Why do people say "don't be a trucker, go to college instead"?

My local state university graduates more Mass Communication degree holders every semester than there are people on local & national TV & radio across the nation.

 

Is it a million dollars over their lifetime or 17,500 every year, if it's both that's closer to 2 million over their lifetime.
From what I've seen you may earn that much more, but by the time you pay back student loans, live in an area you can use your degree, which is usually in someplace where the cost of living is higher, does it really end up in your bank account or somebody else's?

 

College is overrated as a now everyone is going to college so therefore a bachelor degrees is the new high school diploma. The wisest words I was told from an old guy was going to college will get ya a job, but investing in your self education will make you rich.

 

Here is my thoughts college for a doctor is about 8 years, $200000 than work intern for 2 years to be resident. Plus keeping up on certifications.

Modern independent owner op.
Buy a new truck every 4 or 5 years $150,000, and new trailer ever 10 years $30,000 to $70,000. Repairs cost money fuel costs money, tires cost money.
Trucking is never ending debt from finance now.
Good luck.

 

Another thing to think about is if you go to college and get a degree there are a lot of jobs that you can move laterally.

So if you're working in windshield and you've done it for a while and you have so much experience you can go get the completely different kind of job, say consulting or something like that, because the occupation itself gives you the opportunity to do different things with the same education.

Trucking is not like that. Being a driver does not prepare you for anything except to drive and if for some reason your medically disqualified or you just don't want to do it anymore what are you going to do?

I would always tell young person to go to college, but if they were adamant not to then I would tell them to go find a good union job as young as they possibly can save their money and they can retire at 45 or 50 years old with a pension and then go do something else they would like to do.

 

My state graduates about 8000 nurses or similar ratings, there is only a few hundred in AR that make it onto the State Board from LPN< CNA< RN (This is the big money shot, something like 60 a hour) and so on.

You wont believe how many thousands poke around college with frivilous BS like gender studies, finger painting or some other BS time and money sink courses that are worthless.

 

College degree holders may earn more over a lifetime, but that's not the same idea as having the college degree CAUSES your earnings to be more during a lifetime.

The degree is a consequence of people with certain habits & values. Those habits & values cause many things, like doing well in high school, not hanging out with criminals, making long-term decisions, etc. Imagine if the Federal govt awarded every high school graduate a Bachelor's Degree 4 years after high school, would national income jump by $1 million per graduate?.

The old statistic comes from days before it was possible to get a degree in Sports Marketing, Hospitality Management, Womyns Studies, Racial Grievance. State welfare agencies routinely pay for women on welfare to get a degree, sometimes a Master's Degree, in Social Work. Those people are professional Marxists and will only earn $40k/yr if they run Jesse Jackson-like extortion scheme on a business. Wearing turkey-hunting camo doesn't feed a family, it's what some people that feed their families do.

Get $80k in college debt and see if it's a millstone or launching pad.

 

About 90% of the people I know who went to college only went for 2 year trade school stuff and from their stories the only thing they did was go to parties, and the few I know who went to a 4 year don't use it. All you have to do is work on cars a couple years to know an automotive engineering degree would be a waste of time, you look at that bridge down in Florida designed by some engineering students, I don't recall what happened there but it fell down while under construction I beleive, and a building engineering degree from that place should be useless. I'd take somebody who's been doing the job for 4 years with no degree over somebody who's gone to school for it for 4 years and never actually applied their "knowledge" in the real world. A college degree does not make you an intelligent person.

 

I have actually gotten to where the body is no longer suitable for Tier One driving. I took a stab at college in IT only to learn my limitations and exceed other expectations and learned a few more useful things for myself. I learned enough to essentially provide all tech services right here at home for the wife and I without touching any outside tech service like the Best Buy Geek Squad for money. I build my own computers and do a very good job at that.

Just one little problem. A monkey can assemble a desktop and boot it. Everyone has gone into cell phones and apps. Way beyond what piddling little dab of doohickey parts going into a large box under the desk.

We both spent 46000 dollars doing this college thing, paid that off in 2013. Only took us 10 years. Absolute loss. Worthless 4 year degree and a burnt two year stab at mine.

Am I bitter? No. It's expensive and such a waste. The final payment stood at 26500 wired. Cash. Poof. What we did do is buy freedom from the thumb of student loans that restrict our ability to get disability, Social security, tax refunds etc. We are free.

What do I do now? Just a medical patient. A combative one within the ever increasing restrictions imposed by state laws, doctors and so on. I suppose I'll go out standing on my two feet swinging to fix medical problems where possible. I am actually waiting for a ruling from the State board to reclaim my CDL under the grandfathered rules but it will be under Tier two should I be granted the right to get it along with the written and vision etc. (No medical, no hazmat and a few other nos)

We'll see how this goes. I am literally working on the "What now" part as i go along. I try to do something good everyday.

 

If I remember about that bridge there was a failure in the structure that apparently cried out that's it is indeed coming down. All the kings men with their learned knowledge failed to act quickly to close that major road and so on. Down it went.

I agree with you. I can work on cars and have some training with that. I am certified (Rusted paper not worth the mold it has gathered since the mid 80's) how to align a car on the old school rack, do brake work non ABS systems and actually rebuild engines of the old pushrod and points type.

I could have taken that and gotten into some good mechanic stuff etc and who knows what that life would have been. Completely different that's for sure.

I also remember that when I was a boy standing in Baltimore Harbor, it's a working harbor surrounded by industry of all kinds. If I wanted to get 18 years old and go to work, Im traveling to the harbor and say mister application please, and even a Union at the docks talked with me about some seriously big time oppertunites.

But no. All of that is gone. Replaced by condos. And my own decision at 6 was to be a trucker. I was going to drive a big truck and that is that. Everyone laughed, patted me on the head saying aww how cute, deafie thinks he is a trucker. How nice. Then laugh and laugh for days. Insulting.

Anyway what i am driving at is simple. I had a life to live and how I lived. What a life it was and continues to be. I'll be sorry when the lord comes for me. But I hope to get a few loose ends taken care of before that day, I am in a race now.