honesty needed - considering switch from IT to Trucking

ok here goes the scoop,

my post is not about bragging or hyping myself up, this post is uncomfortable for me and very revealing. I am really putting myself out there , so please be gentle. The information is only for a clear picture. I felt I needed to put this out there for good or bad. It is the only way i could see to find out if I am on target or if I should suck it up , shut up and be glad I am ok. Am I being selfish?

I really want to get into trucking, I have since the first time, my uncle ( OTR driver , R.I.P) took me on the truck in the late 70's with him when he was coming through Ohio and I got to ride from Columbus to Cincinnati and back. There were a few other trips but that was the first and probably for me the best. Slow start in my 20's prevented my driving career, and then marriage , wife , kids came along. I am now 42, married 23+ years, been in the IT field since 1994, I make 75K, (annually) to as quoted on the forums " to fix computers for college educated idiots" who are better than everyone else and are glad to let you know that. Kids are grown and doing well and the wife makes 70K ish at her job. We are 2 people living in a 3000 sg ft house. ( there are rooms in my house I haven't even been in this month), I have a less than year old BMW 328i ( I luv her and the wife ). my wife is ok with down sizing if needed and strongly supports me getting into driving, she knows I have wanted to drive. ( the best wife in the world) I never seriously considered it till now, because of the kids and I didn't want to struggle. I grew up very poor and I didn't want my children to have that same experience. Sometimes, I think we over compensated with our kids because of the way we grew up. My children never slept in on room around a coal burner, my mom used to tell us , if we fall asleep quickly we wont be hungary. There were days we didn't eat much and my mom ate less. She worked her 50+ hours a week to take care of us.

My job sucks, I am tired of all the bull^&$ and politics, every day my job becomes more about politics babysitting and less about technology. I loved IT work when I first got into it, it was sexy and exciting, challenging, and I felt somewhere along the way I was doing something good. Now, I spend most of the days trying to figure if I can use a sick\vacation day or work from home. I am tired of the rat race and all the stuff ( BS\Politics\corporate crap). I am tired of wasting my time in endless meetings about nothing except the next meeting. 70K gets me alot of STRESS!. Get up go to work, be around bad\stupid\self entitled people for 8-9 hours, go home listen to my pager\email go off all hours of the night and work a little more, get up go back to work, I never really leave work, its like I just take breaks. rinse-repeat.

Before it was all about money and the route to best provide for my family. Now its about my sanity and doing something I want to do, my kids are grown and we have done well and they are doing well. If it were money, I would never consider trucking (I read the forums, I know i wont get rich doing it), but its like I have an itch for it. I am truly considering it and ready to move forward. The boss (my wife) has blessed it. It's like I don't want to look back on my life in the final days and be like... "you should have given that a try". I do, to some degree have the euphoric "convoy" hollywood, memories of my uncle who I so dearly loved, breaker 1-9 this here is the rubber ducky... or is this the snowman , c'mon... thoughts of driving in my head. but I also know the realities of it. Long hours, low pay. high risk, with some serious satisfaction..much like the field I am in now , if I leave tomorrow, the machine will keep moving along and not even realized I am not there.

Fallback plan ... I return home defeated and take a IT job making 50K-60K, with nothing more than, knowing I gave it a try. I can only hope the unwillingness to fail that made me so good in my IT career will carry over to my driving career.

 

Your situation sounds alot like mine except my income doesn't come close to what you're knocking out a year but at 49 its not about the money anymore but I would like to keep my sanity and do something I truly enjoy. I also have tossed the idea about driving around for many years. I tend to over anaylize things but I believe in being as prepared as possible for a change like this. I will continue to read and research Trucking until I feel comfortable making the decision and then focus like a laser beam until completion. Good luck and will try to follow your journey as it progresses

 

seems like you would be fine any way you go, downsizing will help... if you pay off your house you can get by with very little income.

go ahead, but you should have some savings and dont expect alot of income, half most likely..

what gets to most people is the time away from home, 3-4 days per month at home is brutal, what am i working for again??? 3 days is enough to do your laundry pay some bills and maybe visit some family and thats about it. sounds like you wont be trapped though, you have options.

 

Your crazy stick out that IT job. Plus truckers don't drive BMWs.

 

IF you are not being told what to do,how to do it,when to do it,and do not have anyone to answer to for the most part,do not get into trucking.as a newbie you will be driving for a company,almost w/out exception,that will be telling you what to do,how fast you can or will be allowed to drive(62 mph in a 70+mph zone),elogged and qualcommed monitored as in someone or something ALWAYS over your shoulder.

Knowing how things are today and because I do not drive,and will never, with all those constraints,restrictions,stiflers,etc.,i personally could not and would not enter into transportation because of all those manipulators. but then it could very well be exactly what you need at this stage in your life which is getting away from the confines of an immobile office and the bullshheeiat that is attached.you sir are bored and life has become mundane for you.

do it and get it over with.you need to know regardless and the longer you wait,the more you'll wonder-

best of luck and enjoy trucking!

 

Not only will you be constantly monitored, but God forbid, you took a 10 hour and 1 minute break and there goes the message, why aren't you on the road yet. Or the nighttime bs, why are you stopped? Hello, I am tired, sleeping.

Their are good things about the job, but in all honesty, I wish I could trade with you.

Trucking today is nothing like trucking in the 70's. It's not even anything like it was 10 years ago. I feel constantly pressured to go, go, go, because I am on elogs. Can't take a nap, can't stop for this or that.

Schedules are getting tighter and tighter, because my truck keeps getting slower and slower and they don't give me extra time for that.

Good luck to you anyhow.

 

My history is similar to yours. Computer store owner (back when you could actually make money doing that), 6 year IBM employee, moved to healthcare and then to renewable energy construction. My income topped $120k annual until the bottom fell out of the economy. I got my CDL about 6 weeks ago, and found an O/O with 2 trucks that tossed me the keys and sent me down the road.

Paper logs, my truck is governed only by the gearing and engine RPM limit, I get to say what, when and where I want to haul something, and can choose the best way to get it there. I have to keep turning down home time that's offered so that I can stay out and earn more. My boss calls and wants to know if I want another load or if I want a day off...

Best job I've ever had.

Having said that, I'm not sure that I'd be happy working for one of the 'traditional' trucking companies. I wasn't happy with IBM, mainly because of all the corporate BS and bad policies that are put in place that negatively affect everyone so that companies don't have to deal with the individual 'bad apples' and risk discrimination claims. So I don't think I'd be happy working for a large trucking company, since they seem to do the same things, as well as micromanaging you and your schedule.

Pay? I'm paid a flat percentage of what's paid to the truck, so I don't have to stress about chasing miles. If the truck makes money, then I make money - a win-win in my book. So far I'm averaging around $1K / week gross, and around 2000 miles per week.

YMMV. Read all that you can that's been written here by those who live the life, and you'll get a lot of insight.

 

You need to go for it. You have one life to live. I was in the same situation except I earned 90K a year. I have education and computer certifications that no one will ever be able to take away feels good knowing I have a fall back plan. But you need to follow what makes you (your family happy). If I had stayed in my IT job sure I would be dead in 5 years from stress.

 

??? Really???

I know guys that have Jaguars/Lexus's/bmw's/Mercedes'...

Just because you drive a truck, doesn't mean you have to live like #### and drive a pos car.

 

From the OP "Get up go to work, be around bad\stupid\self entitled people for 8-9 hours, go home listen to my pager\email go off all hours of the night and work a little more, get up go back to work, I never really leave work, its like I just take breaks. rinse-repeat".

That right there is a truck drivers job description in a nut shell! Except you go back to your truck instead of home and it's a 10-14 hour day. Six or seven days aweek. after 2 wks out you might get 2 days home.
I know exactly how you feel about your job ( But not the pay part!)I would get up dreading another day at work and when I got home I was misreable! BUT I don't think trucking is for you. Just from the way you talk about your wife and the life you have now, I think you'd spend some time in training and then bail and end up oweing $$ for the training. In the meantime the wife and kids miss you. You miss them and all the family stuff that goes on without you.
Sure there's good jobs out here and good money too, but rarely does that go to a newbie. Do you feel like liveing in a moveing box for atleast 1 or 2 years before something good comes along?

I've got a great job driveing and would NEVER want to go back. just give it alot of thought before you jump! I'd put up with alot of BS for 75grand