses are uncountable from unemployment over the stupidest stuff you learn workarounds so you can continue.

I generally do not live life as a rain cloud myself, but I make a habit of trying to solve problems as they come before it really becomes a problem. With that said...

What is wrong with you to want to risk your future walking away from your 1400 hour 112K per annum gravy train? Did something bad happen at home or marriage etc? that you want to consider running away to travel our roads in a casterated and regulated 18 wheeler full of computers and micromanagement?" You are not really free out here.

Unless you were a owner operator with your own paid for equipment and authority. Which a small percentage of us company drivers only get to achieve in this life. It is also the fastest way to make a small fortune from a large one.

 

It's doable.
It's a stretch.. but doable.
It all depends on your geographic location.. your ability once you do become one of us (because, believe it or not, it is a skill to do it at a high level).. the endorsements that you obtain.. and LUCK.

I've been at it 31yrs and I'm just now making 6 figures.

Guys are coming in making 40k first year.. or 70k first year.
The pay is changing dramatically right now, but to expect 100k in year two and a fair amount of time at home is a reach. But, it CAN be done with the right outfit.
Team driving for an LTL outfit like R&L Carriers or the like could be your ticket.
You'll have to get some experience first.
That's just reality.

I don't know the first thing about Nuclear Mechanics , or Yellow Cake Plutonium warhead building.
I can't jump into those fields without some serious training.

Good luck.

 

I was also a nuclear scientist and a astronaut. Those jobs were too mundane for me so I became a trucker. Welcome.

 

That sleeper in the back of your cab will be inviting to those who will come up, bang on the side a foot from your head at 6 am in the morning and hollar NEED A LUMPER!? So much for your long evening working through the night hoping to make the produce dock on time and just settled for a rest.

Maybe if you are not happy where you are, and it's really eating you up, you need to get out of there. If money was truly no object. If you are careful with each load assigned and build savings if you havent already... you should be ok. The most success drivers are those who have thousands in savings ready for any problem at any time, the least success drivers go into debt or cannot stop overspending, borrowing etc.

I know I was happy. I was broke sometimes, filthy rich other times and everything in between all my life doing this racket called trucking. It's been wonderful. But it's not always smooth sailing.

 

Well, if you are involved with that, then there is no problem with Twic, canada, customs, Hazmat etc. In fact... you might be wanting some of that cask transport of nuclear waste under hazmat class 7 radioactive? You would know how to get around a nuke plant very easy collecting them for your trailer. Might even seen a few come and go.

Regularly we have those come through west bound for Nevada among other places. It's very secure work and not involve with the BS grocery, live unload, loading etc.

 

Well.. you should have been with me the past four days fighting severe winter weather, icy roads, harsh cross winds, while driving a 73ft parachute across the country.

Out of a 2800 mile trip, a good 1000 of them were on treacherous highways.

That gets old, too.

Trading one devil for another.
Trucking has been WONDERFUL to me.
It's provided a splendid way of life for my family, but trips like these make me wonder if it's REALLY worth it.