One Part Of Trucking I Dont Understand ....

Drivers point of view.This op will be a new driver not o/o.

 

Trucking is still a good way to earn an above average income with minimal expense and training. The industry has changed over the years, mostly for the worst, but I have no current plans to change careers. We are over regulated and not appreciated by the general public. There is little or no appreciation for the critical role we play in this nation's economy. Trucking is responsible for getting everything to the market, from homes to cars to paper clips. Everything literally moves by truck. Drivers were highly respected for most of my life. It is drivers who have changed. Many don't respect themselves or anyone else. They throw trash and urine bottles along highways and leave them in parking lots. Too many are not courteous and some show no self control. It is up to those coming into the industry to change the public's perception of this industry.

You need to take a realistic view of this industry. There are more and more regulations that continue being thrust upon the industry. One of the main attractions of this industry has always been the freedom that it affords drivers. More and more we are seeing a lack of freedom. EOBR's, useless regulations and a general attitude from our government that we need to be monitored every moment of our day and night. It is causing many to leave the industry and others to be critical.

Drivers have always had to be away from friends and family. That hasn't changed, but it is much easier to stay connected and in touch with those whom we care about. When I started, we wrote letters, send post cards or made collect calls to family. We didn't call every day due to the high cost. Cell phones have changed all of that, as have computers. We can call, text or scype anywhere in the world. I had a conversation with my niece the other day. We could see one another from our cell phones. Technology has been both a blessing and a curse. Technology has made dealing with other drivers much more impersonal. We used to mostly communicate in person or on the CB. It is rare to have a conversation on the CB these days. When I started driving it was more like a fraternity. Drivers communicated with one another and helped each other. When a truck was broken down, it was not uncommon for 2 or 3 other truckers to stop to help. Now, you rarely even hear them ask on the CB if you need help. Technology has helped drivers to stay in touch with family and friends.

I am not sure why some seem to complain and whine so much. Perhaps they are just bored. There has always been a tremendous amount of independence with truckers, at least until recent years. That may have come from having to get your truck moving on your own rather than relying on road service. We used to have to change a flat or change a fuel filter on the side of the road. We could not just get the cell phone out or qualcomm and call for road service. We had to get the truck moving on our own for the most part.

As with any profession, there are pros and cons. For everything that we gain, we will sacrifice something. You can earn a good living, but you will sacrifice time away from family and friends. Life is a trade off. You need to decide for yourself what you are willing to give up for what you want in life, whether it is trucking or some other career choice. Since you are only 21, I would encourage you to get your education first. Most carriers won't hire you until you are 23 or 25 years of age. You can spend that time getting your education. That doesn't mean that you can't find a position, but insurance will prohibit most from hiring anyone younger than 23. Whatever you decide, go into it with an open mind. Look at it objectively. Take a close look at what you want out of life. Get a piece of paper and put your goals down. Find out what you enjoy and try to match a career to things that you like. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

Jpearson, Good luck with your new chosen career path, I haven't read every post in this topic, so not sure if this has been covered, but yes there is a lot of "Whiny drivers", and as you will find once you are actually out here, there are a lot of untruth telling drivers as well, Take what you hear with a grain of salt, not sure what trucking school you are going to, but if its a company training place like, England, or Swift, Before you sign on the bottom line to "Get your lease" deal, Think twice! most deals are just the opposite, As a new driver, just be a company driver for a few years, get to know the industry, Some have come to this industry, thinking it will fit them to a T, to find out they really don't like it, It truly is a way of life, out here on the road, I wish you great success out here and be safe

 

I've been trucking since 1982 and I'm just tired, so if I sound negative I am sorry I don't mean to. There is a huge difference in a "Truck Driver" and a person that has been properly trained and passed their CDL test. And you will know in the first 30 seconds you are behind the wheel of a moving semi which one you are. In my opinion about 75% of the negativity comes from the properly trained people that can safely operate a commercial motor vehicle, but don't like the hours or someone at the receiver yelled at them, or their wife and kids forgot what they looked like. The other 25% is the older "Truck Drivers" (myself included) that don't like this new rule or the "new breeds" attitude, or what ever the complaint of the day is. But in my opinion overall the trucking industry is a safer place to earn a living, and the equipment is 100% nicer than "back in the good ole' days". The pay hasn't changed much and if you let one of us old hands talk long enough we will tell you all about it. I'll try to save you from all the B.S. and get right to the point, my 3rd year of trucking I broke $40,000.00 as a company driver, and in 1985 that was a ton of money, and I was a bad slacker I probably could have made another 8-10,000.00 if I would have really dug in, and now 25 yrs later what's the "average wage" they are promising? 45-50,000.00 is what I'm seeing advertised. I'm pretty sure that has been inflated at least 10%, but my point is there hasn't been an industry-wide wage increase in my 30 yrs of trucking, and that is going to be the core of everyone's negativity, lack of money. The rule/law making groups believe we need to be regulated like airline pilots (their words not mine) they would get a lot less resistance if they paid us like pilots. I can rant for hours about this but not today. Again sorry if this sounds negative but sometimes the truth is a hard pill to swallow, I'm not recommending you do or don't do anything, but I do think you should have as much information as possible to make an informed decision, like I said you'll know in the first 30 seconds if this is something you have to do, just understand that as things are in this industry right now $60,000.00 is about top dollar and no you will not start there, I know there is specialized stuff that pays more, compressed gas, O.D. ect. but for your average truck driver, that's about it. There hasn't been enough pay increase in the last 25 yrs. to brag about and unfortunately I don't see one coming anytime soon. Again sorry for the negativity, but facts are facts.

 

During my carreer I have had a lot of ups and downs but I don't complain,anymore.Found out that don't get you anywhere but the unemployment line.My first 2 yrs driving was the worst but stuck it out.Even though theres been times I hated this but after my complaining fest when I first started,I quit whineing and complaining.Now I get dispatchers that tell me im there best driver because I do my job and don't complain.

 

You sound like a young man with a good head on his shoulders and a lot of ambition. One thing I am sure you are right about is if you love what you do you will never work a day in your life, and you will learn to live on what it pays.

 

Way too many getting into TRUCKING have no idea what trucking is all about.

They have the dream in their heads of a NEW SHINY SHOWSTOPPER RIG , great weather , no traffic and everyone ewwing , awwing at their every move.

Then reality sets in , older trucks , bad weather , congested roads and the snickering and comments on the CB when they make a mistake.

 

Most of the whiners around us all these days are lazy people that feel that society owes them something...or some company owes them something....or I owe them something. It's weak and I don't like it either.
Don't like your job? Quit!
Think your company is screwing you? Quit!

I see some young guy like you sitting in a crummy old car talking on his cell phone, wearing his JC Penney suit, on his way to some office where he'll sit in a cubicle like a lab rat all day long and I feel sorry for that guy. He is killing himself slowly and snuffing out any life he might have ever had. Yeah...he goes home every night but let's be honest...who really wants to? And when he gets there he tells his poor wife all the bad things that happened in his cubicle that day...how his boss was on his butt all day because her boss was on hers.....and tomorrow is exactly the same crap.


Yes! We have more rules than we used to...and yes there are things about this job that are hard....but you're alive 100% of the time and you can see the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean and a few days later you can see it set over the Pacific. If that's something that appeals to you, and you enjoy motors and gears and meeting some pretty cool free people then you might like it.

I equate sitting in a 62 MPH plastic truck with a computer telling you what to do all day long (working for a mega carrier) to sitting in a cubical .....so I could never do that.....but I like what I do a lot and when I hear one of these whiners, and there are many, I just move slowly away from them and tune them out...because they do suck...and will continue to suck....because they just don't get it....

 

The thing is, there's cruddy parts of every job. I love teaching. The joy I get in finally seeing the light bulb go off in a student's eyes is second only to the feeling I got when I saw my babies for the first time. But there's parts of teaching I hate with a passion. I hate stupid administrations who force us to do things that hurt our students because of some political mandate. I hate the never ending paperwork. I hate the fact that if I wanted to make copies or have white board markers I had to pay for it myself (school didn't provide it). I hate the fact that my school decided we didn't really need a planning period or a duty free lunch so I had to teach from 8am to 3pm without even enough time to go to the bathroom, eat standing up so I could monitor the lunch room, then go home and do several hours of grading and planning (unpaid, of course). I hate the fact that the public thinks I have a cushy job and get summers off. For kicks and grins, I took my salary, subtracted the amount of my own money I spent on essential classroom supplies, then divided that by the number of hours I really worked. It came out to about 2 bucks an hour. And that sucks. But it's worth it, because when I actually do get to teach, there's nothing better. (And for the record, I left teaching because I have two disabled children and needed a job with more flexibility, not because I decided I didn't want to teach anymore).

I could tell stories like that for just about any profession. All jobs have their ups and downs. It's all a matter of if the ups outweigh the downs for you.

If trucking is what you love to do, then you'll have a similar attitude towards the negative aspects of the job. The first few years will be tough. The learning curve is steep and you've got to "pay your dues". If you can get through that and maintain a positive attitude, you'll do fine.

 

Cut to the chase!

(Saw someone use the snip recently and thought it cool.)