? Im stuck need to see what you guys think

I think that you need to make up your mind right now about what you want to do with the rest of your life. Right off the bat I would eliminate teach spelling as a job choice.

Trucking is a high turn over job. You will find many of us drive because we have become bored with other things. We leave the industry for the same reasons. Driving alone night after night your mind will ask what if many times. Do not think that you have to decide right away what the rest of your life has to be like. I promised two women to spend the rest of my life with them and those b it ch es divorced me. Driving a truck is a way to earn money to live your life. It is not life itself. Enjoy your youth. Make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. Life is a journey and a truck makes the journey fun.

 

Wooly Rhino hit on a good point. Old Fart and the other gentleman hit it right with there info but Wooly brings up the strain on family life. If you are in a relationship even if she is all for it don't believe it. Yes in rare instances a driver can be happily married forever, but thats not the norm. If you are not in a relationship it is very hard to find one much less one that will stay "ok" with it unless she has something on the side. Sounds rude but like Wooly I had a wife that rode with me for a while then she slept with everyone when I would leave her at the house. Just a fact to think about. I love driving and it took many, many years before I found the right job, the one I knew was out there but couldn't find. I could go on and on but with little bits from all of us ultimately it's your decision. Good luck

 

Oh I disagree with that- trucking is a life. As screwed up as it can get sometimes, it's life because if it wasn't, it'd be just a job- another worthless wasted job. And it isn't. A job can be walked away from but not a life and especially not this one. You be careful there- to some of us, this is the only life we have and the only one we would want.

Mark

 

Just don't forget, you will be working up to 70 hrs a week when trucking,, and you still may not make more than $400.00 to $500.00 dollars starting out.. So,, 40 hrs for $500, or 70 hrs for $500...

 

Mark, I used to think driving was my life. The open road, seeing new things all the time, no one looking over my shoulder telling me when I could eat, s--t, whatever. It is a life that after doing it for a few years all I saw was the packed trk stops, dirty, hot, loud. Waiting behind 20 drivers to shower in a room some $7 dollar an hour flunky took 2 minutes to clean. I still wonder how the pubic hair gets eye level on the shower wall??? For some it's what they choose and they are fine with it but you sir have grit. It takes grit to be away from your family for a month or more at a time, to sit where millions of other drivers dumped their load, washed your clothes in a machine that some nasty a-- just washed his in. I commend you on your dedication and vision of trucking as a life. Goods must be delivered and that is probably the most important job there is. If more drivers felt as you do the trk stops would probably be cleaner, nicer, not to mention common folks vision of trk drivers would be better not the "oh, your're a truck driver." look. I respect your choice to live this life fully, it's not as glorious as it should be but honorable. I however agree with Wooly. When I spent 12 years as an OTR driver I had no home life, I was always gone, delivering in some s--t hole place that hated trk drivers or picking up from some talk down to you because you are just a driver dock foreman. Finding the job I have now I feel I now have a life. 5 grandkids I see every weeked, taking the wife out to a nice resteraunt on a week night. Wooly probably meant he feels this way himself just as I do. I have a buddy who lives trucking and he is as happy as I am, standing there in petro looking at the same things he looked at 5 hours ago in a different truckstop, waiting for his # to be called so he can shower. Prospective drivers need to hear both sides so good for you for standing up and proclaiming that trucking is your life!

 

If you want to pursue trucking as a career there are things you can do to avoid all the tales of woe that you see posted in this thread and throughout the site.

1. Go to school on your own. Avoid company sponsored training at all costs. This way you are beholden to no one and are free to work for whomever you wish and can switch companies if and when the situation is right for you, not when your contract allows.

2. Realize there are more than 10-20 trucking companies in the world. Do not get tunnel vision and only think that you can get hired on at one of the mega-carriers. Nothing is further from the truth.

3. There are 400,000 trucking companies in the U.S. Some have 10,000+ drivers and some have 1 driver. Open your local phone book and see how many companies are listed. You would be amazed how many you have right in your own backyard. Get off the couch, get in your car and go see them IN PERSON. Many companies have no website or a very limited website. Many will only hire people ambitious enough to seek them out.

4. The reason many large carriers make it so easy for a newbie to work for them is that they burn through people so quickly that they have a constant need. If a company is bringing in a 100+ new drivers every week, what does that tell you about how long people stay and how happy they are? If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck...............

5. Research everything. When you think you've done enough research, do more. Read here. Read other trucking forums. Talk to your instructors at school. Talk to drivers at your local truck stops. Look at the equipment they are driving.

6. Do not under any circumstance, hire on with the first company that says "yes" to you. Give yourself more than one option. I am amazed by people that simply hire on with the first company that invites them to orientation. This is your career you are talking about. I've seen more thought put into most lunch orders that I see being put into a career decision.

7. Any company that you need to take a bus or plane to orientation for is not worth hiring on with. The orientation is nothing but a week long (or longer in some cases) job interview. A real company will actually hire you after an interview process that will include a physical, drug test and driving test. They won't require you leave your family for an extended period of time on the hope that you will not have to pay your own pay home if you don't "pass" the interview process.

8. Make sure you understand that there will be sacrifices needed in terms of time away from home and number of hours worked. Many think they are up to the task, but in the end are not. Sometimes you don't know until you actually try it, but at least go in with an understanding of what you will be facing.

9. There are lots of companies that will not require you to be on the road for weeks at a time (unless you want to be). Many companies will have you home every week. These are not the mega carrier CDL mills, but these are the companies that you need to do some legwork to find.

Good luck to you!

 

It was a tongue in cheek reply. I didn't mean to offer any insult. While not married nor burdened with parental obligations ( thank goodness-don't any copies of me skulking around)- I do understand the pressures of balancing family life against the obligations of trucking. I watched my brother do this and I think it played a part in both heart attacks he suffered. I certainly have no truck against anyone who rightfully chooses family over trucking. It's the right thing. And I thank God every day that these are decisions I don't have to burden.

Mark

 

Another thing to remember is that trucking, (or ANY job for that matter,) will be good or bad, directly proportional to YOUR attitude.

 

lol, that guy's hilarious. I checked out his pro star video. What's the pedal lock he asks.