Is it really this bad?

Going to get better Has to right?

 

Not any time soon,

in fact, this may not even be bottom !!!!

 

Jimmy Carter signed the deregulation legislation in 1980....

 

stay single and you'll be able to keep doing all that stuff.

 

If I had my own company, I would have poorly maintained equipment, ensure that drivers never see their homes, never reimburse for various expenses, pay only 10 cents per mile with only 1300 miles or less per week, immediately fire anyone that complained about anything, and purposely and unlawfully put false entries on your driving report.

Okay, maybe not. I'm still a rookie myself, but it seems that a handful of wannabes, rookies, and veterans are willing to take what is given and have an issue when other drivers with brains and higher standards and higher expectations complain. Sorry, but there's no room in this industry for that. Probably part of the reason why some of these company owners take advantage of many truck drivers these days. If that works for the company owners, maybe I should do the same one of these days.

Or not.

 

Kevin Knight? Is that you???

Oops! My mistake, I swear you sound exactly like someone else I've worked for!

 

And oddly enough, you´d still find new recruits willing to sign up for your company as a driver.

Go figure.

 

I don't think it's as bad as the guy is saying. Notice he said he made some financial mistakes and turned to trucking to try to get back on track. It's all a matter of how you manage your money and your attitude. Yes it's true that there are long hours, little sleep and loads that have to be delivered yesterday. But if you can find a decent company you should be ok overall. The feds are cracking down more and more on both companies and drivers to run legal and safe. I've been running dedicated for the past 8 years and don't have any unusual problems or issues. Our trucks are well maintained and I'm home quite often, actually I'm home almost on a daily basis since I run mostly in-state and occasional overnight. There is no point in worrying about the past. If you are careful with your money you should have a decent career.

 

In my old life my wife and I were earning $90,000 each. We had the new cars, the new house and the investment condo rented out. In the grand scheme of things we were more broke then than we are now, having lost all of those things - the jobs, the cars the houses....

Long Hours
In my old job I typically worked just 8 hours a day. Occasionally would work 10 or 12 hours or more which would be paid at time and a half or double time on Sundays or holidays. But the real killer for me was the commute. A daily grind of a little less that 4 hours total.So we're talking minimum of 60 hours a week if I worked 5 days. I was always tired and fatigued back then. My back was killing me, my body was always sore, I had chronic anger and anxiety, drank like a gallon of coffee a day...The hours are long in trucking, but not necessarily longer than most other jobs and the commute is so much nicer, just a few feet...As gas prices went up and up and up in the spring of 08 it was costing me $100 every other day to fill up just to get to work. We had bought our house in May 07 the realtor told us we were already up $60,000 the day they gave us the keys. Spring 08, nope in the neighborhood every other house was for sale or abandoned or up for foreclosure auction. Our property value crashed.Oh well we only put $10,000 down- I know several people who sold their houses at the height of the market and bought up usually putting down $200,000 to $300,000 down payments on homes and watched it evaporate. In June 08 our condo burned down and we had no insurance. Stupid I know, but in retrospect turned out to be a wonderful blessing as I had refinanced the crap out of it in 05, fixed it up and rented it out, was totally let off the hook by the IRS. So we have dumped three quarters of a million dollars of mortgage debt off our backs, I'm out here working for what--$25,000 a year first year trucking? I don't have to buy the fuel. My wife gets to stay at home and raise our son. To me I'm seeing plus plus plus all the way around. I love it.