[Bthere]

My husband just started, he's still with a trainer...I know everything will change once he's on his own, but in general, do you guys think that the money will be okay and it will be worth a dad being a driver and being away from home for 3 or 4 weeks at a time? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT, I don't want to go by what his company says! (They probably make it sound way too good!) Our biggest concern as a family was that I thought my husband would miss us and be too lonely while on the road, then I thought it would be too hard on the kids. My family made it through 3 weeks of school without dad being home, so it's working out okay so far, I seem to be the one having the hardest time adjusting! With both of us working we were used to living on about 1600 a month - but that wasn't getting us ahead at all - it was being very conservative, just to break even every month. He pays child support, approx $400 month, so do you guys think we are going to make more money with him driving a lot? I hope we aren't doing all this for nothing?? I hope he will at least be able to get around $3000 gross a month with coming home 1 time in 4 weeks?I just need someone to make me feel better! The bills are piling up from Christmas and the 3 weeks while he was in school! YIKES!

[Rev.Vassago]

Originally Posted by Bthere

Our biggest concern as a family was that I thought my husband would miss us and be too lonely while on the road, then I thought it would be too hard on the kids.

It will be VERY hard on the family.

I hope he will at least be able to get around $3000 gross a month with coming home 1 time in 4 weeks?

That is probably about average for an OTR job. When push comes to shove, he will be making about minimum wage for the hours he puts in (maybe a bit less).

But that doesn't change the fact that the family structure will suffer.

[sinclac]

Not worth it at all.

[shyykatt]

Prepare yourself- its gonna be tough, especially the first 2 years. Going through it right now w/my hubby, and most of the time it sucks, simply b/c they do not make the amount of $ they are told up front, and can even go a couple weeks + w/no money coming in at all. It definatly makes it hard to budget. Being apart does not help either.

[geeshock]

the money isn't the best in the beginning. as with other jobs you have to pay your dues and start from the bottom. you have to be in it for more than the money and realy have to have a strong relationship for it to last IMHO.

[Truckfam]

Now, don't get her too scared here. My husband has been a truck driver for about two years now. Training pay is the worst. You will need to suffer through this. If you can keep the bills reasonablly caught up, that is good.

My life is almost a worst case secnerio. My husband had two trainers in the first month. The first trainer back stabbed my husband and myself. The second trainer he got along with well. Pay was poor. Then he was out with his truck for two weeks. He did not get along with his dispatcher at all. I have seen a $400 pay check and a $160 in the bank. He did some newbie mistakes, and the company let him go.

He told me the company put three marks on his dac. I thought he actually got his dac report, he went by what the company said :roll: . A little time passes, and he gets a local job. It was steady pay of $525 a week gross, or $2100 a month. A year minus 2 days, and he gets fired. He got unemployment. We lived on $1050 a week plus foodstamps. We have three girls. He gets an odd job here and there through a temp agency.

A temp angecy hires him. A very good company. He has a steady job for one month. He made $806 gross and $744 net a week with a slip seat job. That temp job is over, and gets another job. He has an extremely bad day. The temp gets him another job the next day. He pulls just about the worst stupid mistake anyone could that doesn't involve a truck or fighting. The temp service fired him.

He promises never to do that again, and realizes his mistake now. Too late to say sorry after the fact. Idiot :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: He has no one else to blame but himself. Christmas and New Year.

He is talking to a recruiter that recruits for several trucking firms. The recruiter tells him that he only saw one thing on his dac from the first trucking company he worked with. This is where I found out he took the word of the company. :roll: I don't take the word of recruiters or companies at face value.

The recruiter is doing his best to get him into an OTR company. They are hoping by the 16th of the month. He will have to take a bus or a plane to get there. I pray nothing else goes wrong.

Remember during all of this I never went back to work. If I did, that would have given him an excuse not to find more work. We survived, through the grace of God and Jesus, we survived somehow. I'm just waiting for the next saga of my life to be revealed.

I imagine for you, your husband will go out with his trainer and do well. He will do well when he goes solo. If you don't have one yet, plan on getting two cell phones with unlimited mobile to mobile. It is a blessing.

I want to give you a heads up that I keep hearing all over these forums that this time of year is slow for freight. It will pick up later on. He may not get the miles he expects right now. It will be low pay. The pay will get better. Having two incomes will help also with over all finances.

Also, plan on alloting him $150 to $200 for food and expenses. He might want to take a plug in cooler that will run the entire time the truck is on. That way he can take some stuff for sandwhiches or other types of food that would need to go in a fridge, and would keep water and other drinks cold. My husband bought one at WalMart, and he said it almost froze the milk he had. The milk was starting to turn to ice in it when he went to drink it. It also kept cold for at least a day after unpluging it. I forget the what brand it was though. I tried to find out, but didn't have one on it anywhere.

Don't worry. I'm sure things will not get as bad for you as they were for me. I believe they will get better for you. When your husband does call, try your best to be there for him and just listen to him. Don't get upset at anything he says even if he happens to be angry for what ever reason.

[trckndadsangel]

The first few months to a year will be the hardest financially and it will also be hard on the family but it is only as hard as one makes it out to be. Just a few tips on keeping the bills down out on the road. Get him a fridge or cooler, things to cook with such as a lunch box cooker, crock pot, coffee pot ect. These things will cut down on the cost of eating at the truckstops every day and is healthier. Get the kids map and push pins to mark where Daddy is at each time he calls so that they can mark it on the map this will also help them learn geography at the same time. As for yourself if you have a hobby do that, take time for yourself once a week even if it is just taking a walk in the park. Keep yourself busy. Just stay positive with each other and be there for each other no matter what and things will be fine. That is just my own personal opinion.

[mightymouse]

I'm not sure how I will proceed in the future, but me and my girlfriend are all already frustrated by the lack of being able to see each other more often than a month to two months (She's in CA I'm based in TX). I guess I should just find a dedicated route or something that runs only in the SW with consistent home time. I know that when I have children I'm going to want to be around much more to raise them and be there for them for those moments when they need me to be there. I'm thinking I either need to get an office job in the industry or do local routes and hope I don't have to take too much of a pay cut when it's time.

Many people make this distance thing work though. I've talked to lots of happy couples on the road and several who do it one at home one on the road. Don't let the company give you any crap about home time. Companies are replaceable loved ones aren't.

[silvan]

Originally Posted by Bthere

My husband just started, he's still with a trainer...I know everything will change once he's on his own, but in general, do you guys think that the money will be okay and it will be worth a dad being a driver and being away from home for 3 or 4 weeks at a time?

So how's it working out so far?

This is a hard, hard thing to do, but you may not have any other options. I just went through the no other options thing all over again myself. I had been thinking about hanging it up, and then I got laid off. I spent six weeks trying out different ideas, and here I am back behind the wheel of a big truck again.

It really is the only way I have to come even remotely close to keeping up our standard of living. Going into any other job I can get--even as a multilingual computer geek, Linux desktop and computer music guru--means taking a 60-70% pay cut. I can't afford that, as much as I would like to be able to afford that.

It's just pathetic what people live on around here. Even all these office guys doing 9-5 aren't making what I do. People working in banks and (relatively) big skyscrapers aren't making what I do, and I'm not even making that much by national standards, or even trucking standards.

[DieselDog]

I understand how you feel. I began driving in 1978 and we raised 3 kids. I learned early to compare what I could make it the community I lived whether driving trucks or another industry to OTR. Often OTR won out hands down even when counting the extra days from home. I would see that after taking out commuting costs, need of an extra cer and inusrance, nedding to work part time elsewhere to match the income, I was better off OTR. Of course this was partly due to the fact my wife was a stay at home mom who home schooled our kids. So, all the pressure was on me for earning. There were also times when I was able to drive locally and make a very good living after adjusting for not having road expenses.

I do nor know where you live, but I recommend he look into driving for a company that offers to get drivers home weekends. Many flatbed companies do this now. I work for Maverick Transportation and they have been very good at this. I find I make the same as if OTR gone weeks at a time, since we often end up sitting for restarts 1 or 2 days anyway. This will give you both what you need in family time and earnings. Good Luck, be patient and be willing to make changes til you get the right fit.