Driver Shortage

Because something is difficult or requires “training” doesn’t make it skilled.

 

Again. Come back to this after you get experienced and skilled. Cashiers are trained. Don't get it twisted.

 

It is definitely not the vocation that you see in the highly romanticized Hollywood version. Being away from home for weeks on end; dealing with hostility from shippers, receivers, the motoring public, dispatchers, even other drivers, pretty much everywhere; lack of parking; living on truck stop food; lack of entertainment choices; lack of exercise choices; low pay; deceptive hiring practices; liability and responsibility far beyond compensated.

This industry has about a 80-90% drop out rate, first year, for new drivers, and there's a bunch of very good reasons for that. It's not easy, and yet, the CDL mill recruiters don't tell that to the fishes.

It's no walk in the park, as a lot of people like to pretend it is.

 

Find local and regional companies near you and ask if they take on new drivers before you decide on what to do. Some do. It’ll still be long hours but you’re home everyday and weekends off.

That’s my path but I’m in a good area where I can get paid well from the start doing local.

 

I got fired from my trucking job in early December I had another driving job lined up to start in January. But while waiting to start my girlfriends brother owns a small moving company and I worked for him cash under the table and I learned he used apps to get workers when he needed them and some of them did other stuff which is how I fell into this.

I am now doing apartment moves in my own pickup truck and also doing tree trimming and driveway cleaning. In between good paying jobs I do some door dashing but definitely doing less and less of it. I had a realtor pay me $700 to trim some trees and make the driveway and sidewalks look new of one of her properties. It took me 4 hours. Now I’ve got other realtors offering me work. I also did some dog sitting but after being woken up many times in the night by some of these dogs I decided that’s just not for me anymore.

I’ll never be a company driver with a camera in my face again. No need for anyone to put up with that kind of treatment.

I’m keeping my CDL active in case I ever want to buy my own truck though.

 

Then it's back to dealing with the job hopping at the service level. I'm probably one of those people in this industry with the "this is the only thing I've ever done" story. I only intend to stay with this line of work until I get my pickup and some other bills cleared.

Then go and possibly work the docks at some non-Amazon place(LTL company) and do some night shift work while figuring out the next move. Everyone talks about coding and other forms of computer programming that doesn't require a full on, 4-8 year program in Comp-Sci. Might just have to buckle down and study those prospects some more. Most coding seems to be work-from-home and perfect for people like me that are "on the spectrum".

Until then, mind these weather and road conditions maps and steer clear of the Neanderthals out there.

 

At the tanker company I worked for, the dispatcher was making $30-35k per year. That's less than half what the drivers were making.

 

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