They all suck!

I was in corrections. Me in a cell block with 40+ inmates. The $28k/year salary wasn't worth it.

Ethan

 

You have my respect, sir. Gross underpayment for the level of risk involved. Good example.

 

i was a typical #####y truck driver last year but after an unwanted break from trucking for eight months i can say i ##### much less....got to spend countless hours in stupid interviews answering mind numbingly stupid questions ...spent 3 months working in one of those afore mentioned factories running a roofing line and forklift (where the company claimed that working in coal dust was not hazardous to your health ) now that was some funny #### right there ....and a couple months in a distribution center picking orders ....now i am glad to be back in my truck what other job with such a small investment in time and money can you eventually work for yourself and make these wages not many i would argue and like a driver i used to wait on told me before we moved to the midwest if you get your cdl and a little experience you may never get rich but you will never starve either unlless of course you work for cr england

 

...or you could be a truckstop manager.....covering for employees who don't show....working God-knows-how many hours at a stretch while being on salary?

No thanks.

 

It wasn't fun. I did it for a year. I will say I was happy to be a sheriffs deputy but the pay was horrible. Course I live in the poorest county within central Florida.

Believe me when I say trucking is the highest paying job I've had in my life, I've never been happier working. I make double what I made in corrections and I'm happier. Its a win win for me.

I still put up with a lot of crap, but not near as much as my jobs before trucking.

Ethan

 

You want to bet? I have a friend that works for UPS in the office. It's horrible and just like a ticked off truck driver all he does is whine about it. Micro managed and raises dont come unless you go out find a new job and then give your two weeks. Another friend installs security gates, he will tell you in great detail about the 50 or so times he has made the 1 hour drive home only to get called out to an emergency call 2 hours away. He still has to be at work at 7am btw. He gets no extra pay for this "just part of the job...."

I on the other hand make more money than them doing something I enjoy and since they have kids, my weekends are usually a lot more entertaining. All I'm saying is its all what you make of it and no I would never drive a large training company ever again. Been there and done that. I work long hours but make a comfortable living doing it.

 

A lot of people get into trucking thinking it's going to be easy ... but then they want to get out. Why? Because unlike a lot of other jobs you can't hide ... It's you and your truck, you have to show up at the shipper ontime. Then you have to deliver the freight safely and ontime ... screw up anywhere along the line and pretty much only one person is responsible - you the driver. Even those things not in your direct control, you are the one you has to anticipate and initiate the actions to overcome those things ... nobody holds your hand.

At least 47% of the people are incapable of handling that kind of responsibilty.

 

trucking is a pain a lot of times and while i did get burned out on otr i still do it locally and would rather do this job than stuck in an office or factory all day.
even if you do find that "perfect" job it all goes to crap after the boss realizes you will work hard and dumps all over you because the majority want a check without the work.

 

yes, in every industry, you will find gripes but in trucking, you feel like the company is the pimp and you are the prostitute, and they keep demanding more and more, and they lie, and they expect you to give more and more you are paid for 500mi, but have to drive 550 to get there you are required to clean up a trailer that the customer left dirty (like buying something from the store and leaving the packaging on the floor) you have to be on time, but you give them 2hrs (minimum) of your free time (our time is not important) you are on the clock for 168hrs a week but only allowed to work 70 and get paid for less than that cops can be your enemy, DOT feels they can detain you indefinitely CSA wants to penalize you more for not wearing a seatbelt than for following too closely all of the costs of trucking increase except your pay but you are right, I do love driving my truck, i wouldnt change jobs for anything

 

Prior to deregulation the driver force was much happier, you did not stay out for a month at a time playing the " happy wanderer" you had your head haul to wherever and then your back haul to get you back home, then a day or two off and back at it again, it allowed you to have at least a bit of a personal life, this idea of just living in a truck and bouncing from place to place ( anywhere but home) was not even an option then.