Is Trucking for me? What are the hours really like?

No trucking is not for you. That's my answer.

 

ALL The Above. Sometimes you get a good run and sometimes you dont? Sometimes you run at night, sometimes you run in daytime. Sometimes you run your tail off and sometimes you hardly do a thing. Like has already been said, you can expect 14 hours a day but sometimes you wont work it.

There are companies where you can get set schedules but you really have to look to find them. Sometimes they wont pay as good as not having a schedule but sometimes they will pay better. The only guarantees in trucking is that you will work and if you work you will get paid. Good Luck.

 

You crack me up. My thoughts precisely.

 

Your questions all relate to amount of time working vs. amount of time to relax. I see no questions about what skills are required or what the job actually entails. If all you're concerned about is how much time you'll have to not be working the nay sayers may be right.

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to get enough rest and a little time to relax/exercise/whatever.

Now start thinking about what the work part really is. It's not just looking at scenery.

 

I totaly agree with this post. It's the same to me. Also, yes you can get rest, no you can't get regular hours, no you won't have time to excercise, yes you will hate it. But of course the above is if you want to make any more money sitting in this metal cage, than you would do working a regular job [BUT THAN WHAT'S THE POINT? WHY NOT JUST WORK A REGULAR JOB]. If you are ok making less, than you "can have it all". The thing that makes me mad the most are days when I have to sit whole day waiting and have to start driving just about the time my dispacher and the rest of the circus go home, even though I was awake and ready to work even before they started. This is sort of trucking reality. Of course it doesn't happen every day, but when it does it reminds me, that I am just a link between the stering wheel and pedals, that's it. And I had that thought on my very first week in trucking, it's still with me 3 years later.

 

Hmm. I'm gonna consider this advice... But isn't that area now known as the "Great Lake that used to be Houston"?

 

Sometimes they get some spring showers.
I delivered to the chemical plants around Houston and all those guys talked about fishing all the time. They said there's great fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. That's what they loved to do when not working.

 

Just after you wake up one morning, jump in your car and go sit in it at a busy parking lot for 34 hours. Also 4 hours after you get there, go back to bed for up to 10 hours, then stay awake for 12 hours, then sleep the remaining hours and go home. See how that tickles your fancy =)

 

Just make sure to stuff a twin mattress, a fridge and a tv with some kind of an entertainment system in the backseat of your car first. If it was as bad as you describe there, no one would be driving. Not that it's wrong.... Just that truck is a lot more comfy than car