I know many OTR drivers who deeply regret missing out on their children's best years. They all say they'd do it differently if they could turn back the clock and have another go.

Like the man said, OTR is a lifestyle. That's a nice way of saying that you eat, sleep, live and breathe in the big truck day in/day out - sometimes for weeks on end. Just not my cup o' tea as I prefer to have a life outside of and away from the truck. And now that I'm local, I work to live instead of living to work. I bring home just as much bacon as I did runnin' the road, plus I'm home everynight with weekends/holidays off. Ocasionally, I'll hitch up to a set of doubles just for $hits and giggles. But for the most part, I've hung up my OTR spurs for good.

Contrary to all the pissing/moaning on many of these sites, you can make top dollar AND keep them homefires burnin' in this biz. You've just got to figure a way to run LESS miles for MORE $$$. Not the other way around, like so many of these morons do.

[lifespalette]

Driver2b... sounds like your good to go......as you said SAFETY first in all things, if you're tired take a break....if you're fatigued an hour power nap works wonders, if there's ice on the road, you may have to put on the iron, if you're not comfortable with the conditions..... pull off...........later is always better than not at all. Ain't no load worth your life or anybody else's.

Frosty....you got that right. After 18 months I had my fill of OTR and I was still in the learning curve. Now I've got something that's a piece of cake, 3 - 4 trips per week, I get to sleep every night in my own bed and 3 - 4 days off per week....it's not making me rich, but then I didn't have to work when I went OTR either. No benefits, just straight fee per trip. Gives me something to do, helps out some friends who have a start up company and still allows me time to fish and play some golf. But even that may come to an end. My friends have been discussing putting myself or the other flex driver on a full time status. I've told them if they need a full time driver to give it to the other driver, he's younger, has a family, he needs it more than I do.... besides the last thing I want to do is being in a truck full time again.

Sitting here today, reading postings and putting in my two cents worth, I got a call from a local construction company that I had to worked with in the past on some design projects. They asked if I might be interested in a Sr. Project Manger position, no traveling, company truck, expense account and a very nice salary.........retirement ain't all you think it's going to be...... boring, is the word I'm thinking of. We'll see what comes of it on Thursday.

Anyways, I wish nothing but the best for those of you who are just getting into this business and the ones already out there, may you get whatever you're willing to bust your ass for. The business does suck in more ways than one......and still there ain't nothing like it. Be safe, be smart, be professional.

[golfhobo]

Well... I just read this whole thread for the first time (been gone OTR!)

I can't remember who said what that I wanted to "debate," so I'll just make a few general points. Take it for what it's worth - I'm no expert and haven't been driving my whole life.

1) AFF: It's too late now, but if you wanted to bring this post up every few months for the newbies, you COULD have found the original post yourself and BUMPED it. Then, we'd have ALL the responses in one place.

2) I think the original author clarified HIS position fairly well while just trying to point out ALL THE NEGATIVES of the business. Too bad he forgot to mention any GOOD points.

3) I guess I am also an exception to the rule. I'm not a young buck anymore, but I'm not married and have no family to consider. Doesn't mean I don't know a bit about it.

4) The problem with the job is not so much the work conditions, but the WORKERS. Americans have gotten TOO soft. No one wants to WORK anymore, or be away from Mama & the Rugrats. Based on what I read here, I expect in 20 years people will be turning down a million dollar job with all the bennies AND hometime, just because they MIGHT get dirty!

5) Reading all the whining here about hometime issues, backs up my point that, like in Israel and other countries, Americans would be well served by instituting a "mandatory" 2-4 year term in the Military for all persons after High School or College. You learn to break the apron strings, put up with inferior superiors, and what "commitment" to a job means. All you people trying to divide your income by every hour you are in the truck, should look at what that means we are paying our military. Yet, people gladly make a career out of that!

6) More marriages have broken up because a travelling salesman gets to party in a hotel lounge every night with all the local ladies and a bed available, expense account, etc., than because some trucker gets to sleep by himself in the berth on the side of the road.

7) Not ALL OTR jobs require weeks on the road with only a day or two off. If fewer newbies would sign on with these companies, their policies would change - immediately! And WHY must ALL of you want to drive SOLO? Being alone all the time is NOT healthy. Look into TEAM driving! I go coast to coast every week and get home every week for 2 days or more! The miles are great AND reliable! IMHO EVERY truck on the road should be a team operation. Freight would move faster, and there'd be less turnover due to more hometime!

Eight) I know at least WERNER is dying for people to drive a dedicated OTR run getting you home regularly AND getting the necessary OTR experience. Most of you don't give a dang about where you go anyway, so why not go to the same places day after day (boring) and get HOME??

9) REGIONAL companies count as OTR experience, and you get home more often than long haul, probably plenty of time to fight with the wife and kids!

10) If you want a local job driving a dump or whatever, you just MAY have to pay your dues in OTR for a year or so. Suck it up and DO it! If that's too hard to do, stay out of trucking! But, if you do it, and it's not too late for YOU, it MIGHT make a Man out of you. (see 4 & 5 above.) The Holy Grail don't come knocking on your door - you have to make the journey!

11) If you can't follow directions, and get lost all the time, it's obvious you've never been out of your little neck of the woods and it's probably too late for you to learn. You should have planned your LIFE better! Besides, you'll probably have problems dealing with people from other cultures, too.

12) If you think every road looks the same, and only the trees change, I feel sorry for you. You have no appreciation for the beauty of God's creation, and no interest in broadening your horizons. Stay home and stare at the walls of your cubicle, or screw a part onto another part on an assembly line 8 hours a day! And take your boring self home to Mama every night, sit in your favorite chair, and play with the remote control.

13) If, like one of my recent co-drivers, you think 10 hours is a LONG day.... stay out of trucking!

14) Same goes for if you're scared to death of "catching" something from a public toilet seat or shower. And stay away from public beaches!

15) If you get into trucking because it was a lifelong "dream," and don't do the research necessary to know what you're in for, you need to WAKE UP, and try making decisions when your eyes are OPEN.

Driving a truck is the easiest, most profitable job I've ever had. But, then, I screwed up and blew my chance at a college degree. Maybe not if you insist on dividing your paycheck by 24 hours a day, but that's ridiculous! My paycheck is BIGGER! That means bills paid, stress relieved, and self esteem.

Of course, I didn't have trouble passing a driving test when I was 16. I don't need a compass to tell me which way I'm heading. I eat BETTER at a truckstop buffet (or other places) than I do at home because I hate to cook. I don't have a problem subtracting 11 from 14. I'm not afraid of the dark or the unknown. And I don't get upset everytime something doesn't go as planned.

So... I guess I'm the EXCEPTION to the rule! In the Old West, there were farmers, storekeepers and cowboys. The first two should NEVER try trucking! Unless, of course, they feel they were miscast in life. A cowboy could sleep on the ground (even if rocky) be away from civilization for weeks, and knew that the cows didn't know what a timeclock was! If you ain't got no Cowboy in you, or can't suck it up and be one for a year or so to get that "cushy" local job, YOU will be part of the turnover rate.

Like I tell all the 4wheelers everyday (and the trucks governed WAY below the speed limit) LEAD, FOLLOW, or GET OUT OF MY WAY! I've got a job to do!

My favorite movie line was Tom Hanks in "A League Of Their Own," There's no CRYING in Baseball! IMHO, same goes for Trucking!
This ain't a job for WIMPS.

[Skywalker]

"golfhobo"..... You the man!!

I couldn't have said it better!!! I agree with 100% of what you said!!

[Goin Fer It]

Golfhobo, Skywalker

Thank you for your positive input. Funny thing about those who whine and complain is that they are not looking to do something else. And then there are those like this writer that complain but say I love it and would not do anything else.

No job is easy! Work never is and if it is too easy it is boring.

One thing my husband will be able to do is listen to ALL his football games this season! He is a big football fan and I am not. On the road he will have his Sirius hooked up.

He has a friend that is in trucking that said he is happier than pig in slop driving his truck. He went back into after he quit the company that both he and my husband worked for. He said it is far easier and less garbage to deal with and better money. Maybe these guys should go to that company and work at those jobs for a while. They would be singing a different tune about trucking.

So I am glad to hear that not everyone is so negative out there.

If these people hate their job so much they should quit and find something else instead of the continued complaining and whining about the industry.

Goin Fer It's Wife

[solo379]

I guess you are missing a whole point of this topic! :roll:
There is two sides, to every story, so the guy simply wanted to show you, not the bright one.
Has nothing to do with whining!
Whining, usualy starts, when you encounter someting, you were not ready to! :wink:

[Goin Fer It]

Originally Posted by solo379

I guess you are missing a whole point of this topic! :roll:
There is two sides, to every story, so the guy simply wanted to show you, not the bright one.
Has nothing to do with whining!
Whining, usually starts, when you encounter something, you were not ready to! :wink:

That is the point two sides and there was nothing positive at all. It was a very unbalanced piece put out to discourage newbies.

Goin Fer It's Wife

[Thankyou]

So....... as I start this proffession should I look at "ATTITUDE" as being a major player here? Seems thats what I'm reading? Not to worry, I got a good one of them

Thanks

[Rokk]

Originally Posted by Thankyou

So....... as I start this proffession should I look at "ATTITUDE" as being a major player here? Seems thats what I'm reading? Not to worry, I got a good one of them

Thanks

ATTITUDE !! is an extremely important part of this business. If you got a good one, you will succeed, if its a bad one or piss poor to say the least, you will fail miserably.

[golfhobo]

Originally Posted by solo379

I guess you are missing a whole point of this topic! :roll:
There is two sides, to every story, so the guy simply wanted to show you, not the bright one.
Has nothing to do with whining!
Whining, usualy starts, when you encounter someting, you were not ready to! :wink:

Sorry, Solo, but the day hasn't dawned where I missed seeing BOTH sides to a story! I'm a "centrist." I NEVER make an assumption or voice an opinion without considering both sides of the coin.

AFF posted this "diatribe" several time now, I'm sure with a pure heart just trying to help the newbies know what to expect. But, although the author SAYS he, himself, loves trucking, he is assuming that he knows what the outcome will be for ANY family man/woman who chooses trucking.... based, I believe, on what someone ELSE told him!

I guess I'm alot like this man. I have no family and am free to "suffer" whatever I want. But, I've BEEN married, and I know a little about what makes a marriage work (and more than some of you about what makes one fail.) And the number ONE killer is discontent! And the number ONE factor in a Man's self esteem is his JOB (or position in life.) Family life comes second, at best. [my father is a minister and has counseled MANY people about this. I've learned from HIS stories about others. And I trust HIS stories more than the one offered by this author.] And, of course, I have known my share of divorcees of both sexes.

This man, who says HE loves trucking, has taken the word of a few malcontents who didn't know how to manage their lives, and reported it as GOSPEL! Do you know the meaning of the word? I certainly do. And he is NOT a prophet! I'm sure he meant well, but he knew LITTLE of what he spoke!

I have NO problem with AFF or anyone else posting their own experiences about how trucking has ruined their life (although, I don't SEE that as it concerns AFF,) but I DO have a problem with people "warning" away the newbies who come here with horror stories that just might not apply to them!

If you've read MY posts, you will see that I have NO compuntion about telling WIMPS to stay away. I don't want them on my roads or blocking my way out of a parking lot. But, I won't tell a man/woman that this is NOT a good profession to enter, if he/she has the WILL, and an open mind.

As I said in another post, I believe MANY good men/women have taken the "easy" route into "computer jobs" because someone led them by the nosering. Many of them actually had to STUDY hard to get the math right! I doubt most of them "dreamed" as a child that they would sit in a cubicle and crunch numbers for a living! Others "drifted" into factory jobs, because that was what people DID in their small towns. And having NEVER BEEN anywhere else, they knew of nothing else!

These people have JUST as many "issues" with their marriages, and just as many divorces. Most of them end up paying child support instead of raising their children! The real TRUTH is, that the American family is in distress! You think trucking is gonna make that worse??

My contention is that IF a man/woman has a LITTLE bit of guts, and some independant thinking, and wants to know what "metal" they are made of... trucking is a good way to find out. And it pays BETTER than the average income. IT has its' downsides, and someone should point them out realistically, but this ChickenLittle "sky is falling" attitude has NO place on this forum.

Maybe CAD should make another subforum for "naysayers." Or a "sticky" about the downsides. I'm sure everyone will appreciate it. But, I suspect that newbies coming here are not SO naive as to believe this career doesn't have SOME family implications. Give the newbie some credit. They (should) know what will work for their family. And if they don't, they should be allowed to make their OWN mistakes. They can always get OUT of trucking if it's not for them. But, if we discourage them to the point that they never get IN, then we haven't done our job.

Not everyone in this world has a negative attitude about life. If they come here thinking that trucking is like first class passage on the Queen Mary, yes... they need to be set straight. But, if they come here after some introspection about who and what they are, and what they want, they should be given encouragement. Told the truth, yes. But, given encouragement.

Now... all of that is just MY opinion! But, at least it comes from personal experience, and I'll sign my NAME to it. AFF, (no offense Josh) sits there and posts this stuff while driving part-time in his retirement, on a CDL that he discourages others from getting, and sipping his mint juleps. Because he made his money from SALES, he forgets to mention how much money his CDL has contributed to his "retired" lifestyle.

Like my father keeps reminding me, my CDL is my "meal ticket." It doesn't really matter what I do with it right NOW. Just HAVING it, ensures that I will NEVER stand in an unemployment line again! Some of the people coming to this forum are facing JUST that, because of jobs being shipped overseas and other economic factors. Driving a truck may not be the BEST thing for their family, but I'll bet it beats being UNEMPLOYED!

If anyone on here thinks that being unemployed, but home with the kids, is better than bringing home a good paycheck after being gone for a week or two, you need to get that silver spoon out of your mouth! It's clouding your vision.

That's it. I'm done for now. Soapbox is open.

Hobo