Two Jobs One Choice

OK, first off, you aren't gonna make anything near the kind of money you have been making, working local. It ain't gonna happen, even in a union shop. (Unless I am very, very mistaken.)

I strongly advise you to NOT leave your current job, due to a marriage situation. I honestly think it would increase your marital problems, many times over. You are 22 years old, I am guessing your wife is near to you in age. I don't mean this as an insult, but you guys are both still kids yourself. And you have a child to raise.

I think before you start looking at changing jobs, you need to decide where YOU want your life to go. Do you WANT to stay in this marriage or not? I am looking at this from the perspective of a man who spent 15 years, of an 18 year marriage, staying with a woman "because of the kids." In retrospect, I believe it was the wrong thing to do. I do not believe the kids would have been any worse off if their mother and I had split, as long as I still maintained as being an active roll in their lives. I feel that I wasted 15 years of my life, and of my ex's life. (We are both now happily remarried to spouses that we are compatible with. Both marriages are over 20 years.)

Deal with your marital problems first, then decide what you want to do about your job. There are not very many folks your age who own their own tractor, and make the kind of money you are making. DON'T BLOW IT FOR A SHAKY MARRIAGE!

 

I am with BigDon on this one as well. Usually I strongly advocate people getting into the local field right away. In your case though, you are not only your own boss, but you seen to be doing a pretty good job at it from what I've read. If you go local, you will lose a good chunk of your independence (and pay). You will be working for someone telling you what to do, how to do it, and for how long to do it for... with less pay. If you are low enough on the seniority board, you will also be the first one to get more than planned hometime when they have to shave off some labour when the work slows down.

I can relate to turbulent times with marriage. The problems I had with my wife when I was home were the exact same when I was deployed in Iraq. If you don't get your problems resolved and set a solid foundation, it could hurt your marriage regardless on whether your are home each day or once every two weeks.

Stay where you are. You seem to have a good enough of a head on your shoulders to stay afloat when many people of your age fail.

 

He hasn't responded on what kind of hometime he's getting currently. If I were bringing home 100k a year and being my own boss I wouldn't mess around with foodservice, I wouldn't even mess around with LTL altogether. This industry is very hard during the first few years while paying your dues and building seniority. And foodservice specifically is no picnic (no pun intended). I don't think the headache is worth it if you already have a way of making a good chunk of cash, if I were him I would keep going at it until I can afford to pay somebody else to drive my truck(s) and then finally go home to the family and just manage your business.

Think about it, it would hit you in the face going from a place where you call the shots to being number 56 in the seniority board and getting people's left overs or being told to stay home because things are slow. You would have to weigh that versus how much you desire being home. For me having my weekends off is so important I would go work for Central again if it were the only option.

 

I was about to make over 60k back at YRC. But I was on a bid and not extra board. Now that's really good for being 24. Now I took q jib at UPSF which was back home where I grew up and was planning on buying my dads house in the next few years. I couldn't transfer back home with YRC so I jumped ship. I took quite a pay decrease but am making more money as my bills went down since i moved back home. Plus YRC has too manycissues going on which scared me as well.

Once I hit top rate at UPSF I'll be making more than i would be at YRC. Although I spend more time on a Nissan forklift than I do driving my nice Volvo tractor in the end will be worth it as our longer runs don't require dock work

 

The logical choice. You can do better by your kids with the gig you have whether your wife sticks around or not. Moving to a lower paying, home more, job does not guarantee she's gonna stick it out.

 

I've just seen too many guys give up a job they loved, to please the wife. Then end up divorced anyway. Then they really don't have much of anything left.

 

Honestly, if it's something you love, then the right girl will be ok with it.

 

I was working for NAVL in 1999 as an owner operator and I was making really good money too. My wife kept fighting with me and threatened to leave me all the time. I also have 2 daughters. I quit my job, sold my 1994 Freightliner FLD and went to work for Watkins LTL. Biggest mistake of my life! My wife still left me and I really missed the open road. At the time I was worried about the kids, the wife, etc but boy do I regret it now. US foods will work you hard every day. I'm now looking to buy another truck and hit the road again. Good luck with what you choose. Maybe you could put another driver in your truck while you try US foods and see if you like it.