Thinking of a career in truck driving

One driver that I know drove a fuel tanker. His convoy was attacked and both the truck in front and behind him got hit. He was injured, but survived. He is now on disability.

 

If you are in a "HOT" area you will probably have a military escort. Civilian drivers are not usually allowed to be armed.

 

khair, I would suggest that you consider working for one of the railroads instead. The pay is awesome, the benefits are even better, and they are very military friendly.

If you start as a freight conductor you can work your way up to almost any position within the company. Education (or lack of) really doesn't matter because they will train you the way they want things done. That is why they are military friendly. They realize you already have what it takes to do the job safely.

From what I have seen, most railroad new hires have a military, law enforcement, or firefighter background. They also hire ex-truck drivers, heavy equipment operators, and general contractors.

Average first year starting salary is around $50k. You will never make that starting as a driver!! With fuel prices on the rise, rail freight will only increase, making rail transport even more attractive as a career. Also, In the next 8 years, nearly 80% of railroad workforce will be elegible to retire, which will result in more opportunity for advancement within the company.

This is just my opinion, but I am speaking as a new hire myself, who has already gone through all of the training. Before I started, I sat down and really evaluated all of my options and the railroad really stood out to me as the best option.

Do the research and I am sure you will come to the same conclusion.

**You do have to be in good physical condition!!! If you are not, do not waste your time applying!!!**

 

worked with more than a couple of guys in my guard units who went the railroad route.

After about a year, they left the RR and found another job.

 

khair,

Comment from the guys in my guard unit who HAVE worked for the railroad.

"we are 'on-call' and can't plan anything because we might have to go to work. Pay is at 1/2 pay rate."

"we are "low man" and we don't get called to work because the senior guys are getting called in and taking the hours"

"I sat at home for 3 weeks again with no work because I was the new guy"

For most of the first year, that's what they did and complained about to me at guards.

They were brakeman and engineers.

 

They worked for BNSF.

 

That might be the difference. I work for another railroad that has plenty of freight. We also have an extra board garauntee which pays us every two weeks whether we do anything or not. Yes, you will be on-call 24-7, but we get a 2 hour call. In other words we have two hours from the time we are called until we must report for duty.

If you are going to have to find a job when leaving the military anyway, why not try the railroad? You can become a trucker anytime. From what I understand, turnover rate on my railroad is around 35%.

One big difference is that with the railroad, you are paid while training; whereas if you go to trucking school on your own it will be out of your pocket. Another difference is that we sleep in hotels every night instead of a 72" sleeper in a truck stop.