Is it really that miserable?

well, I drive a brand new truck, I'm home every weekend, and I'm making as much starting out as some do after 2 or 3 years......

so yeah, I'd have to say I'm happy

but I did my homework and didn't fall for one of these bottom feeder companies and their used car salesman recruiters.....

and my personality is such that I'm very well suited for this job.....

having said that, it really ISN'T for everyone....not even the majority of people......and the misperceptions and unrealistic expectations the public at large has of this job need to be dispelled and every starry-eyed wannbe that thinks it's the glamorous lifestyle they have fantasized about NEEDS to be given the dose of reality that is given daily on this forum....


then, if they STILL want to do it, then they may just be one of the few of us hardy souls who really do enjoy it and all of it's bad days, the idiots we come in contact with and have to deal with on a daily basis, and the long hours, longer days, and all the things you never see on BJ and the Bear or Smokey and the Bandit lol.....because the good days more than make up for the bad ones

 

Then take a hike junior. These are professional people here that don't have time to play Little Mary Sunshine to every wannabe that comes along.

Frankly we get a little tired of folks like you that want their hand held and a field of daisies to skip through. You want a Positive? Fine.... you won't make it. That's positive for the rest of us.

Go.... scat...

 

I love that. Not that I am too cynical.
If you can't take it when some redneck tells you some crap like "real men don't get headaches," then go work at the GAP as a greeter.
if you can smile and tell him his wife thinks you're a real man, and your headache is from hitting it on his headboard, then this job might be for you. I'm just a wannabe, but one that's starting school labor day weekend, and I will make it. I have driving in my blood.

 

You sound like your feelings get hurt easy. The first thing you have to learn is truckers deal with alot of crap. They are tough mentally. They can handle stressful situations easily and are telling you how it is. If you can't deal with it, then you are one of the 96% that don't make it.

 

Sammycat, I love the OCD post. I think that you have to be OCD to properly get it.
A lot of trucking is psychology. Do you just want to be another "driver of trucks" or do you want to be a "trucker". I had the privilege of riding around America with my Grandfather in the 70's. He was an Owner Operator, not to mention a mechanic, logistics company, broker, dispatcher, husband, father, teacher, the list doesn't stop, and he would still tell you today that he would not trade it for the world. Now the reality of trucking is just like any industry today; They just don't make' em like they use to. If you like hard work, get board if you don't meet a challenge everyday, and simply see yourself as your own personal competitor, then you will love trucking, your logistics company/broker, dispatcher/supervisor, mechanic, etc..... Best way to put it is from the words of my Grandfather.......You get out of life what you put into it son.....and..... Opinions are like a-holes, everyone has them and they all stink. Keep smiling

 

If you want to be an owner/operator, what are you doing wasting your time in this section?

Head on over to the "Ask An Owner Operator" section and read every docked thread there. There are seven and at least six are required reading.

Then read these threads, they are full of great information:

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ask-an-owner-operator/146942-how-to-become-an-owner-operator.html

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ask-an-owner-operator/147854-what-would-experienced-o-o-buy.html

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ask-an-owner-operator/125507-what-estimated-operating-costs-o-o.html

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ask-an-owner-operator/148340-keeping-track-o-o-operating-costs.html

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ask-an-owner-operator/134211-no-experience-but-getting-authority.html

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ask-an-owner-operator/143100-rate-confirmation-question.html


http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ask-an-owner-operator/64679-my-numbers-o-o-leased-crete.html


Let me offer a word or warning, the crowd is much tougher over there. Do a lot of reading and have some knowledge before you ask questions.

You aren't going to find anyone on this site that will tell you it is peaches and cream. Obviously anyone looking at the profession sees the good points, that's why we all preach the bad points.

You have mistaken realism for sinicism. It was a tough business when I bought my first truck in 1979. Read about me losing everything I owned and my family in that first thread I posted. Wipe the stars out of your eyes son and see the reality we are offering you. It is 9 times more likely you will fail than succeed as an owner operator. This is the reality of it. Get some experience as a driver, learn about running a business, save up $20,000 or so and you can make the odds 50/50.

Now you are probably thinking how negative I am and you're wrong. I have owned two trucks, one success and one failure. After many years out of the business I'm about to purchase another truck and trailer and get my authority. A bad day in a truck beats a good day in a factory or office. Trucking is the best love/hate relationship I have ever had.