I always felt tied down to the truck myself. The main point about Driving being a lifestyle is absolutely true. It's an all consuming lifestyle. Most people will not want a job that owns them 24 hours a day. Most people function better on regular sleep. There's the myth of the open road, and then there's reality. Most people will not like the lifestyle. There are positives and negatives. I liked driving. I liked listening to audio books. I liked walking all over the country. And driving was the easiest job I've ever had, physically speaking. But I hated the sleep deprivation and the long hours and the weeks away from home. Most people don't understand the amount of work drivers do that they are not compensated for--- scaling, fueling, pre-trips, loading, etc. The entire method of compensation needs to be revamped. Some people will love the job and overlook the imperfections. These people are few. And they have my respect. But the vast majority will find this job unacceptable, and be miserable.
Everything you say is true, different strokes for different folks. I can easily understand why you would feel the way you do. I love trucking, I like being on my own. I don't particularly want a nine to five job, go home every night to the same thing. It gets old. At least with this job you never take home for granted.
Driving is not meant to appeal to everybody. A large part of the ridiculous turnover carriers suffer is that recruiters try to take a niche career and sell it to the general population. Then when people find out the reality of the job's demands, they go back to whatever it is that fits their life. Though for those of us that do fit that niche, there's nothing like driving, and to see somebody talking it down simply because of their own negative experience due to not fitting the niche is disrespectful of the profession as a whole, though I am aware that was not the intent. Long story shorter... driving isn't for everybody, but that's not the profession's fault. If you want to blame somebody, blame the carriers that try to sell the profession to the general public en masse.
What the heck is wrong with us? Isn't it TTR policy that all threads must either veer away from the first post or denigrate into name calling or petty bickering by the end of the second page?
biggest thing running in here right now is respect. Many disagree with OP and he accepts that. There have been no personal attacks and some of the usual type suspects are quiet or attacking elsewhere. Refreshing really.
