Another Gordon Knapp book:
Is Over the Road Trucking for You?
This one is dated 2003, and is a little newer than the one Okie mentioned. Knapp says that he wrote it in response to the "revolving door" nature of OTR trucking, to try and help newcomers understand what they are getting into. He spends a lot of time repeating himself; I think he does this to make sure he gets his points across. He emphasizes, many times, staying away from the owner-operator "lease" programs that some of the companies push, and he cautions you to be careful about selecting a school for your training. He talks, maybe too much, about how he thinks the industry should change to make things better for drivers. I agree with him, but I don't think most of the changes he envisions have much of a chance.
All in all, it seems to this wannabe driver to be a good look at the less attractive aspects of life on the road, and a book worth reading. But much of the same kind of discussion can be found here on this messageboard and the other trucking messageboards. I do think that anyone considering trucking should make themselves familiar with these things.
Another book is
Bumper-to-Bumper: A Complete Guide to Tractor Trailer Operations (4th edition, 2003)
This one is more "nuts and bolts" about trucking, covering the material one would find in a state CDL preparation book in considerably more detail than the CDL book, as well as aspects of trucking such as logbooks, trip planning, bills of lading/paperwork, taking care of yourself on the road, and finding a job. It is pretty much a textbook, and I would not be surprised if some trucking schools use it as one.
Unlike the Knapp book, it paints a rosy picture of trucking, perhaps unrealistically so. It is nonetheless an excellent book.
Like okie, I am in a place with an excellent public library. Here, there was only one little book on trucking, geared toward teenagers exploring careers. As many people as there are who go into trucking, it seems odd to me that a library would not have books on the subject.
Books on the industry
