Thinking about trucking, but have reservations

I'm still a rookie at 2 years, i come from satellite telecom and prior to that i was in the navy. Grew up with truckers in my family so i sort of understood what i was getting into. I have a wife and 2 daughters, i go home every two weeks, however if i want to go home weekly i can. If you like isolation, working in all weather types, don't mind disappointment, can handle the stress of being away from your friends and family for days or even weeks on end. Then trucking might be for you

 

Those Craigslist ads tend to be #### jobs

 

You can still attend a private cdl school then work for Roehl if you want lots of time off and a flexible work schedule.
If you decide to get serious and want a rewarding career then go full time with a company like Old Dominion Linehaul. Big bucks and they hire new cdl grads.

 

40 is just getting started. You will end up putting in twice 60 most weeks dealing with trucking. It's intense. Some people exhibit bad trucking dreams while lumping during sleep periods.

 

There are no 40 hr weeks in trucking

 

Not that I've ever heard of. Most of those around here are 12hrs a day

 

We spend a lot of time doing work related tasks when "off duty". Many things technically should be performed while on duty but legal time is precious. Then add the time doing paperwork and trip planning kind of stuff. So you have 70 hours plus however long it takes to do all that and trust me it adds up big time. You will be working one way or another on your 10 hour break and your 30 minute break.

I am fortunate to get home every weekend for my restart. I usually am home for about 40-45hours. Some weekends are a bare bones 34 and some could be 65 hours too but you don't make money like that. You wind up sleeping for almost half of your 34. When you aren't sleeping, you are fixing or maintaining the house and yard, cleaning the truck and doing laundry, grocery shopping and stocking the cooler, and whatever else to reset the truck for the week. We literally bring our work home with us. And you still have to make time for the wife and kids. The world doesn't stop just because you're on your break. I'm used to having a 60+ hour workweek from before trucking. That seems like a vacation to me now. If 40 is enough for you, that's fine. Nothing wrong with that, but that's not trucking.