Is there anything good ABOUT TRUCKING?

I love it! Miss it too! It really is a lifestyle and not just a job. Its a job that you actually live and are never really away from it. With that said, there is still a great love for it and thats how you know you really dig it! Come home for a few days after being out a couple months and you get anxious to get back out there!

Sure it comes with its downfalls like anything else in life. Its also easier to complain then to preach good things about it. I think a lot of drivers get on the forum after a long day of work to vent their frustrations and also some drivers feel the newbies are taking over so I think that is where some of the negativity comes from.

What other career can you go to school for three months and make more money than a lot of college graduates? What other job allows you to wake up in a different state everyday? Where else can you take a nap while in the middle of your shift or stop to fish out in a national park in Wyoming while your driving through? It really is an adventure and you really look forward to each and every destination you go. Whether you have never been there and can't wait to see what its all about or whether its your favorite stop or town to go to! Makes you realize how small the country is when you eat breakfast in Wyo and dinner in ILL! Not to mention all the people you meet and friends you make across the country! Its amazing how often you actually run into a familiar face out there! I have a lot of good friends out there driving that we met over the years and stayed in touch with weekly out on the road, constantly meeting up for a meal or coffee when crossing each others paths. I love the different smells of the different areas like the dry dirt smell with a hint of pine in Flagstaff or the hot, moist, humid air in Fl (or the garbage and smog in LA!). I love stopping in the desert at night and going for a walk with absolutely no light pollution in the sky! Driving outside of Troutdale past all the waterfalls. Following the river along the highway in ID. Heading west through MT coming out of the mountains and in the vast nothing of the eastern half of the state. Pulling through any small american town while they are having bike week or some kind of annual festival. Driving past the pumpkin patches in OH in October. New England in the fall! Just the changes of seasons in general and how they effect the different areas of the country and also challenge our driving skills. Driving out through the olive farms and vineyards in CA. Delivering to an interesting shipper/receiver like the caves in MO.

Another perk is you get to see where and how a lot of products are made and sometimes get free samples! (Like 1lb candy bars at Hershey!) There's always that occasional OS&D stuff you get to keep! Like a pallet of strawberries or dented box of beef. I once got 6 cases of dryer sheets and to this day haven't had to buy any yet!

Best of all I used to love getting to hang out at the home terminal for few and shoot the bull with the other drivers and hear their interesting stories.

 

Have you ever seen a sunset at Little America Wy. ?

How about sunrise in west Texas?

How about a rain storm heading your way across Montana?

That is what I do it for !!!
The things I seen and done in the last 31 years would fill a book and I still love it!!!!

It is like the old saying goes if I have to explain it you wouldn't understand it

 

That and the celebrieties you bump into. If I had a dollar for every time I played leap-frog with Lady Gaga's tour bus. By now she's gotta be thinking I'm stalking her.

 

Then you aren't having your employer take enough out of your check. You can request they take more, you know. A little at a time is better than $5k all at once.

 

I actually like my job. Couldn't ask for much more and it pays well too. I hated OTR because there wasn't enough freight to keep me moving more than 2k a week back then (still might be that bad) but what I'm doing now (heavy haul and equipment) is awesome. Been doing this close to 3 years now and have no plans on changing.

 

Just a FYI, but a CDL school can be tax deductable.

I love the IRS. Too bad the feeling isn't mutual.

 

Well, HoyBoy53...the list may go on & on, for you, but here is my positive response:

I've been trucking over 10 years now. Pay is what's good. Followed by per diem, which protects that high wage. The per diem you claim at tax time is a major write-off & is a very good tax shelter that greatly reduces your tax bill to Uncle Sam. To make it in trucking, you first pay your dues & get experience...I started at CRST as a student driver at 18-cents a mile. Second, you leave CRST & move to a company that you will stay with for the long haul until you retire. Working for a company for the long haul gets you established & allows you to work your way up the pay ladder. Third, you work to abide by your company's rules, show you strive to be a safety minded driver, and deliver your freight consistentlly on-time & damage-free. The result: you will get trips with miles, miles, miles. And on pay day, you will be rewarded with a very nice paycheck. I just finished 3 trips this week totaling 3,000 miles. Paycheck gross for 7-days work as a company driver: $1,350. Per diem is around $62/day and tax law states you can claim 80% of total annual days worked. That means I claim near max exemptions so I get paid out of $1,350 a net paycheck of about $1,100.

I truck because I'm a loner and I like the trucker's lifestyle.

 

He is presently an Independent Contractor working out of his house.