May Trucking: My experience

I worked in the construction trades for 30 plus years. In 2008 the industry went into
the crapper and I was scrambling as a 52 year man to find some means of supporting my family. The trucking industry was (and still is) about the only industry hiring at the time, so, I obtained a fully paid tuition grant for trucking school and was off and running.

May Trucking hired me right out of school in May of 2009 and I have been employed by them since then.

My experience in the industry has been mostly positive. I came into the industry out of a need to earn an income. I never dreamed of becoming a trucker or even gave it a second thought.

However, in life you have to do what you have to do to survive...

May is a good company. Like anything else, there's always positives and negatives. My experience (for me) has been that the positives outweigh the negatives...

In reality, if I don't like it, I can always go somewhere else...it's America.

I'm amused at some of the absurd comments made on sites like this against May, and many other companies for all that matters. I've discovered that some folks are just malcontents. But that's another story.

The pay in this industry is average. I earn half of what I used to earn. Such is life...

I would NOT recommend a person to enter this business as an OTR driver if you have small children at home or are newly married. It just takes too much of a toll on families and marriages if you fit that description. I have no statiscal data to prove it, however, I venture to say that on average, this industry has a higher rate of divorcees and broken families. I've talked to drivers who have essentially chosen this lifestyle over their families. That's sad if you ask me.

I am a Trainer and have witnessed guys struggling with their wife on the phone telling them they and the kids "can't handle them being away from home", that's after only being out for less than a week sometimes!

Over 70% of my trainees have quit before the end of 12 months.

The truth is brutal sometimes and the reality is that the attrition rate in this industry is off the charts. Think long and hard before you do this if you are considering it.

 

36k to 40k.

May does not require you to be out 4 to 6 weeks at a time. I get home every two weeks for two days.

 

How much time should a driver have before he trains others? Not sure there's a set in stone time veriable. Most States require an applicant for a CDL to have 160 hrs of
classroom\road driving training. Is that enough? Well, in the old days, no such thing was mandated. So, one could say it's relevant to the trainer's apptitude and skill set.

My trainer had over 2 million miles and 30 plus years of driving experience. Yet, I can say unequivocally that when a trainee gets off my truck, he knows considerably more than I did when I completed my training.

 

In addition, while truck driving does require certain skills, it's not rocket science or performing open heart surgery on someone