I need some personal help.

What does your wife say? I know its hard. Im dealing with it too while in training. My wife is going with me afterwards. No kids. Have u tried skype or other video confrencing software where u can see them when u talk to them. Have ur wife make videos and send them to u or watch them when u get home. Mad props for wanting to do right thing dude. U r to be commended. But the best thing u can do right now is work ur hindquarters off to make sure that kid has a safe place to sleep and food and diapers. Ill be praying for u.

 

Get an older rebuit truck in dam good shape for about $25,000. Put 180 days a year in the log book. Try to get to and from chicago land or find something else. You must dig and fight to find info and contacts.

My 1st little 1 is on the way, due Feb 7th. I chose to go independent with tanks. I will no longer make abc trucking $1000-$2500 a week. Now i will keep that $ to myself. I figure even with a $2100 payment on a glider kit and a $500 trailer payment and $12000 a year insurance, I will make in 2 good weeks what i did working 4 weeks as an o/o.

My own company is the 5th company i have been with in a year! There was a lot of bs involved and i controlled what i could. Every wall and hardship was a blessing in disguise. They forced me choose between A) letting life beat me into the ground, or B) fight like hell, learn from it all, and examine myself, or C) running my truck too cheap. I fought like hell and bettered myself every time, after every set back.

My advice to you is-
1- fight like hell, but learn and have patients
2- do not think brain dead thoughts. instead of saying "I can't" say "how can I". One is a braindead thought, the other keeps you thinking.
3- you must learn the business. i grew up in trucking and it seems like the more i know, the more i realize there is more to learn.
4-Fear is a failure disease. A disease that you can control.

 

Sounds like your looking for a company that runs Midwest..has lanes that go by the house few times a week?

Hard facts..(and I have lived them) You are not going to make it OTR without sacrifice..Unfirtunately, your family sacrifices also.

I left a company almost a year ago that allowed me to see my front door a few times a week or home Friday night/leave Sunday while still pocketing $1,300-$1,900 a week.

I FINALLY have my family issues worked out and am able to rejoin this company next Monday..FYI, one of our best shippers is out of Bloomfield, MO..so you are exactly where you could see your front door a few times a week and still make good money.

ACT out of KC.. Ask for Marsha..tell her Jeff Simmons sent ya..if you want I'll pm ya her number..

Good luck

 

Youre gonna do fine..YOU know what your priorities are..supporting your family..

STOP job hopping though or you're gonna get further behind the 8 ball..Time to buck up, be a man that supports and provides.

I promise you this..your wife and kids will love you much more as a provider than as a whiner.

 

Check Careerbuilder website for local jobs such as food service. Food service is hard work but pays very well. There may be a grocery warehouse in Sikeston. Greatwide has several food service divisions; check that website. Check Lily website; it has a page where you enter your zip code and it shows if any food service jobs available in your area. Think about moving to another state to get away from relatives; move to a state with no personal income tax such as Texas or Nevada.

 

Maybe a dedicated run that sends you by the house once a week. I hate to say it, but CRST has the 20/10 program. About 10 days home, and about 20 days out, give or take a few days due to weather and load planning. Rotate with two other drivers that might have the same problem. Believe it or not, some CRST drivers do make money. Other than that, city to city within a 100 miles, or in town local stuff. I feel for ya, I got into OTR to get away from my x wife. Best Of Luck To You and Your Family !!!

 

You need to think of what you want for your family. You'll miss a LOT over the road, but every check is one step closer to where you want to be. If you want a nice house, a boat, or just money to put the kid through school, you're going to have to give up a little freedom. It sounds like you're torn between making good money and seeing your baby every day. I get that but if you have a woman who has stuck by you so far, you've probably got a good one and you need to stand up and show her what you're worth. If you don't, it'll be slaving in a truck to support a family you no longer have. Good luck and I hope you find the strength to make things happen.

 

Its where the rubber hits the road man, you chose the trucking life, you decided on this career, you started a family, now it is not about what you want, what you want went out the window with "I'm pregnant"

Sure it is hard being alone, don't want to be alone on the road? Get a dog.

Being a truck driver and a father is going to be hard, but both is what you are, and for now that is what you have to be.

Next truck you get in I suggest you take a picture of your wife and baby and jam it in the instrument cluster, when things get hard, when you get lonely, you look at that picture and you remember why you are on that road holding that wheel, it is so they don't wind up hungry and homeless.

I will tell you this too, the harder you make it on your wife by dragging her through tough times financially the more likely it will become she leaves you. Thus you need to get your butt in that truck, and you need to truck hard and you need to start planning for your future. You need to make sure your bills are getting paid, you need to get out of any debt you have, you need to get an accountant and you need to start figuring out how you are going to get momma and the baby under a steady stable roof where the only uncertainty they have to face is not knowing when the next time you are home is going to be.

You also need to learn how to cook in the truck, check out the cooking in the truck thread. You need to learn how to make your truck feel like home, you need to learn to be as comfortable as you can be in it so you can get good rest and are not letting your situation drive you into becoming a danger to yourself and others because you are not sleeping nights.

When money allows get a tablet, I recomend the Surface 2, get skype, get to see your wife every night that way and talk to her, if there are nights she can't talk, just accept that and you do what you have to do.

You can prove your ole man wrong for all the things he has said about you, but if you are going to it is going to mean digging down deep in your guts and fully committing yourself.


Good luck.

 

That pretty much summed it all up..