Women Who are Married to a Trucker

I personally think Big Don has given you great advice.

I have two brothers and they both were drivers. One had two divorces and both marriages had severe problems due to his being gone so much. His third wife was a great woman and shortly after their marriage he came off the road. It made a big difference. They were joyfully married until her death.

My second brother went into trucking after a divorce. He met and married a very independent woman who was able to handle a life where he was gone a lot. Also most of the time he was trucking he worked for Wal-Mart as a 7 day on-7day off man so he was home every other week. It helped greatly. They're still happily married after 30+ years.

Both successful marriages were between older, mature people.

I hope for happiness and joy for you both.

 

once again...............some great advice up there, I just wish I had the time sitting at the shipper to write it too!!!! lol

 

I will tell you the same as I have told my sons at your age. ARE YOU NUTS. Your way to young to get married, You need to spend your 20's sowing your proverbially wild oats, seeing the world, figuring out what your going to do with the rest of your life, not getting married right now. If she wont wait she is not the right one anyway. First problem Solved.

Second problem get your education, first. The if you want to truck, then rock on. But get at least a BA or BS in general business at least then you will have a good foundation to build on.

 

If your estimates on your pay are accurate then you will make $78,000 to $130,000 per year. This is a very VERY good wage for a driver. I would assume that you are living at home so go work for this guy for 1 year and make the big money and bank it all. After 1 year you and your future bride will have a much better understanding of the job and if it does not suit you, at least you will have a nice bank account to carry you to the next job. If the job does work out, find a good tax shelter.

 

With that kind of money at the end of the year invest a little while you have it in your retirement! You have no bills yet I hope and if you can hold off on the marriage dealio you can bank way more as long as you don't get like most young ones do and let it burn holes in your pockets and buy all the toys you think you need! Go for a Roth NOW! pay it and then the minimum each year and you'll have over 4 million dollars when you retire! SCREW a 401k! They take hits way to often! A CD can also do good! But put the max down on it and pay the yearly or monthly (depending how you set it up) and you'll be one set up kid! You'll be doing what more than half of the world hasn't done. Get ready for retirement!

But Do as the other guy said! WAIT to get married! The divorce rate of "children" is terrible and of course there is the "sharing" of what YOU own with her! Women in the NE fare better than the men do! Be carefull, very very careful getting married this young! Divorce sucks! It really really sucks! Well for you it will! The old song She's goth the gold mine you got the shaft has a lot of truth in it!

 

Plenty of good advice on here. As a driver's wife, I have actually been on three sides of this fence. How can that be? There are only two sides to a fence.

I am the daughter of a driver. Did not know my father while I was growing up, but that was due to the fact that he and my mother divorced by time I was two and mom would not let me see my dad. Have since corrected that issue. Get along great with my dad, and have discovered why certain things I did and my food likes and dislikes drove my mom nuts when I was a kid . . . I am daddy's girl.

I am a retired driver myself, and drove a few years back in the late 90's before my hubby started driving back in 2007. There are the three sides of the fence thingy clarified. It is a difficult life to get use to. Especially for someone only in their 20's. Be sure to talk about it between the two of you a lot. How does she really feel about you being gone so long? How able is she to take care of things like getting the oil changed in the car, dealing with getting the car fixed, taking care of things around the house/apartment on her own, etc?

My hubby and I have been through so many ups and downs over the almost 16 years we have been married, that the separation of the trucking industry was nothing compared to some of the other stuff we have been through. I still cried the first time he took off for orientation and heading out in his truck with his trainer. I actually managed to be home for our son's first day of school 10 years ago. He missed my 18 year-old son's high school graduation this year, but was home for his Eagle Scout Ceremony last December. Important events will be missed no matter how hard your dispatcher tries. Christmas is at the mercy of the dispatcher/loads. We learn to adapt. Cell phones make communication much easier.

Think it over, talk between the two of you, and make the best decision for both of you.

 

Ding, Ding! Couldn't have said it better myself......Don't listen to ANYONE telling you that there is "no money" to be made in trucking these days because there is PLENTY as you've already found out. The catch is you have to be willing to accept the lifestyle, which alot of people complaing aren't. I'm in the same boat as you, which is why I quoted "PAYTOPLA." I'm 25, would LOVE to have a girlfriend/potential wife, party with my friends on the weekends, update my Facebook with concert/vacation/family function pictures, and all that Jazz, but in order to be successful in this business you have to make sacrifices....and unfortunately, those are the primary ones that must be dealt. This is the thing about it, as I touch more on what PAYTOPLA said. You're young, can live at home, not have a car note, any bills, etc. So outside of cell phone bill, internet (not a necessity), food, and maybe a couple other very minimal items, you're in the business of banking some serious cash over the course of just a year. If your girl is at all worth it, she'll be willing to sacrafice as well for atleast a year in which case if things aren't working out guess what? You have a substantial sum of money in the bank, enough to learn a new trade, buy a vehicle or make a down payment on a house, while also supporting yourself in the process. I may be a "newbie" , but I have alot of successful truck drivers in my family. Personally, after seeing the % of ppl on these boards who have been married and divorced I've choose to hold off for now. I'm not sure what kind of outfit you're gonna be driving for but mine is going to be OTR, 3000-35000mi a week, home very seldomly, in which if I did this for the rest of my life, I would NEVER get married. But I plan on doing this for a couple years, making a monthly visit to my parents basement, banking all my cash, reading my bible and by 28 going to Air Traffic Control school (was previously a pilot, made 17k # $24/hr # on about 3 45minute flights a day and was never home so trucking made sense) so that I can maintain this income while also having a family. There's no shortage of women waiting for their man to get out of the Army and even Jail alike these days, so who says they can't wait for a Trucker that they atleast get to see once or twice a month? You both get out of it, what you put into it and you have to maintain a gameplan. And remember at worst if it doesn't work out atleast you're not wondering it for the rest of your life and, you'll have enough saved to learn a trade (something specific such as Medical, Legal, Aviation, Engineering, not business or communications) and trust me, NO WOMEN is going to complain about a man having +70k in the bank. Hell most of the 25yr olds I know don't even have a couple hundred in the bank these days.

I've been browsing this site for about 6mts while becoming a driver, and if its one thing I can tell you, its that you've come to a place of some very knowledgeable people who have been there and done that, and all have some very useful information to people such as ourselves who may have questions we feel important. Best of luck to you mate!

 

It's time we heard from this lucky lady! let her read this also and maybe ask her question. You both have a long time to live! Don't spend some of it thinking "what if!"

 

I got married at the age of 20 to a 21 year old girl I knew for three days !!! I started trucking at 21.

I am now 50 years old and still married and still trucking!

Some stay married and some don't. Some are truck drivers and most aren't.

 

And you're one who lives by a vow which is hard to fine these days!