Out of Trucking.

[Jumbo]

Maybe. But can you tell me another industry were you'd make the same money you were making 34 years ago? Before anyone calls me a liar, yes I still have my settlement sheets from 1975 where I was haulin for $1.50 per mile out of Cleveland OH. Now in 2009 I check the load boards daily and I see loads today going for alot less than I hauled for in 1975. Ain't that a shame? 34 years later and guys are runnin freight for less money than I did in 75'!!!



I'd rather work at something I enjoyed that paid better than driving a truck and living out of it but hey that's just me. And yes those jobs are out there if you got the right skills and education, which is why I tell younger folks to go to school. Trucking will always be around. Plus alot of the skill is gone from the job cause these days they got the computers telling em where to go, the automatic trannys, the electric logbooks, and the whole nine yards. I tell you, the rigs nowadays damn near drive themselves. I was readin in Popular Mechanics when I was on the crapper last week where they got these newfangled sensors that;s supposed to be able to back a truck into the dock. Ain't that somethin? You just get your setup then press a button and Robby the Robot puts the truck into the hole for ya'!

I suppose you also miss the days of looking for a payphone cause you had to make a call. When you were on the crapper last week did you wipe with a page from the Sears and Robuck catalog before you left the outhouse?

[Orangetxguy]

Maybe. But can you tell me another industry were you'd make the same money you were making 34 years ago? Before anyone calls me a liar, yes I still have my settlement sheets from 1975 where I was haulin for $1.50 per mile out of Cleveland OH. Now in 2009 I check the load boards daily and I see loads today going for alot less than I hauled for in 1975. Ain't that a shame? 34 years later and guys are runnin freight for less money than I did in 75'!!!



I'd rather work at something I enjoyed that paid better than driving a truck and living out of it but hey that's just me. And yes those jobs are out there if you got the right skills and education, which is why I tell younger folks to go to school. Trucking will always be around. Plus alot of the skill is gone from the job cause these days they got the computers telling em where to go, the automatic trannys, the electric logbooks, and the whole nine yards. I tell you, the rigs nowadays damn near drive themselves. I was readin in Popular Mechanics when I was on the crapper last week where they got these newfangled sensors that;s supposed to be able to back a truck into the dock. Ain't that somethin? You just get your setup then press a button and Robby the Robot puts the truck into the hole for ya'!

The rates are a huge problem. I have a manager and a dispatcher that think 90 cpm is an awesome income. OF COURSE........They keep looking at the HHG super short miles...and their paycheck is the same week in and week out, whether I make enough to pay the bills or not.


The load I just hauled to Memphis....Robby the Robot could not have backed a truck into either area. Blindside back into both. Narrow alley's in both, and the Memphis plant, just for kicks and giggles, once you had backed t the end of the alley, you had to pull forward and left into a narrower alley...where they unloaded the trailer...then you had to back out again.

No room for Robbie Robot errors. (chemical plants)

[bentstrider]

I suppose you also miss the days of looking for a payphone cause you had to make a call.

Off-topic, but I'm 25 and still remember having to use a payphone back in '02.
As far as I'm concerned, beepers and payphones were probably less intrusive than all the crap I see the noobs at the local college walking around with.
Bluetooth, Crackberry, dIephone, payphones locations are shrinking rather quickly now.

[Ridge Runner]

You need to find something that you enjoy doing for a career. Once you gain some experience you can earn an above average income in this business unless we are in a depression. This is not the only career where incomes have dropped in recent months. It should rebound, but will not come up much, if at all, until the economy improves. I would rather work at something that I enjoyed for a little less money than make more and dread going to work every day. There is no reason anyone who works at it should not be successful in this business. There are career's where you can make more and others where you can earn less. Find something you enjoy doing and the money will come.

You said a mouth full there GMAN. ( Just look at my "tag line" ).

I chose this industry even tho it was filled with problems. If you can solve the problems you stand to make good money. If you can solve someone else problem they will pay you well for it.

[GMAN]

I am glad that I am not the only one who feel that way, Ridge Runner.

[Phreddo]

I'll admit, i'd be fully lost without google maps on my phone, but that's because I left my atlas at home.
When I see these guys with handwritten directions, it just looks like people doing it the hard way for no good reason.
It used to drive me bonkers when I would go some new place, and my dispatcher would start giving me the street-level direction (three blocks, turn left at the hardee's...), and I would be like "just give me the address and I can find it." Half the time they couldn't produce that, so I would wind up having to either look it up or call the joint.

To me, this job is a lot of what you put into it. It's not for everyone, but I also think there are a lot of unrealistic expectations.

I have no desire to be a 25 year professional if I can help it, so I'm not concerned where the rates are going. And if I am in it for 25 years, I'll know not to be shocked when I don't get a raise. But if I wanted to play the rates game, then by that logic, shouldn't we be paying $10 a gallon for gas by now?

For the time being, I cannot find a better paying job that I can actually apply myself to. Trucking makes sense to me, and, like it or not, it's pretty much what I know best. So, for better or worse, this is pretty much where I belong.

Just hope my back holds up for the next, 20 years.....