Trucking ups and downs

krazzy, this is not an easy job. It never has been, and I don't see how it ever will be.

When you see the negative posts, keep a couple of things in mind.
1) Trucking is at an all time low point right now, just as the economy is quite low right now.
2) In the best of times, trucking is a tough job. The hours are long, the working conditions are often way below what most people expect.

If you are OTR, and a family man, it is gonna take a LOT of effort on the part of the driver, and the driver's family to make it work. There are a lot of divorces in this industry. Most wives do not appreciate the fact that they are pretty much solely responsible for raising the kids, taking care of the home, and handling any emergency that comes up. It takes a special lady to be able to handle all that.

One of the reasons you see all the pissing and moaning is that a lot of folks come into this job with unrealistic goals and expectations. They are told by advertisement and recruiters that the pay is going to be a lot more than it will be. The disadvantages are glossed over. In other words, the average driver is fed a line of BS that would make a garden grow.

A lot of folks think that this is something either more, or less than a job. Some come into it with the idea of it being a paid vacation, where you get to see a lot of sights on the other guys dime.

Well, it is no vacation, it is no sight seeing. It is an awful lot of night driving, going to some of the worst areas in some of the worst cities in the country.

Some folks seem to think there is "romance" or "glamor" to trucking. That person will be disabused of this idea very quickly. When you deal with shippers/receives that are a PITA, when your dispatcher is demanding that you do things that are over the limit on your driving hours, when the DOT pulls you in and slaps you with a thousand dollar fine for log and other violations, you get over the glamor part in a hurry.

OTOH, you don't walk through the same doors to an office, factory, warehouse or store every day. Each day seems to bring different challenges. You don't have your supervisor watching over your shoulder. You make your own decisions, for the most part, and suffer the consequences, or reap the rewards for those decisions.

It is true for a lot of folks, that trucking "gets in the blood." You may piss and moan about it. You may whine and snivel about it, but you know in your heart that it is the ONLY job you will ever be happy doing.

This is the type of driver who is successful. And while there are a lot of them like that, there are many more who are NOT, and who will not last in this business.

Only you can decide if it is right for you or not.

 

Big Don is right on the money! There are days when I want to leave the truck on the side of the road and hitch home, then there are days I wouldn't take a millon $ to quit (uhhh, no maybe I would ). I have worked in offices, oilfield ect and other than the abysmal pay (I'm new, industry not kind to new drivers) there is a lot to like. A person is either cut out for it or isn't, no middle ground..

 

Trucking is like the Military in alot of ways. One is you are ether cut out for it or you are not. Another is that if they aren't ######## there not happy.