what did you do before becoming a driver?

I worked at a steel mill for 30 years until I retired at age 55. 5 years ago I got my CDL and now I deliver to food warehouses. Not the most glorious of driving jobs but it's not as dangerous or dirty as the steel mill.

 

I started driving haul trucks at an open pit mine but that didn't last long (hated the shifts) Want to be a truck driver but can't find work so until then I'll play mechanic.

 

Army Nurse, Navy Nurse, Truck driver, back to nursing, getting restless, want back on the road...

 

Very similar to my story. I had been flying for about 4 years and was making pretty good money for a guy with my level of experience. Then I quit and after attending a 6-week CDL school I got a trucking job that almost doubled my previous salary.

 

I can't speak for tscottme, but I also came to trucking after flying for a living. For me, the money was part of it. But I think the bigger reason was the ratio between the number of available jobs and number of people who are qualified to do those jobs. This ratio is much more in your favor in trucking than it is in professional aviation. And that makes a big difference in your paycheck and in how you get treated by your company.

All these guys who like to complain about how poorly they're treated by their company ought to go work as a pro pilot for a few years. I like trucking because my boss does not expect me to come to his house on my day off and paint it - for free. My boss does not expect me to hang out in the garage after my shift for another 4 hours so I can make repairs to his car - for free. My boss does not expect me to go to his house after work and keep his lawn mowed, again, - for free. These were all things that I was expected to do as a part of my flying jobs. I could have said no, but that would not have been in my best interest if I wanted to remain employed. By comparison, every trucking boss I've ever had expected me to show up, drive the truck, deliver the loads and nothing more. And they all paid me much better than any of the flying jobs did.

Obviously not all flying jobs are that bad. But that low ratio of available jobs vs available pilots that I mentioned above means that no matter where you work, your boss will have a stack of 100 or more resumes on his desk at all times with 10 more showing up in the mail every day. And that leads to environment where lots of bosses adopt the philosophy that you hire a pilots and work them like a dog until they quit, then you hire another one. I won't say that attitude doesn't exist in trucking, but if it does, its much more rare to find.

 

May I ask what your previous salary was? Also how would you compare the smell of diesel for the two jobs?

 

I am a pretty good self taught welder, plumber, electrician, mechanic etc.

I worked mostly for 30 years on Pressure Washers (Steam Cleaners). Worked with my Uncle for almost 5 and the bottom dropped out.

Tried to get a job using my Ram 2500 for Hot Shot. Tried to get a job at the theater as a stage hand.

It was this or sweeping floors at a wood mill. I turned 50 in this truck.

 

I was a hands on custom cabinetmaker for 35 years,the last 10 spent mostly in sales and design meeting with homeowners who were getting a full on custom home built and I usually with their general contractors as well.
I'd draw kitchens etc. on a computer CAD program from the home's blueprints after an initial meeting with the homeowner to get a basic design idea together and the basics of what style of cabinetry they wanted.
Then we'd meet again and refine the plans to the customers needs,sometime this would take quite a few meetings to get things finalized considering all the variables like countertops,flooring,plumbing and electrical, and appliance models that have specific needs and dimensions to deal with.
Usually before getting that involved I'd have been to the jobsite and measured everything and gotten involved with the framers,plumbers,electricians etc. to make sure we were all on the same page.
High end custom work gets pretty involved,some of the jobs I've been involved with were as much as $200,000 worth of cabinetry in a single home.
I won't miss the stress involved with that job at all but it was sometimes a joy to see a project taken to fruition after months of hard work.
I took many jobs from blueprints to finish overseeing all phases of production.
Here's one I worked on that was nearing completion.

 

My first pilot job paid $19k/yr. After 3 years I had worked my way up to making $30k/yr. But that was salary which means I got $30k/yr whether I worked 1 hour per week or 100 hours per week. So as you can guess, 60 hour weeks were not uncommon. And the two days off per week that I was promised when I took the job never really seemed to materialize. Two days off every fortyfive or so was more like it.

I think the more interesting question is why would I want to compare the smell. But honestly I'm not sure what you're asking here.

Diesel isn't used in aviation although JetA is similar in composition and in smell. But the smell of the fuel isn't really a factor in either job since you're exposed to it for a such a small percentage of your time. Heck I worked for a while as an aircraft fueler where I came home every night smelling of JetA but even in that job, I wouldn't say the fuel smell was a huge issue.

 

I was a Paramedic for 10 years, I pity anyone working in low level government aka city/county. You have my sympathy.