Some newbie questions

I see mentioned often that truckers change companies frequently. Why? Would it not be better to stick with one - or is the grass always greener on the other side?

I've been self employed for the past three years and just recently my business went "poof". Looking to start in the trucking industry with a company-sponsored and provided training, is there anything to look out for? CRE is somewhat local here in Utah and I am looking hard at them. Any advice?

If you are a solo driver, is it generally "ok" to have someone along with you?

After training, how much could I "Realistically" expect to make during my first year?

What's the secret in spending less on food? Every day eating out three-meals-per-day for weeks at a time could add up quickly. How do you keep from getting a jolly belly quickly?

When OTR, what is your 'down time' per day in hours, and what do you generally spend it doing?

Whew! I'm really just starting looking into this so appreciate the feedback and responses. Thanks!

 

Hi Deeja, first off welcome to the forum.

Well yes and no..sometimes a driver just gets fed up and does it on the spur of the moment. You are going to be out there alone....you have alot of time to do deep thinking (which is a bad thing - sometimes) especially if thing;s are not going your way.
But yea the more you gain expierience the greener the grass can get.

Here is a thread about CRE click here Take it for what it is worth I personally don't know anything about them.

This depends on your company...some allow it and some don't, also some make you wait thru a trial period before they will let you.

I would guess now 1st year driver might make up to $35,000.00 but that would probably be pushing it a bit.
1st year is the worst, it will only get better with time and expierience.

First off you won't have time for 3 meals everyday..if you do you will not make any money.
Go to walmart, or a grocery store get food and store in your truck, you can get a grill and cook your self food in the truck. Several ways to save money. But remember to keep the left door closed if you want to make any money.

Well again this depends.. you are allowed to drive 11 hours then you must have a 10 hour break....but you may get stuck at a shipper or a receiver for several hours also.
It would be best to invest in a video game system for your truck, or tv and vcr or dvd...if at a truckstop go do your laundry...sleeping etc.

Hope this helps a little, I am sure others will chime in on this but this will get you started thinking....Good Luck!

 

I'm gonna tell you the same thing I tell my kids and everybody else that asks me about trucking. It's a reality check, so if you want to cling to that romanitc, knight of the open road, Smokey and the Bandit wet dream you may have about trucking stop reading.

As a rule OTR is a lonely miserable experience. Unless you can drive team, which then becomes a shared misery. My wife and i drove together off and on, there were times I wanted to leave her in truck stops. She confessed to having had seriously contemplated running me over with the truck. OTR driving is all about doing distance. You keep the door shut, right foot in the floor, and you go and go and go. During your "downtime" you "relax" in a small box in a big parking lot on the interstate. You lay on a thin foam mattress and try to sleep amidst the noise of a truckstop. All too soon it's time to get up and go again. As a trucker you'll soon develop a variety of aches unique to sitting in a truck all day. Your lower back will ache, your knees will go arthritic, after a couple of years you'll get to enjoy hemmeroids. For the first few hours each day your butt will ache, then tingle, then finally go numb. When you get out of the seat your butt will "wake up" and some days it's the worst pain you can imagine. Seriously. If you can't find a truck that fits you good you will also get some pretty good neck and shoulder pain. Sort of like a sharp shooting pain from overreaching for the controls.With bright lights at night and driving you can develop an eye fatigue similar to welders flash. It'll give you a headache and burning eyes. Expect to either gain weight or lose. I was always pretty skinny. I didn't eat much and I smoked a lot to keep my metabolism up. Trucking will make you old befre your time.
Expect boredom. Looking at the "sights" is only interesting for so long. On your 100th run down I-5 you've pretty much seen all I-5 has to offer. Driving consists of long periods of boredom, just watching the miles tick by. Then theres seconds of heart pounding terror when a 4 wheeler does something stupid so "I won't get caught behind that dang truck". Mechanical breakdowns always come at the most inconvenient time. During bad weather, when you're still waiting to get paid for a load you hauled 2 months ago, or when you're truck is just out of warranty. You'll blow a steer tire 100 miles from the nearest one in your size and type. As a trucker you'll get to enjoy bad overpriced food, the nastiest toilets and showers, and meet some of the rudest people.
So why do it? Well it's a good way to make money. If you're a smart O/O you can actually make a lot of money. I think trucking is a lot like being a biker. On the surface neither one makes much sense. I mean why put yourself through that? It gets in your blood though, some people can just do it. You're either a trucker, or you're not. The license doesn't mean a thing, that's not what makes you a trucker. I can teach anybody to drive. What makes you a trucker is the willingness to live a life of loneliness and depravity to make money. The willingness to have abuse heaped upon you for a payday. That's what makes a trucker.
Best of luck to you in your new career.

 

I don't think I can offer up any more than what Boilermaker has said, but I'll try. I would like to mention that the changing of jobs you mentioned is something that is done sometimes for the wrong reasons. There are bad companies out there and there are great companies. Most companies fall somewhere in the middle. The reason I have switched companies is because there was usually more money involved. However, more money doesn't always mean it fits into what I want to do. Changing companies is not always the best solution. For me, it's not even come close to being any sort of solution. In retrospect, I wish I'd have never left the company I first started with (PAM Transport). But alas, we cannot turn back the hands of time. I'm with a good company that I intend to make work for me for the next several years.

Boilermaker has made a lot of good, and more importantly, realistic points about what it is like being out here day in and day out. Although I've yet to have hemorrhoids and have been out here for over 3 years. I did put on weight my first couple of years, and then managed to lose it over the past year and a half or so. And his point about how you are either a trucker or you're not is right on the money. This profession is not for everyone, but if it is for you, you will never want to do anything else. I have always said that my worst day as a driver has my best day in a factory beat hands down.

Good luck on your decision making process and I hope you make the decision that is best for you and everyone else in your family. This profession is just as hard on them as it is on you, with being gone all the time.

 

Good to see my computer isn't the only one going epileptic. I had the duplicates too Scarecrow.
Deeja,
Let me add something else now that I'm thinking about it. Look man, I drove OTR for 14 years. Off and on teaming with my wife. It's hard, and I owned my own truck. I never had to "toe the company line". If you're a trucker, welcome to the ranks. I'm a trucker but best thing I did was get out. Check out your local trade unions like, ironworkers, boilermakers, plumbers, carpenters, or whatever. Apply for an apprenticeship. Little known fact, you need ZERO experience in welding or steaming to be a boilermaker apprentice. You get full benefits and a pension. First 4 years of apprenticeship is tough, and you'll have to suck up the $700 to $1,000 a week paychecks. It gets better though once you finally make Journeyman. I'm a journeyman, debating on foreman. All I work is construction (hate shipyards) and I make a good living. Right now work is kinda slow, but only working 6-8 months out of the year I bring down close to $50K as a journeyman. I also O/O a big dumptruck. All I'm saying is that trucking is rough, and I feel it's my responsibility to be the "anti recruiter" and paint the bleakest, most honest picture of trucking life i can.

 

I appreciate the responses/warnings. To be honest, I have done a lot of traveling and rather enjoy many aspects of it. I think if I were either a trucker, or not, then I'd say it was indeed in my blood. I'd drive from northern Utah to Los Angelas weekly for a year to pick up products I'd sell. Generally I'd just travel in an SUV, sometimes pulling a Uhaul trailer. I'd make the trip too quickly, in a day and a half and generally only getting a few hours of sleep.

I have a way of fighting the boredom! I have aspirations of writing a novel, and when driving I'd generally use lonely time to brainstorm and generate ideas/scenarios/names, etc, then blind-write them on a pad of paper.

The main anti-recruiting issue I'm dealing with right now is my family. I know the first year, especially, will be tough. Being away so often and long will not be easy, so that alone is making me think hard about whether or not it would be worth pursuing.

 

I hope you realize this is not really the same..even though you said you pulled a uhaul trailer..Tractor/Trailers weigh as much as 80,000 lbs...it really wears you out to drive a truck loaded like this across Mts, and hills...especially if you have a sick truck.5 hours of driving can feel like 10 hours and 10 hours feel like 20 hours.

Again, PLEASE realize this is a 80,000 lb truck and trailer. You had better put down the books, and concentrate on driving. Concentration....errr lack of concentration is probably the #1 cause of truck wrecks..

This is a big factor in anybodies life who has a family at home, but you get used to it faster than you think.
Just make sure you have a cell phone so you can keep in touch with the family often.

 

My view of trucking isn't quite a bleak. I've been driving for about 10 yrs. and only have a couple of aches and pains that i didn't have to begin with and they aren't from driving. I can drive much farther in a big truck than i can in a personal vehicle. Yes the food is usually overpriced and not always good, but you have to learn the ways around that. Boredom is an ever-present evil that will get you in trouble if you aren't careful. Most freight companies will run you pretty hard and you don't generally have much down time. What time you do have is usually spent taking care of yourself ie: eating, sleeping, paperwork, laundry, shopping, etc. My first year, I made around $39,000.00 and was on the road for 3-5 wks at a time with an avg. of 3 days off. If you can have someone else on the truck w\you, it helps to pass the time-as long as you can arrange for some alone time now and then. Wal-Mart is the truckers friend when it comes to shopping-you can usually get into the lots and they have good prices. Buy a good cooler or, if you can afford it, a real refrigerator for your truck and keep it stocked. My wife used to make a lot of stews, roasts, casseroles, etc. and freeze them when we were home. We had one of the small 12 volt "lunch box" ovens that worked great for cooking and warming stuff up on the road. The worst thing you can do for your body is drink a lot of sodas and\or eat a big meal and go straight to bed. Try to get some exercise every day.IMO, the number one rule in trucking is: keep a good attitude and don't let anyone else drag you down. If you run a CB, keep it turned off unless you need help or to ck road conditions, listening to one 24\7 is like standing neck-deep in a cesspool for the most part-it attracts a lot of insects that thrive on crap. Like the saying goes, Trucking Ain't For Sissies, but it can be an enjoyable experience with a little common sense and a good attitude.

 

LMAO I like that!

 

Tanks!