so who makes it in this industry??

http://www.automotiveworld.com/news...28-us-freight-growth-of-2-8-forecast-for-2010

 

So when you say a long time to recover, would you think within 2010 or further down the line?

as i heard on the Lockridge show, Wed. Evan has discussed with industry consultants, and mention that freight volume from 2006 would be 2 to 3 years down the road before we could match that level going forward.

 

RickG, you make a very good point. My situation was very similar to alot of new guys out here but you really need to think about this trade before jumping in. I was a manager with 50 guys under me before going to CDL school. The girl that runs the school I went to told me AND my wife that to make it I would need to go OTR for a year or 2 before a local job would even look at me. So I planted this in my head way before I ever got into the truck. I spent a little over a year with Crete and my wife found an ad for a local dedicated spot close to the house. How could I refuse that. I now make more being home every day than I was working 5 weeks at a time with Crete. Don't get me wrong, Crete was good to me it's just that I got that lucky break. I see alot of guys pass their CDL tests only to get lonely on the road in the first 2 months and quit. There are alot of mental issues you need to go over before jumping in to this lifestyle.

 

Usually the folks that make it in trucking, are the same folks that will make it in almost any other field of work !!
You have to WANT IT !!!!

 

You sure there isn't at least ONE guarantee in life ???

 

I am still new, I am in my first year, I am doing good and I am happy. I ha wanted to become a trucker for a long time and when the time was right for me the industry just happened to not be in it's hay day. However, that has not prevented me from making my way.
I was making a career change so first, I made sure I was financially able to do so. That I knew what I was getting into and had a plan. I avoided the megacarriers and didn't buy into all the hype. I also didn't listen to all those who said I couldn't get on with a good small company and had to go with a training company. I was making an investment in myself and furture and ha not intentions of leaving anything to chance.
Fortunate for me although I had no trucking experience, I had learned many things over the years and was old school, so I knew I would have to work hard and earn my way thru, I would have to take what was given to me and make the most of it. That has been working for me.

The drivers I see that fail out here, have things to learn, not just in trucking, but in life, basic skills, money management, stress management, emotional balance, decision making and most of all respect... respect for themelves, for others and for their job.

I do not have any regrets about becoming a trucker and plan on doing this till I retire. I will make sure to do good, becacuse I take care of me, I am in charge of my life. I will encounter bumps in the road, I will be challenged, and I will learn and grow, but that's life and what it is all about anyway.

 

You die at the end...

 

Perhaps, but that is not the point. To LIVE, to live every day of your life, fully, passionately and completely... Death is only on moment, life is a multitude of moments. So live every moment up to that moment of death.

I know that I will die, I want to die in the act of living, not waiting for death.

 

I'm not a driver yet but I've been around the block. If you reversed your paragraphs you could have made a statement, i.e., "the ones that make it are the ones that don't go broke (work smart), don't hate life (why would anyone hate life, it beats the alternative), quit (whatcha gonna use to feed the kids now), get fired (who's at fault?), get in an accident (who's at fault?), get ripped off by the CDL mill schools (a gun to the head - I think not). So, how many people work smart (don't go broke), love life, stick it out (don't quit), don't get fired, are careful drivers (accidents do happen, though, that's why they are not called "on-purposes"), make thoughtful, educated decisions about training. Hmmm? Maybe the 1 in 20 you referred to in your thread opener!!

You've asked a really important question - I appreciate it!!