Why not drive a truck?

all the best to you scott. I look forward to pushing a coffee cup around a countertop with some of you all in the future.

 

That's pretty rare any more. Although some of us did tonite here in Mt. Vernon Texas. It was pretty cool laughing at the girl getting on the loud speaker telling people to move they trucks lol.

 

nothing glamorus about otr how about the traffic the hrs at shippers and recvrs the wait for showers and the lines at the fuel pumps the crappy food at the pilots the chaining in bad weather dispatch saying its only 2 inches on the mao??? cmon man give me a bud lite doesnt get better then this signed a lifer

 

wore out, if you had tooth picks you could not stop driving.

 

You are right but it's sounds cool with the two stick cow truck theme lol

 

The hardest part of doing otr is being away from family. One thing no one ever teaches you in training is that just because you are on the road your friends and families lives dont stop. People get sick, or pass on, or get tickets to a ballgame on short notice and want to go, but cant because you are a thousand miles away. That being said I was a school teacher and worked in an office for ten years. Nothing beats this. My wife rides with me so I dont have to worry about her being home and something breaking etc. I am looking to go local because Im 33 shes 29 and we are trying to start a family.

Please understand truck driving, especially otr is not just some job. Its a lifestyle. You live, eat, and breathe trucking. You have to want this to do it. If you approach it as just some job you will fail miseribly. It sounds like you have the right attitude for wanting to do this. I did this to fulfill a dream and fell in love with it. Even driving local will help me to live out my dream. I guess I am just never grew up because I still love to play with trucks. Good luck on your decision.

 

You have these people around that feel like they DESERVE something for nothing, that they re entitled to a good wage and respect. They talk to a slick talking recruiter and get that big sunshine injection in the rear, and they sign up for trucking. Then they sign on with a POS company to drive a POS truck that was set up by a moron to be driven by a moron. The clincher is, they put two drivers in the truck. So, not only do you feel like a moron, you're bunking with someone just like you...hates his life, feels entitled. So you both sit there and complain and hope that one day the number one enemy of the whole industry, the guvment, does something to make things better for morons.

Life is what you make it. I'm like C-town...I like roaming all of North America. I love my truck, love my job, love the freight, love that open road. Yeah, I was a company schmuck just like a lot of you, but that was a temporary gig. I wanted my own truck. Mine. Not a truck spec'd out by some college educated non driving beancounting idiot who can't do your job, but thinks he knows how a truck should perform. Makes a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge difference! The vast majority of guys I rub elbows with are owner ops too, be it tanker yanker, car hauler, cattle baron, or doorslammer.

And like C-Town, I go home when I want to and stay home for a month at a time. If you don't like your lot in life, why don't YOU do something to change it. If you're one of those people that are unhappy in a truck, or your current situation, and you're not doing anything to change it, you are a LOSER. how do you expect better, or deserve better, when you are unwilling to do anything for yourself? You complain about the smell of poop, but are unwilling to wipe because it's 'too much work.'

 

I'm not one to discourage you but you did ask "why not drive a truck".

Well, I haven't read all the replies, and yes there is lack of home time and all that stuff has no doubt been covered, but IMO something that doesn't get talked about is you're always one accident or ticket away from ending your "career." Even if that accident or ticket is in your car. Lose your DL and you are DONE. You may find yourself spending several hundred a year defending yourself against a ticket that you may have simply paid if you weren't a driver. There are very few jobs out there that penalize you for an honest mistake on your personal time but trucking is one.

The odds are stacked overwhelmingly against you "finishing out your working years in a truck". You can't do things other people do...even smoking a joint on the weekend with your buddies can end your career. You may find yourself starting over again at age 50 or thereabouts. So then you retrain yourself again and start at the bottom of another field when you could have been in that field already with 4-5 yrs experience.

To have a career as a professional driver you must strive for perfection every day. You must drive every mile as though an accident is about to happen in front of you. You must inspect your equipment as though you will have a DOT inspection every day and that means fixing stuff yourself...in the cold and in the dark. If you ain't one of the .1% that can maintain that attitude EVERY DAY FOR DECADES, then you will likely become another failed truck driver. No shame in that.

It ain't easy being perfect.

 

I wasn't referring to you, I was referring to all the people who tell you how horrible trucking is.

If they are so unhappy about their lot in life, why not do something else? Scott my man, best of luck to you. Do your thing. Hit the road. Enjoy the hell out of it. I do. I still do.