Npr on driver shortage... Good info for new drivers

Get all the endorsements because they make you more marketable for the better jobs. Don't stress with one bad experience; you may jump to 2 or 3 companies before you find your niche which is common so don't let it bother you.

 

Get the TWIC Card now if you can.

 

Ok danch, you want advice? Here it is.






DONT TAKE ADVICE!




But seriously, ever ask a happy garbage man why he does what he does? Or a teacher, cop, career military, nurse, exccc.. its not the pay. Most drivers here know 2 things for a hard unassailable fact.

1, we are vital to this country.
2, the country does not treat us as vital.

I wont go through my whole life stats but aside from a choke n puke before I was 18, and a receiving dock before I was 21, i have been a driver in one form or another for my whole life. I tried (and failed) several times to get out of the seat, the fact is i like driving. Im good at it. Never been fired from any job. I will grant you its harder to start today then when i came in, (paid for my own license) but you don't have to be away from home making 400 bucks a week. In my area the top end for local hourly class A is around 26-28 per hour, those are few and far between, and you dont start there, it takes years of raises. That being said, im north of 23. I could make more tomorrow. I don't need to, or want to. The increased pay would disappear into my fuel tank, and the extra time from home, (8 min drive now, and a average of 9 hours a day) is just not worth it. Im far from miserable, im a driver, its really all ive ever done. Im not ashamed of it. Im not mad about it. If i could get the certifications i could do lots of things, marketing (was offered a job) wood working (hobby/passion) or any other job i have worked and topped out the pay scale, asked for more, was told no, and left. I know what im worth. I know what i need to be content. And thats all i want. These other drivers that tout 100k jobs? Let em have em. You want one? They are there. Go get one. It aint easy, it aint pretty, but as of right now, it ain't a lie either.


Just some thoughts from.... yup you guessed it, a driver.

 

I am looking forward to being semi retired in a few years tho .

 

Hurry up and get older. Gov going to raise retirement age again or go belly up.

 

I say belly up.

 

I have to second this, back then you had a difference in attitude and a pride with many of those who worked this, it went down hill really really fast when we started to hear the words "driver shortage" in the press and in the propaganda put out by these companies. This led us to open the door for sub-standard "just a job" drivers who forced a lot of these regulations to come into being and more of a revolving door because they didn't want to put an effort into it as a profession. So now we are stuck with this viewed by the world as just a job that should be a profession, with low standards and easy entry encouraged by many who don't really get the connections.

I not only discouraged all my kids to consider trucking as a career, but reinforced it by showing them what's really going on in the industry and why. They are responsible, they learned from others, like their idiot friends at school. They have all had a part in helping out with my fleet, sat in interviews of drivers who applied and so on, but while I am also relieved that they won't get into this, I know that they know more about business in general at a young age that they will find something to do with their lives. I think out of all of them, three will end up in college and the others will enter into something not trucking.

 

Well, bzinger, that's your opinion. And Chinatown has a good point. You won't do any good for anybody with "remember when" comments. Those days are over, that's the past.

Besides that, I've heard the veteran drivers, and read their posts in here, about how trucking isn't good "any more." Heard them discourage new people. Well, I'll ask this of anyone reading this: Were you born in the drivers seat with full knowledge of how to do it? Roads? Stops, driving, parking, maintenance? I don't think so. I think every one of you had to begin at a place called "start here." (you know, every journey starts somewhere) Since everybody had to start somewhere, why piss in the new people's wheaties?

I came back out here in Jan, 2012, got to $54K year 2, got to $70K net income year 4, and looking for another rung to climb. What other vocation can offer living wages, firm middle income, with 1 month school and another month of OJT?

I respect most drivers, I think it's pretty easy until something goes wrong and then you have to make quick, successful choices. That's where the experience comes into play, but problems don't wait for experienced people a problem can happen to anyone, any time. Steep learning curve at that point.

I disagree that you can't make a good living driving a truck. You can. I am. And I don't give a hoot about "the good ol' days." Here and now, baby.

 

There's some truth in here, but overall this article doesn't pass the sniff test. I don't work 80hrs/week. I rarely work 14hrs/day. I'm home a lot, at least 100days/year. And, why go out on the road when you could just grab an equal paying job near home? That's purely BS. Those jobs near home, unless you're a professional in some high paying field, lawyer, doctor, are part time jobs, no benefits, and pay your own federal required Obamacare premiums.

Also, is there really a driver shortage? Maybe. But maybe not. Maybe it's sales and promotion, as witnessed by the nice steep growth in training companies, per this article. At least one company is increasing compensation for drivers, per the Werner guy, but who doubts they giveth with the right hand, and the left hand taketh away? Fewer miles, that nasty graduated rate chart where the more you drive the less you make, caps on monthly earnings, so on, and the companies can still make the claim "we're raising driver pay." I'll believe a truck mega is being nice to the drivers when I see it happen, probably not before I leave this life. If then. "Heaven announces pay cut for drivers" is more what I expect - if that's where I'm going.

"First year wages are a little under $40K." What wrong with that? You get a CDL, come out and get experience. The labor unions, I worked for a couple, mostly Carpenters but a couple years with Electrical Workers, that had great training programs for apprenticeships, you had to be good, consistent, pass all the exams both technical written and performance on-site, for 3 years before you were even eligible for journeyman pay. So I don't see a problem with $40K first year earnings, and I don't like this article putting that in there as an example of how bad it is.