perceived trucking pros and cons from rookie

Sounds like you don't even need to be in the business.

 

Based on what model? A 40 hour week, nights and weekends at home? Trucking is a 70 hour a week job...night and day. You have the same "household" expenses on the truck, as you do at home. They just cost more. Subtract $300 from any check you've seen. To offset this fact.

Jobs are abundant, more so for the experienced driver, than the "new" driver. In which case they are very limited.

Like any toy...the new wears off pretty fast.

Buy the video, it's cheaper and you can actually see the country.

I meet new friends every day. Ladies??? Well they want $25 for 15 minutes. Or look at you like you just handed them a turd, when you tell them you drive a truck.

Odds of meeting the same "lady" twice in a year. Slim to none.

New jobs are gained by more experienced drivers faster. When the chips are down. Companies want drivers with 2-5 years experience, as this reduces their insurance cost.

PS, not all companies close the doors in one day. Senior drivers will still be driving, while you are looking for a new job.

True with any job...but trucking is more stable in the long run.

This happened in a line at Wal-Mart 2 weeks ago. Do you feel any safer?

True...but you deal with it.

The same is true at any other job.

Over bull **** that has nothing to do with your job...which sucks.

 

positive things I feel about big-rig truck driving as a job:
1. nice pay and, often, benefits - Boy are you in for a shock... First year paycheck as a company driver $34-$40K if you're good

2. jobs abundant - If you're good.

3. diesel engines and chrome stacks are awesome and exciting: the most fun you can have with your loins covered. Umm...Give it 6 months. That attitude will subside.

4. see America the Beautiful - Got news for you dude. The US isn't all amber waves and purple mountains. There's also Camden, NJ. For every acre of fruited plain, there's 3/4 of an acre of urban wasteland.

5. meet new friends or ladies!! - New friends? Sure. You'll meet some. Ladies, not so much. Unless you don't mind getting the clap. Just remember, penecilin doesn't cure everything anymore.

6. driving jobs should be quickly replaced should your company fold or lay you off. Perhaps, but you'll get the crappy ones being a new guy.

negative things about trucking company employment or O/O self-employment
1. you could get fired, laid off or fold (if O/O) - Happens to the big guys too.

2. you could get seriously injured or killed. - Yep.

3. you could get lonely or homesick. - Most definently.

4. trucking is not a risk-free job. Sure it is! The risks are free!

5.you could get robbed - Don't have to be a trucker to get robbed.

6. the bank could repo your (I mean “its”) rig if you lease and are not making it - Again, another place it's good to be a company man.

7.you could lose your beauty sleep - Umm, yeah. You could say that.

8.the choke and puke food could be poisonous - No more so than Pizza Hut or Applebys.

9. the smokeys could spoil your day - They will in a car too.

10. you CDL could be pulled - Yep. Just don't screw up.

 

Regarding number 8 in the negatives list - The only places I ever got food poisoning were non-truck stop restaurants.