Do any of you know

Good post. I've said it before here and some of you may know that I have 3 full years of college chemistry and all the credits that would go with 6 semesters. I quit college to start driving when I was 21 making my parents very very nervous - haha - but they supported me because that's what I wanted to do. Do those three years help me move freight across the dock or pull a set? No, but I learned a great deal about dealing with people which no doubt helped me develop and maintain great working relationships with my customers when I had a P&D route. It has also helped me a great deal with finances - I make what I make but learned how to play around with stocks in an obscure class I took as an elective when I was 19 that has benefited me till this day. I still have close friends from my college days who are great people with their lives together professionally and it never hurts to have some connections. My high school best friend is now my financial planner and stays after me to meet the goals I set years ago so I can use a good driving job as a way to build something bigger than just a paycheck.

With the job market the way it is, a degree does not guarantee anything. Had I finished college I have a hard time believing I would make as much as I now do driving. That said, had I not gone to college, I don't believe I would be as productive as I have been with the money I make nor would I have the connections I currently do. There is definitely something to be said about the college experience so long as you surround yourself with quality people.

 

Thanks Powder for the comment .I couldn't agree more Powder..Anymore its hard to cheat logs even if you wanted to with advent of GPS mounted satellites on trucks.Company's can retrieve a lot of info as to what the truck is doing at any given moment.Granted it would be nice to have more freedom in this area but with company's pushing the bottom line and cutting corners everywhere possible the old days are gone forever.

 

"We don't need no education" would mean that they needed SOME education. It's like when people say "I don't have no ----", which would mean they have a certain amount of ----. Words have meaning and sentence structure is an imperative to being understood and to understanding.

 

HS Diploma, and 2 years of college with a 3.93 GPA. Inducted into the National Honor Society for 2 Year Colleges (Phi Theta Kappa) in 2006.

Did it help me drive a truck at all? Not one bit. But I do believe that college helped me be a better informed, better thinking, more well-rounded individual.

Do I think a HS diploma or GED should be required for driving a truck? Well, yes and no. For one, the skills you aquire in high school do help with truck driving. Bridge formula, anyone? But I also know that even folks who have no diploma can drive a truck as well as or better then many folks WITH those diplomas, they just might need a little more help with certain aspects (some of the non-driving portions of the job, like above mentioned bridge formula, logging, trip planning, etc.)

But, having a diploma or GED does show that you already have these skills, to some degree. Also, like military service or a college degree, it says something about the individual that they accomplished something. I'm not disparaging those without their degrees as each person has their own reasons, but even in our industry appearances are important.

Guess it all boils down to the fact that, while not having your diploma/GED shouldn't keep you out of the job, it might hurt your chances some.

 

I'm sure Roger Waters and David Gilmour care that it was improper grammar, since they made millions off the song. What passes for education in many cases is anything but an education. More like indoctrination!

Why would a trucker need anything beyond middle school? Now if you want to be a Doctor or a Lawyer or an Engineer, then you'll get a decent education but English majors and Liberal Arts majors or even Political Science majors are lacking much of any kind of sense it seems. Scientists haven't any common sense any more either. They base much of their knowledge on unproven theories, though the actual laws of nature do apply and they understand those very well.

Here's my advice to those of you that have kids. If they are very bright and want to be a Lawyer, Doctor or Engineer then by all means buy them an education. If they are just average folks and want to "change the world" do them a favor. Take all that cash you were going to squander at some overpriced University, and buy them a house in stead. Then when they work at McDonald's, they can still afford to live and not have to pay back outrageous student loans on their minimum wage service jobs.

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