Never thought I'd enter this world..

It's interesting and fun.

Hold on to that thought every single day you do this after you get that CDL. That will be a sort of fountain of youth that keeps you going in this not so fun cutthroat business.

I quit trucking as being fun about 10 years in and about 20 more years to go myself. But I tried to remember how much fun it was driving these things.

 

Good luck. The first few months might suck if you end up with a crappy starter company, but things get better

 

I started at 52 as well. Never wanted to be a truck driver, but after sending out 300-400 resumes and getting a grand total of 3 reply's, it became pretty clear that my skills and experience were no longer needed in the corporate world.
That said, I wish I had started sooner. I went to driving school at my local Tech college, got my licence and went with Schneider, (they reimbursed my tuition). Was a company driver for about 9 months, leased a truck through them, paid off the truck, ran it up to around 975,000 miles, traded it and just got another one from a dealer.
I get up when I open my eyes (normally). I go to bed when I get tired. I eat when I'm hungry. And if I want to take a nap, I do. Schneider tells me where the pick up is and when it needs to deliver.....that's pretty much it. I only talk to someone when there is a problem.....maybe 2 or 3 times a month. Financially, I have never been better off in my life. Emotionally / Spiritually, I've never been better, (a lot of that has to do with being married to the most perfect person in the world (for me)).
So, yeah, trucking sucks.......but like the punch line to a pretty funny joke goes, "If you're warm, safe, and happy in a pile of crap, keep your mouth shut."
Good luck and happy trails.

 

Well boys, I am taking the plunge, sort of. Leaving for orientation Monday. I have been working in freight since 2015, but never stayed out. Lot of different stuff, mostly dedicated. I won't be out but a few days a week and home weekends, but I suppose I get to experience truck stop life now. This company uses clean idle and no APUs. Is that going to piss people off at night? I am grateful for the opportunity this company is giving me. Its been a rough year. Two accidents, neither my fault but on my record. I was getting rejections right and left. Wondered if I would be driving dump trucks. Keep you guys posted and name names if what they have told me is true. I actually had an offer from a small company for another dedicated paying $17 an hour. Easy run, early morning, probably 10 hours a day, but wanted to take a shot.

 

My opinion: older guys make good OTR drivers because they can handle the commitment and not get freaked out by the isolation. Some even prefer it. I do.

 

If you're going to idle all night, it's appreciated if you can pull straight in instead of backing in (when possible) the same direction as everyone else. That goes for the refer guys as well as those with APU's that sound like a freaking mini-bike running at high rpm all night long! Why some guys idle all night long when it's under 70 degrees at night is beyond me.

 

I’ve been doing it for over 20 years now. Generally I like it.
The only thing that adds stress to the job, when dispatch doesn’t figure in enough time for a load.
Being under tight time constraints sucks, but then maybe the next day I have plenty of time to smell the roses. So I guess it balances out.

 

Yeah, i agree. If I were at home just be sitting on my butt watching TV. Rather be working. If this goes well may look for a weekly deal.

 

I had a friend that drove for Bowling Green Express and he used to pull in like that back in the early 2000s so he didn't have to listen to them idle. I said how do you get out? He said put the 4 ways on and hit it.

 

Yeah, it's not always practical or feasible. However, I try and do it when I can just to keep away from the idlers, refer and apu crowd and to avoid annoying someone else if I have to idle as well.

You know what though? Even when I do park like that, sometimes some idiot will pull in the same direction and idle all freaking night long.