Is There a Future in Trucking

You're first mistake here was adding the letter "u" in Peterbilt. Don't let that happen again.....(grins)

Seriously though, your questions are really expectations dependant. Do you wanna make good money as a newb? The answer is no. Do you wanna get an "okay" paycheck from it, then yeah, you can.

You post a desire to work alone, which is condusive and favorable to OTR trucking nature. OTOH , due to satalite tracking of trucks that is the mainstream nowadays, the idea of working alone is trumped by the fact that someone is tracking your whereabouts at all times and your every move.

Sounds like you indeed qualify for a trucking job and likey hire-able, but trust me, the freedom of the road is NOT what it used to be like it was 20 years ago when a driver simpley left a shipper and did what it took to deliver to the consighonee (bad spellin I know) at a time asked to. The electronic age of engines, qual quam, cell phone bills, toll reciepts stamped up the the hour/minute/second, really reduce one of the percieved "freedoms" of the open road.

If you've the love still of what is left of the open road "freedoms" and the percieved "independence" of it, then go for it.

The good news is that equipment (trucks) is far better today than the crap we used in the 80's. My first rig was an 84 COE (cabover for you newbs out there LOL) with no power steering, a spring suspension, and a flat top single bunk. So even though the magority of todays power units are comprised to POS Freightliners, they are admitadly much more comfortable that the trucks years ago.

The trade off though is the regulative nature of todays electronics and the "paper trail" they leave.

You said you are 51 years old. I am younger than you buy just a few, if that matters while you are deciding if this/my opinion means dick. If you're still hell bent on pursuing the dream, timing might now dictate finding you're driving desires, as in years to come, Mexicans will most likey take over the driving here in the USA (not that we'll see in outright overtake in this generation per se, but you ge the idea)

RECAP

If you are hell bent on driving OTR, then by all means pursue it. Money sucks, but if you really have diesel running through the vanes...well then you'll do it.

Personaly, I'd reccomend a trade school aimed at learning auto mechanics. There is supposedly good money in it, plus you're home every day. Half the hours, twice the money.

There very little money to be made in trucking, by todays standards....however it does beat unemployment.

Just my opinion. Good luck

 

I think OTR is as good as dead, given diesel is so high these days. I don't see a barrel of crude returning to 25 a barrel anytime soon, so it looks bleak. The first change will be more teams. Most OTR rigs sit overnight in truckstops idling away fuel and polluting the air, something Hillary will jump on when she wins the presidency next year. Boom...just like that, team driving will be forced upon the industry.

The longer term is going to favor rails, rails, rails. Warren Buffet recently invested some serious coin (that belonged to other people) in the railroad segment. You know that guy sees some kind of writing on the wall that not all are privvy to see. He's gonna turn a profit on his rail investments, meaning OTR will be going the way of the do-do bird sooner or later (probably sooner).

But there is a ray of hope. Some of the oil that's locked up in shale in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming may soon be filling the tanks of OTR rigs. The solo-driver, OTR segment of trucking is on life support, but it's not dead yet. We MIGHT once again see oil at 25 before we're too old to drive rigs. As always, it will depend on what the elites want.

 

but the general public is on the road and in your face....only now they are in the form of 4-wheelers. they are not "truck friendly". they do not know the meaning of a turn signal light. to them it means "speed up and don't let the truck over". they will cut you off, flip you off and ###* you off. sorry..trying very hard not to play squash the 4-wheeler.

 

gunflint

I do hope this all does indeed help you in deciding. There are just SOOO many pros & cons in trucking. I'll try to give ya a couple more .2 cents...

My overall take on trucking is slighty more toward the negative side, than the positive. Perhaps because I've been to every major city in the USA, plus a few in Canada, and have been there, done that. Before I got into OTR driving, my expectations were better though LOL. I say that because there are just too many people in the industry, be it legislators and the endless laws, dispatchers who've never driven a manual transmsion car much less a big truck, shippers and recievers who will control your day weather you get loaded/unloaded fast, or weather you sit all day waiting to load, then have to drive all night, safety department and human resources personel, the cops out there enforcing laws that you may be breaking unbeknownst to you at the time, such as following direction you were given to a shipper that take you down a "no trucks" route, the general commuting public who seem to lack any basic driving skill, the weather that shuts you down for a day, incorectly labled overpass signs ( I'd like to know how many 12' 4" bridges I took a 13' 6" refer through in NYC without hitting).....there are just an incredable amount of people with their fingers in your pie. Any one of these people can wreck an otherwise good day. Nature of the beast I recon. You may find yourself with 2 hours left to run and 100 miles to go, but it entails driving through Chitcago, thus turning the 2 hour run into a 3-4 hour run.

To be fair though, I'll try to close with what I feel are the positives in trucking - You are alone without a boss watching you in person, you control the radio, the temperature of your cab, you decide where you want to eat and when (within reason), you want to take a nap at noon you can, there is indeed a feeling of independence, the trucks are much roomier and comfortable these days.

As a kid, I was facinated with seeing nice big shiney semis going down the road. I knew that is what I wanted to do as an adult. I started out with a pos cabover company truck, then worked my way up, eventualy owning my own trucks, the latest a brand new 379 pete in my avatar. What worked for me was the desire to want to do it, not just get into it for a paycheck. I shut my mouth and took the bad with the good. It seems today, society is loaded with whiners and crybabies who endlessly express a beef to their dispatchers over anything and everything. They're just never happy. Maybe this is in part to blame due to the many idiocincracies, among other things in trucking that did not exist when years ago. I believe trucking has transformed from a pysicaly taxing occupation to more of a mentaly taxing one of today. Years ago, if a guy could muscle a non power steering, rough riding rig and could run from Wisconsin to California in two days, he was a success. This was pre CDL, pre anal exam from prospective employers and the endless tape one must cross to show that yup, by golly he can drive an 18 wheeler.

I won't claim to "know' you, but I will go out on a limb here and say that if you're a 51 year old guy from rural Minnesota who guides fishing, and that you've run your own heavy equipment, that you'll likey do well in the OTR business. Also, as you well know, there are not a whole bunch of job opportunities out there for folks who did not go to college.

I am probably all over the map here on things with this post, but truely hoped to have helped anyone who has never been OTR and is considering it. Also, I am just one voice with my own opinion, certainly not the final authority by any strech wahtsoever.

Good luck!

 

Truckers shouldn't fear railroads. There simply isn't the rail capacity to replace trucks. It takes too long for trains to transport loads across the country. Rail lines get clogged with trains and rail cars sit idle for days waiting for a clear run. Many customers don't have the patience for rail delays and willingly spend the money for goods to be shipped by truck. Increased costs are passed on to the consumer. Trucks have access to places railroads never will. Trucks will not be replaced in our lifetime.

 

I could be wrong, but I have to agree with the above. Other than trucks, America does not have the infrastructure to move the amount of goods that are demanded.

At this point, rail does not have the capacity to handle our shipping needs.

How this boils down for the driver, I don't know. But those goods have to be moved somehow.

 

Is gunflint as in gunflint trail? I live in nw WI and have spent a little time along the north shore and the boundary waters. Do you need to be licensed
to be a part time guide? I drive truck one week on, one week off. I was thinking of getting into guiding on a part time basis on my off weeks. I would like to guide for walleyes in the spring, and ducks and muskies in the fall. If you buy a boat is that tax deductible? It would be cool if I could deduct all the boats, tackle, decoys and other gear I have spent too much money on.
As for trucking there is still a future, for a while anyways. Even if something goes on a train it still usually has to be picked up and delivered in a truck. Lake Superior College in Duluth has a CDL program. Halvor Lines is a decent company but I think they require 2 years experience. Jeff Foster is ok and they hire people right out of LSC if they do well. Good Luck.