What percentage of people make it

I don't know abot it being women, from what I have experienced men seem to whine and complain more than the women that drive, I am sure a lot of them don't make it either though. I know at least one woman swift driver that didn't but she didn't get the chance to quit either. lol

 

One thing to bear in mind is that local does not necessarily mean quality home time. Case in point I could have done local home every day but it would have meant working 14 hour days 6 days a week plus driving 30 minutes back and forth from and to home each way. So basically I would have been home just long enough to sleep and then go back to work. My one day off I would have been sleeping all day. I decided to do OTR even though I am out 25 days at a time. At least this way when I do come home I am home for 5-6 days and can actually be rested and have some quality time with the family.

 

true fact...when i had attended that truck driving school way back in the oxen cart days..??

one student drove in and parked his (yes) brand new BMW in the student parking lot.

when he heard of the hours worked, pay, long times from home, at coffee break time, he got in his BMW< and drove off, never to been seen again...

so yeah, that's another reason, rich boy thinking he was gonna get richer, driving a truck .....lol

 

i think i can respond to that like this...

being such one "older person" when i got behnd the wheel, we are/were from different generations of parents.

my late dad for example, actually worked, digging ditches, and other 'general labor" from the time he got married, till he retired.

back in HIS time, no man went job hopping, once hired someplace, they STAYED until they retired or died.

so that mind set, is ingrained in thier offsprings, which is why i was a wrencher for many years, THEN got into trcuking for nearly nearly triple the years as a wrencher.

people my age/generation just didn't continually switch out careers, but maybe switched out EMPLOYERS with in that industry.

todays youth ( i say from the 1980's to well, maybe now), what instant gratification and "participation trophies" for just being on this planet......

many simply DO NOT KNOW or care to know what work really is.......

 

My class in school started around 60. We lost a third right away (drug test), then the second third trickled out along the way for whatever reason. There were 20 or so at the end, and some failed the test the first time. I have no idea how many others stuck with it 16 years later, but considering how many people come up to me and say how they used to drive truck and got out of it for a variety of reasons, I'd guess maybe 15% actually stay in the profession long-term.

I myself was ready to quit around 13 years ago when I decided I was going to do something else if I couldn't find a local job. I have been in a day cab ever since.

 

Truckermania has a good point. I was always a regional driver, and I had friends OTR that got more rest than I did. Today with the silly HOS rules, drivers probably get too much rest, which is probably a good thing. With local stuff, every stop was a potential hassle, adding hours of non-driving time to the day. buddyd has a good point too. Nothing sacred today, people jump ship if the boss mentions about them being late. I've had more trucking jobs than I can remember, but it was always trucking. One thing for sure, it's going to get a lot worse, before it gets better, if ever. People just don't have those kind of morals like us or our parents. They don't have to. They aren't struggling like our parents did.

 

I started at 21 years old and I’m 50 now. Did a local gig for 3 years in the late 90’s. Other than that I’ve been OTR.

I still love it but maybe not quite as much as I used to. Like all of us know trucking is a double edged sword if you’re married with kids. I’ve been sad and lonely and happy as a clam.

I would like to think 50% stick around in trucking but I’m probably way off. I’ll keep doing it until I can’t pass my physical I guess. Lol. It’s been an interesting life for sure.

 

Probably because the road is one big sausagefest

 

That and it seems like this new breed sits behind the wheel thinking of all the stuff they can whine about.
Anybody that isn't a complete total screwup can make a living driving a truck, and it is readily apparent if a guy spends any ten minutes around a group of drivers.. I am not saying that there is not plenty to gripe about in this business, but I am talking about little things. I can't understand why somebody would stay in any profession that they are miserable or where they don't think they are treated right. Some gripe about life itself. lol

 

It really depends on you. If your in the habit of changing jobs and not sticking with it, you probably wont be able to cope with the demands, Yet if your a person that knows your going to pay the bills if you keep at it and dont mind being away from home? The job will be great.

Alas for me I have been out of the truck too long 10+ years. So now I need a refresher to get back in, unless I own. Yet to me, having a job that means I didnt need to drive home at night (IE bed is 8 feet away), is a real plus.