[PDXer]

I want to put a new twist to this old thread.

Why don't we want to scare the newbies away? Won't a shortage of drivers increase the wages because OTR companies will want to try harder to keep their drivers happy? I've been driving for 2 years now as a company driver and come January I will be driving my own truck (not a fleece/purchase), but with the pennies I've stashed away. I wouldn't mind an increase in per mile rates because drivers are at a premium.

[Dale Davenport]

I am financially jumping sideways getting into trucking. I believe i am a custom fit for the business. I like a lot of time by myself, my friends are not very important to me anymore, my last child left for college this year,
My wife wants to do this as a team with me. I don't think i would have succeeded at this 10 years ago. Those with small children are making a gut wrenching choice to provide financial resources to their families at the expenses of providing full time parenting to their kids. The world is not perfect. You do what you have to and try to stay happy doing it. I know that i could not have done it back then. But now it sounds like a good fit. I do have a concern about lack of exercise turning me even more blog like than i am.
Any OTR guys that exercise while on the road. It has got to be tough to drive 12 hours get out of a truck and go jogging.

[GMAN]

Dale, there are some who walk or jog around the truck stop, do isometrics or other exercises in the truck or take dumb bells with them for weight training. Most get their exercise walking back and forth to the buffet. :lol:

[homer]

:twisted: im just a rookie so i usually try to shut up and not cause too many accidents. try not to read too much big trucking company propaganda.after a couple years i quit the big company and got a day cab and a company that dont complain unless you crash

[choperbob]

good post, josh. been off-line for a while. this job is gettin better all the time. altho , you are right, being sorta anti social is a plus. 34 of went thru orientation 15 months ago. i am only 1 left. also being a chemically controled psycotic helps. noone in their right mind could live as i do. most of my meals are cooked in my truck. i got george forman grill, microwave, stockpot, and a refridge/freezer combo. also got a mr. coffee maker. seems like only human contact for 8 weeks at a time is with shippers/recvrs. or with cashiers. 2 days before turkeyday i met up with a friend from home who drives for another company. these kind of meetings are rare. luckily my gal comes out with me quite often. if you don't mind sleeping in places that smell of urine whenever it is not below freezing, eating over priced over cooked food, having a loving relationship over the phone, always using public showers and restrooms, when everything you buy is overpriced, where the customers have no respect for you, and always being on the watch for lot lizards and crackheads, eating and sleeping around the customers needs not yours, well this is a pretty good job. forgot to mention loneliness, solitude, low pay, road hazards, other drivers. yeah this is not so much a job as a way of life.

[yoopr]

Originally Posted by choperbob

good post, josh. been off-line for a while. this job is gettin better all the time. altho , you are right, being sorta anti social is a plus. 34 of went thru orientation 15 months ago. i am only 1 left. also being a chemically controled psycotic helps. noone in their right mind could live as i do. most of my meals are cooked in my truck. i got george forman grill, microwave, stockpot, and a refridge/freezer combo. also got a mr. coffee maker. seems like only human contact for 8 weeks at a time is with shippers/recvrs. or with cashiers. 2 days before turkeyday i met up with a friend from home who drives for another company. these kind of meetings are rare. luckily my gal comes out with me quite often. if you don't mind sleeping in places that smell of urine whenever it is not below freezing, eating over priced over cooked food, having a loving relationship over the phone, always using public showers and restrooms, when everything you buy is overpriced, where the customers have no respect for you, and always being on the watch for lot lizards and crackheads, eating and sleeping around the customers needs not yours, well this is a pretty good job. forgot to mention loneliness, solitude, low pay, road hazards, other drivers. yeah this is not so much a job as a way of life.

Was wondering where you were-Find a Ditch Somewhere? :P

[choperbob]

ops: :cry: nah. hadda help dig my mom's grave. spent time with dad. they were married 54 years. i lost my wife years ago, and as the oldest kid, it was sorta the right thing to do. good side was my company set me up to go there and spend another week with dad. he spent 25 years in usaf sar. 2 wars. and needed help getting squared away. i was able to be there for him like he was there for me. been spending time getting ready to move to tucumcari. finally decided on who i am gonna drive for next. also made the decision with dad's advice to buy my own tractor. yeah, is gonna be an older one. but with my tools and wrenching skills, i should be able to keep us rollin' and making a living. hardest part of buying a truck was deciding what i want to use it for. seems like detroit with 13 speed and mid roof will fill my needs for the next few years. where i been running lately there is no room in the ditches, all the flipped over on side spaces were take already. thank god. just luck not any skill yet on my part. by the way who lost their oil on 5/20 in new york? first time i ever saw the whole side of trailer trying to pass me. my seat still smells bad.

[gsherm]

Originally Posted by GMAN

There is no such thing as the PERFECT job. At least that I have seen. Not everyone likes a regular schedule such as working in an office. Many office workers take work home with them which is not paid. You can eat more healthy if you stay away from the buffet's while on the road. Some people seem to have a more healthy marriage when they spend time apart. Others don't make it. I have known of people on both sides. My wife and I have been married for more than 26 years. I have traveled most of the time we have been married and been away from home. When I travel now, she will usually go with me. You can miss family events even though you work at home. This is not a profession for everyone. Some people just can't cut it. You need to be able to manage your time and be flexible. Some people need a regular schedule because they cannot manage themselves or their time. There are those who will blow their entire paycheck in video games and gambling machines. These people have no self control. It has nothing to do with the profession. These people will have problems regardless of what they do for a living. This is a job, a profession and a lifestyle. This profession offers a higher level of income than many would be able to earn by staying home. It offers a college level income after only a few weeks of training. It can be difficult on relationships, but so can many other professions. I know a number of professionals who work in town and have not been able to make their marriage work. If you want to earn an above average income, you will make sacrifices. Everything we do in life is a trade off. If you want to work 9-5 you will probably not earn as much money as if you did something else, but you will be home every night. If you are in this profession and hate it, stop complaining and go do something else. Life is too short to work at something which you detest. Most of us who elect to do this for a living enjoy it. Many of us have a good education and experience outside of trucking. We don't do this because we can't do anything else. We do this because we enjoy it. Most people make a good living driving a truck. Some people will be miserable no matter what they do for a living.

Yes there is such a thing as the Perfect Job, ( Weather Man in San Diego or the Punter for The Indianapolis Colts :lol: :lol: :lol:

[clawHAMMER]

There are some REALLY great posts in this thread. I read through all 8 pages of them. Kudos to everyone who actually took the time to post their opinions, good or bad. But reading through them all I realized that what almost everyone had to say about the trucking biz was true; the good, the bad and the ugly. It's all right here in this thread. Any newbie can read this thread and take from it whats its worth - lots of nuggets of gold. Someone should put all these comments in this thread into an ebook and market it to newbies for $8.99 and donate all the proceeds to a charity.

Regardless of what anyone says or thinks, this IS a great country and you can do whatever you choose to do. The real bottom line is it all depends on your ATTITUDE. You can have a million dollar a year job (any pro athletes come to mind?) and still complain and not be happy no matter where you play. Guys/gals making tons less are perfectly happy in the same line of business because they enjoy what they do and are happy just to be in the position to like what they do and/or who they play for at the leagues minimum wage, whatever that may be. Why is that? Because they're passionate in what their doing and they have a good attitude. 2 key factors that the happy and content/successful professional truckers have that all the negative ones don't.

It is what it is. There is pro's and there are con's. Plenty of both. But if you have a good attitude, the con's don't seem so overwhelming on your bad trucking days and on your good trucking days you'll appreciate the simplier things like the sunshine, smooth roads, a hot shower, a good cooked meal and the wind at your back.


Your attitude will ALWAYS determine your latitude in life.
-Zig Ziglar

[Justruckin]

Originally Posted by clawHAMMER

Your attitude will ALWAYS determine your latitude in life.
-Zig Ziglar

Yep, that is it, attitude. Long story in how I got into trucking, no need to go there as it involved a woman, an attorney, the sheriff and a judge. I already did the military, so trucking was the next best thing to put a roof over my head and get out of town. A very long long story...

It took over ten long years to get the ex off of my back, and another six to rid myself of the friend of the court. But I figured awhile ago that trucking was all I had, so let's make the best of it.

I kept a positive attitude, stayed away from the CB rambos, and looked for jobs that would gain myself more then just a pay check. I wanted to learn about trucking, and that is what I did. Sure, I have had my ups and downs, but that is life.

I had four trucks up until awhile ago. The fees, taxes, insurance and my poor hiring and baby sitting skills, put an end to the multiple trucks.

Now I have one truck, one trailer and my own authority, that's enough. I hope to semi-retire in a few months. God willing the house, truck and trailer will be paid for. And me and the wife can do a little traveling in our new motorhome.

Trucking ain't that bad, it's not easy, but I have done worse. And it has ALWAYS provided me and my family an income. No matter what ever happened, I could always get a job driving, anywhere in this country I wanted to.

And that is what I told the guys and gals that worked for me, look at this job that I am giving you as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I would have liked to have seen them in their own trucks. But I guess it was bad advice, as most of them upgraded their lives to collecting unemployment and homelessness. Sad, but true.

I was told I was to nice and generous with my employees. I should have treated them like crap and things would have turned out different. And I have proof to base this assertion on. And now looking back, that is probably true. Go figure?

So far though, knock on wood, trucking has been very very good to me!