Whats wrong with trucking??

[Orangetxguy]

In answer to your original question....simply put: Some companies just SUCK! There are a number of them that fall into the group. But there are good ones out there.

One of the hardest things for new people to do is conform to the requirements. You are told when are where to be and how long you have to get there. Some people mistakenly think that they are in charge of the truck. In a few ways the driver is, but you have to do it on their terms. There are a significant number of people working in this industry, drivers, dispatchers, fleet managers, warehouse people, and others that seem to be psychologically unfit to do much more than live in a cave....and prove it on a daily basis. This is one industry where you can be fat, stupid, ugly and prove it daily and still get hired, and probably even keep your job. Let me repeat this one salient fact: Many people in this industry are fat, stupid, and ugly, and work very hard to prove it every day.

On the other hand, if you can get on with a reasonably good company, and get trained properly, and have a modicum of smarts, common sense, and self discipline.... and can stand to be away from home a couple of weeks at a time.... You might actually manage to cut it. Forget the notion that driving a truck is "romantic"...or that truck drivers are "the last cowboys"....thats all pure "bull****", pure and simple. Its a job, a means to make money, and thats all.

I've been doing it for 15 years, and have found my company and my niche. I'm content, and I get good home time, and I actually can and do run 100% legal and don't worry about much of anything....

Oh, there are also some very good and intelligent people working in the industry, some of them even post on this site.....

*sob* *sob* WAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!


Rob! You went and ruined it for me!! I no longer have any romance in my life!!

[Skywalker]

*sob* *sob* WAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!


Rob! You went and ruined it for me!! I no longer have any romance in my life!!

Stan, I apologize..... I didn't realize what I said was going to upset you so much..... Just do a Willy Nelson marathon and it'll all get better!

[Mackman]

Snowman just want to say that is a great post. One of the best i have read on here.

[Snowman7]

Thanks Mackman and everyone else. I was just babbling away there and I figured I would get flamed by someone. I never figured so many people would get what I was saying.

To Gula: What I posted is the ugly side to trucking and it's what drives so many away. That being said there are many of us who have found a way to get by in this business with some degree of happiness. Others are stuck in it and can't do anything else.

Just keep in mind there is no C. W. McCall's "Convoy", no BJ and the Bear, and no Smokey and the Bandit. It's just a JOB! And it can be a suckass JOB! And just like any other JOB you can have real dickhead for a boss! Or work for a scumbag ruthless company! Come on people spell it with me! JOB, ...J...O...B..., JOB!

[nctrucker1]

I can tell you that most all the trucking companies are looking out for the company, not the driver. The company I am with,now just decided that we, the drivers, would have to take a cut in pay in order for the company to survive. I would normally believe it in these bad economy times, but when you see the company buy new pickup truck for a supervisor to drive to work, I realize that we have been lied to and it stinks. I have been looking for a better local driving job, but they are extremely hard to find. In the meantime, we have to bring our own vaseline to work, cause they will screw you good. But the economy will get better at some point, and then I will be able to leave these crooks behind, hopefully, get my own truck. Wish me luck, I will need it.

[Syncrosonix]

I can tell you that most all the trucking companies are looking out for the company, not the driver. The company I am with,now just decided that we, the drivers, would have to take a cut in pay in order for the company to survive. I would normally believe it in these bad economy times, but when you see the company buy new pickup truck for a supervisor to drive to work, I realize that we have been lied to and it stinks. I have been looking for a better local driving job, but they are extremely hard to find. In the meantime, we have to bring our own vaseline to work, cause they will screw you good. But the economy will get better at some point, and then I will be able to leave these crooks behind, hopefully, get my own truck. Wish me luck, I will need it.

have you tried looking into england or prime's lease-purchase option? i know they're looking for some su...i mean, good people to jump on it.

[daniel hormann]

You say you have no game, thats the problem, it is a game, a game of life on companys that use you as a expendable comodity, we need get another live body in to that truck because it don't make money sitting in the parking lot.

[Hawkjr]

I can tell you that most all the trucking companies are looking out for the company, not the driver. The company I am with,now just decided that we, the drivers, would have to take a cut in pay in order for the company to survive. I would normally believe it in these bad economy times, but when you see the company buy new pickup truck for a supervisor to drive to work, I realize that we have been lied to and it stinks. I have been looking for a better local driving job, but they are extremely hard to find. In the meantime, we have to bring our own vaseline to work, cause they will screw you good. But the economy will get better at some point, and then I will be able to leave these crooks behind, hopefully, get my own truck. Wish me luck, I will need it.

Maybe its you!!!

[bentstrider]

In general, I think people just want to get too much out of life.

I say just set your sights low for awhile, then scope out things that begin to look appealing and go for it.
I'm going to stay committed towards getting back into driving only due to the fact that I know I won't last much longer doing the school thing.
Many students around here are pushing 4-6 classes a week, I tried that when I first gave college a try, and that bored me much more than a quiet trip across the 80 ever did.

I strive for the simple things, I'd much rather get the 2bdrm house with the 650 dual-sport, than the mansion with the Escalade.

[Biscuit Lips]

In general, I think people just want to get too much out of life.

I say just set your sights low for awhile, then scope out things that begin to look appealing and go for it.
I'm going to stay committed towards getting back into driving only due to the fact that I know I won't last much longer doing the school thing.
Many students around here are pushing 4-6 classes a week, I tried that when I first gave college a try, and that bored me much more than a quiet trip across the 80 ever did.

I strive for the simple things, I'd much rather get the 2bdrm house with the 650 dual-sport, than the mansion with the Escalade.

WOW , what a depressing post! Seriously, are you okay? Not trying to be a dick or anything, but maybe you should see about some sort of deppresion meds.

[bentstrider]

WOW , what a depressing post! Seriously, are you okay? Not trying to be a dick or anything, but maybe you should see about some sort of deppresion meds.

Medicine doesn't help anyone and most doctors are quacks anyway, you probably own stock in a drug company though so that's understandable.

If I am depressed, maybe it's just because the thought of dealing with school(something I hate) is bringing it on.
School may make other people happy, but as I said before, after high school was finished I didn't want to see another 10 page assignment again.

[matcat]

Medicine doesn't help anyone and most doctors are quacks anyway, you probably own stock in a drug company though so that's understandable.

If I am depressed, maybe it's just because the thought of dealing with school(something I hate) is bringing it on.
School may make other people happy, but as I said before, after high school was finished I didn't want to see another 10 page assignment again.

The most successful people in life demand only the best, reguardless of how much they actually want it, and they don't let anything stop them, including bordem!

There is nothing wrong with being content with the simple needs being met, but without a hope for something better, even if it is only a slight hope, life will be meaningless and empty for you.

As an optimist, I have to agree with Biscuit, that post looked like something Marvin the robot from Hitchikers guide to the galaxy would write

I do understand though that school can be boring.

Growing up my dream was always to be a computer programmer, and you know what, that dream consumed my life up until I was 21 and I achieved that goal and became a professional one. I had a good job, making enough money to live pretty comfortably.

However that dream was conflicting with my desire for travel and a sense of adventure. I could of stayed in that profession until I saved up my money, and I retired and could of bought an RV and did that. However Sitting in my office in a warehouse off of I81 in PA and looking out the window and watching all the rigs drive by on the mountain in Wilkes Barre, that traveling dream started to consume me more and more.

I could of been content and stayed in that profession. But I strived to achieve something better for myself in life. I know some out there would say staying in that profession would of been better for me, and in reality it would most certainly be a more stable industry to work in. But the reality is that the money is pretty much the same (It wasn't about the money anyway), and it was a way to get paid to travel America and sometimes Canada.

I think I could of done much better then to go with Swift, and looking back at my start in my career, I wish I had started differently. But I don't regret how I started either. Once I had that accident with swift and they let me go, I had done the OTR thing for 7 months. I knew it was the lifestyle that I really liked, that I really fit into, and that I wanted to continue doing. It surely wasn't my childhood dream, but I already did my childhood dream and realized it wasn't everything I thought it would be. But I was trully happy living in the rig and traveling the country.

It took me a year to get back to driving after Swift let me go, everyone knows how tough this industry is, espially if you get a blow such as a rear ender with a following too close ticket, it is pretty much a career ender in this industry. For nearly 6 months I applied to nearly every single large company, I sent emails to every single trucking company in 6 different states! (That is literally over 20,000 companies I emailed). After 6 months I got burnt from sending emails, putting in apps, and being told no. But I certainly did not give up. I refused to not be able to get back into a truck, and every single possible lead I followed. Eventually one of those leads put me right back into a truck, it just took me a year to do it.

I learned from my mistake, the biggest lesson I learned is that you never let yourself get comfortable with your rig! The moment you get comfortable, is the moment you screw up.

But the whole point is, you do what you must to get by, but at the same time you do what you can to achieve the goals you have, and strive for your dreams and aspirations. You can do anything and achieve anything if you work at it.

[bentstrider]

Well, I did put in 13 months with Swift, then after 8 months I was able to get with this O/O in June of '08.
Stayed with them until January of this year when expenses caused the guy to shut the trucks down and put myself out of work.
So now, I'm just wondering if that 7 months of post-accident driving will be worth anything, along with the 13 I put in with Swift.

After driving a truck for that amount of time, I felt more comfortable working by myself, as opposed to being surrounded by associates all the time.
And as far as my opposition to school, I just don't want to become some office worker employed in some fast-moving city like most people my age aspire to be.

Now, as far as my life feeling empty, not at this moment.
Sure, no trucking job right now and I'm not in law-enforcement or emergency services.
I'm just glad I don't have a wife or kids to bother with right now, hell, not being held back by those types of burdens makes me feel better about myself all the time.

If anything, I should just thrust that thought to the front of my head whenever a truck rolls by.

[matcat]

Some of the bigger companies will hire you as long as you have atleast 6 months clean driving