life style changes...

no, simply loving trucks isn't a really good reason, but it might help i suppose.

its going to be a major lifestyle change especially for any "newbie/rookie" that's for sure. you'll be eating when you should be sleeping, you'll be sleeping when you should be driving, you'll be looking for a bathroom when you should be.............well you get the idea....??

you will be on a 24 hour clock. everything will be topsy-turvey for a long time.

any routine can be done, but that's more for say a local driver than an over the road driver.

relaxing while off the clock is an issue as well, as you will have "house work" to do, like mowing the lawn, maybe painting the house, repairing the car, or whatever. you will not always have the time to do it all. then its back on the road again.

the solitude/lonelyness is yet another issue. you will miss your wife, family, friends. you will miss out on things at home. the solitude will get to you in such a way that you will find yourself talking to complete strangers and maybe telling them way too much about you and your family that can be a danger, if they ever get to find out where you live.

 

The life style of a parts man was mentioned. As a teenager, I had a job chasing parts for a trucking company. I often went to the local International Harvestor dealer because the company trucks were "Binders". Twenty-four years later, I was driving for a fleet owner who asked me to pick up a parts order at that same dealership. The same two parts men were still behind the counter. I almost failed to recognize them because now, one had gray hair and the other was bald. I thought about all of the adventures I had as a driver during those twenty-four years. They had moved their counter to the other side of the room and painted the walls. Get out while you have a chance.

 

In an effort to try and bring this thread back on topic, the lifestyle changes you'll face by getting into trucking (if you do so) could be overwhelming at first. When I first started not too long ago in the summer of '03, I remember telling my trainer to back off of me because I wasn't only learning a new job, but a new lifestyle. One day you'll keep "normal" hours, then the next you'll be running all night just to make a delivery the next morning. Then, you could get woken up in the middle of the night by dispatch via Qualcomm, cell phone, etc. asking you to swap loads with another driver because he/she can't make the scheduled appointment. Or maybe you'll be on your way by the house for some unscheduled home time (aka "swinging by the house") while under a load with plenty of time just to be asked to take off in another direction to do something more important for the company.

Then there's the loneliness. Oh the loneliness. All I can say is this: if you're not much of a phone talker, you will be. If you don't have a cell phone, get one before you start this endeavor. Make sure you get a hands-free device for your phone preferably with a noise canceling microphone. If you do currently have a phone, I'd recommend at least doubling the amount of anytime minutes you currently have. My fiance and I share 3000 anytime minutes on our phones. Even though we both have Cingular, I use the phone a lot to call customers, dispatch, maintenance, and friends/family who don't have the same carrier.

More so than the loneliness you'll feel is the loneliness your wife will have to adapt to as well. You won't be home for dinner every night anymore. You most likely won't even be home to mow the yard every week. Having dinners with friends/family could become a thing of the past. That weekly poker night with the guys will be nothing more than a fond memory. Do you see where I'm going?

As to the time off, well that's another thing that is often misunderstood. Yes, you will be required to take at least 10 hrs off every 11 and/or 14 hrs. However, that time off might just be spent sitting at a shipper or receiver waiting to get unloaded/loaded. Then, you're gonna have to run and keep that left door shut until you make your next appointment. With any reputable company, load planners and driver managers will set loads up so that you can make it LEGALLY. But that doesn't mean it'll be when you want it to be. How many people really like to drive when they're used to being asleep? How many people like to be asleep when they're used to being awake? If there's one thing that separates the true trucker from the wanna-be it's gotta be the ability to adapt to anything. Expect the unexpected. If you count on the worst, the best will be just that much more rewarding. If you count on the best, the worst will seem unbearable.

And then you finally get home and look forward to resting.....too bad you're the only one who wants to rest. The wife's gonna wanna make up for all the time she didn't get to see you. Then there's the trips to see relatives or close friends. You've been driving every day for the past 3-4 weeks (the average most newbies can expect to spend away from home with most OTR carriers), and now you've gotta go to see some relative and celebrate some monumental event that you really want to attend since the mere fact that your home and able to make it seems like a blessing, but you're so sick of driving and even being in a vehicle that your dreading it the entire time. Lemme tell you, even a drive across town to Wal-Mart seems like a tedious chore after weeks on the road.

Why do we who have done it for years keep doing it? Insanity, perhaps. Who knows? I truly can't explain why I do it still to this day other than to say that I have diesel in my blood and a thirst for the highway that can only be quenched by climbing in this cab, turning that key, and shifting those gears. There might even be a small piece of the pride of knowing I'm a part of something big. We truckers are keeping America moving. We're a very real part of the economy of this great nation. We're the backbone of the greatest land in all the world. We're the ones who sacrifice our lifestyles to do something that, regardless of the real reason anyone first climbed in the cab, helps bring the United States of America all of its needs.

Still wanna join us?

 

That makes it as real as it gets. I'll be out there soon brother!

 

I forgot to mention one crucial thing....


And we do it all for minimum wage or less depending on how you calculate the hours to break it down to an hourly pay.


MAXED - hope you enjoy it as much as I have

 

I decided to go into trucking at the age of 52,and the worst part for me was getting through the training period. My first home time was a little rough,because my wife got a little emotional about me being gone so long. We patched that up pretty well,and she will be coming with me in the coming months. My reasons for going into this line of work wasn't really for the money,but more for the experience of meeting people on the road,and seeing parts of the country that I've not seen before. Overall' i've had a really good time,and had a quite varied experience. I decided to keep a journal of my days on the road,and have recorded my doings in all the places that I've been. You dont know what fun is untill you've shuffled steel guardrails and crates of bolts at the scales at two in the morning! The lifestyle is not for everyone thats for sure,but having lived in a lot of different living situations has helped me. Last week I was driving in the pounding rain with hail mixed in when my drivers side windshield wiper broke,giving me about one third visibility. I needed a place to get off the road,but there wasn't any. Looked in my rear view as I was creeping along and there were at least a dozen cars following........I felt like the blind pied piper leading a bunch of wet rats to their doom.. I've seen drivers that were really pissed at their loading or unloading situations,and I've met those that take all the pratfalls in stride with a good attitude. As for family life........You dont really have one as a linehaul driver like myself,but many seem to make it work somehow. I think truckers overall are a pretty good bunch,and will give advice freely,or lend a hand if needed.Yeah there are more than a few oddballs out there,but I guess I qualify for that title myself. ..... ... . . ....