Sacrificing family time at older age.. why u?

That is a large part of my reason for getting into trucking that and the idiots that tend to work at the warehouses I use to work at
... Had one guy knock over a pallet of boxes on purpose then supervisor asks why I am not helping restack them.... That was it I quit and signed a contract to go drive truck

 

I am with Mack here. I am somewhat independant minded. Hard headed, stubborn, imtractable, er.. wait.. let's write that a better way...

I absolutely lose it when idiot bosses sniff over my neck and ask pointed questions making me guilty of some massive infraction over something like your moron vs pallet stack knocked over scenario. There have been times Ive exploded on supervisors. But not too often. Many a time Ive told the trucking company boss man what for too. See why I look for another job eh? But no regrets I tell em off. If I don't I know no one else will. Sheep I say... all sheep.

 

Amen to that. I tried that for a year as a solo driver. I couldn't stand having another person behind the wheel at all. Don't know how in the h**l anyone can get any sleep like that, but it ain't me.

You are never off the job when you are running OTR. Yeah, I have heard for years that the divorce
rate is 70 percent with OTR drivers. Even running local or line-haul can be a real B**th if you have some dorks running freight dispatch or a clueless manager, who needs his/her arse canned!

Worked a local freight job one time, where the manager was a fool, and the dispatchers were just as bad ( one was an OBVIOUS dope smoker). Kept getting sent out way too late EVERY day, to drive 100 miles, break up the set, and LTL both trailers to all the destinations. Then hook it all back up to drive back to the terminal in heavy commute traffic. My left knee still hurts from all that work.

IMHO, the DOT should have mandatory piss testing for everyone who works in the barns, including the dispatchers, dockworkers/forklift loaders and management, not just we drivers.

My .02 cents.

 

To drive with someone else and then try to sleep with same? You do not get to do that with just anyone IMHO. It takes something special to make it happen. Even then, it's tough. That is one reason I never want to ride greyhound again, all of my dreams is all about that dam greyhound bus's current RPM output versus suspension behavior and graident. Little wonder why I fall out of that bus in a really bad mood if the driver is poor.

The divorce for me was not trucking related it was under pressure of schooling in college accumulating bills that need paid to uncle sam. Throw that out the window. There is that anyhow. It's paid. We are still good. Thankfully.

The dispatcher dorks are easy to spot. Find another dispatcher. I have. Once I did that my company started to act and load me strangely trying to run me down to get me to quit. They have their ways to strike back where possible. Took em a while though. I did my best but you cannot fight a Billion Dollar outfit filled with dorks. lol.

 

Good for you! Trucking has been going downhill for quite a long time, and with auto-shifts
it will only become worse, since any knuckle-head can put the transmission into "drive".

I have spoken to way too many people of the downsides of trucking, for years. People seem to think that all you do is shift gears and hold a steering wheel. If only it were that simple!

They have no idea what it's like at all. Not all the .gov regulations; all the moving of freight if you are a local or LTL driver; the logbooks/e-logs; Bad weather; the stress from dealing with many people who are arse-holes to begin with. Not a thing like it really is : A HARD frakking job,

They romanticize trucking in all too many ways. From the old movies they have seen, like "White Line Fever", "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Convoy", when the only "country" a driver will be seeing is in front of his windshield, because that load has to get there on time, period.

My .02 cents.

 

Mr @Ridgeline, to be honest, I try not to respond to your posts because people may began to think that you and I are the same person having a conversation with ourselves.

How's this for negativity? I like what I do. I am doing exactly what I want to do. Yes, I make good money, but there have been bad times too. It's part of being alive. Can you make more money flipping burgers? I don't know. I would never take a job flipping burgers. I was a roofer. I drove a beer truck. I did food service. I worked 3rd shift in a grocery store during high school, got off work and went straight to school. So perhaps I can't understand the negativity when people remark about how hard the job is. You hold a steeringwheel and your goobers all day...tough day!

"But Six,...the daily grind, the traffic, the stress...I miss sleeping in my own bed..."

Did you sleep?

Anyways, Mr @Middleagedrookie, don't take what those "truckers" on YouTube say as gospel...they're the Kim Kardasians of the trucking industry.

 

I love trucking, but it does wear on your body...i think it fits because of the similarities with my military career...always changing, sleep at different hours, hurry up and wait....but i got into it as a way to pay off all my debt really fast...now that im into it, I love it...I dont like the bs regulations and politics that come with it, but I love ve the job...I looked at other things i could do but a lot less pay...I am a certified auto technichian, and have a lot of experience working on diesel and marine engines...I have worked in the oilfield, and am 3 classes away from finishing my BA...which I do not have a desire to finish...yep for me i have another year or so of driving, then plan to drive part time, fish most of the other time and pick up extra bucks working on boats....I also looked at a lot of local driving jobs and just didnt find anything suitable....my thinking is why work 12 hours a day for half or less than what i make now so i can be home every night, just to eat dinner and go to sleep...Im good running two or three weeks then taking 3-7 days off...as with any job, it is what you make it...