Sacrificing family time at older age.. why u?

Why are you doing this? Laid off from the skilled trade job? Or retirement not what you thought it would be?

Being away from home is going to suck. If your wife isn't self sufficient then your marriage is going to undergo a strain it may not completely recover from.

The financial gain from OTR vs being home has got to overcome the suckitude, or it won't work.

I got out of OTR in 1998, got out of the truck for good in 2006, and still can't shake the "diesel fever". If my current job continues its downward slide I can climb back in a rig, but I think it would go hard on my missus. She used to drive with me. She quit after 4 months.

You're a "no-nonsense" type? Sorry to hear that, because trucking is LOADED with nonsense,all day every day.

Good luck.

 

I love being away from home, so it works for me.
What's your story? There's probably jobs where you could be home every day.

 

If it's your back giving you problems, sitting in the driver's seat getting bounced down the highway won't make it any better. If it's your knees, you might fare a little better, especially with everyone going to automatics these days.

Unless you're going to be fingerprinting freight, then....all bets are off. But I wish you every success, and you'll get some good stories out of the experience.

 

Well.. I am sure that everyone has their own motivations and inspiration to get into to trucking.. for some, it was something they had wanted to do for a long time, but needed to wait till the kids were grown...

You it is funny.. I am not in trucking anymore.. but I do travel for my job... but now I am put up in nice hotels..

But, no matter how nice the hotel is.. it always feels like a hotel, even the extended stays with the little kitchens and living rooms...

When I was on the road.. I always made my truck feel like home... I never liked the drab gray interiors.. so I would get some nice colorful fabric and line the bunk with it.. I kept it clean and organized.. and it was my home away from home.. oh, also... upgrade the mattress.. I went all out with a Serta 7 cool action gell truck mattress... which was a dream to sleep on then and still is, only now it is in the RV...
Also, I feel that for the middle age new driver, after years of co workers, raising a family, neighbors, and all.. it is just so nice to be out on the road and actually have some time to yourself.. I loved that I could read books, learn new hobbies.. I learned to do chainmaille and moved on to making jewelry when I came off the road... but, I think the solitude of trucking is such a gift for the middle aged and seems a bit harder for the younger drivers.. especially if they have young kids at home..

 

I went into this for a few reasons.
I love to drive for one.

And I have three youngish daughters (aged 13, 15 and 21) that I like to see more often than every summer.
Yup, divorced and not living near them.

My job history isn't impressive, and this is the first job that I found that I could maintain steady child support.
I see them every other month, and one comes with me on the truck every summer for a couple months. This summer I'll have 2 of them for a month each.

It also suits my loner lifestyle. I don't need or want a lot of people around me.

The stars lined up for me with this job at this point in time in my life.
If I was married with children I would never do it.