Truck Driving Jobs

bcbasher · #11 12-19-2006, 02:18 AM

another route is to look at your local dairy delivery places. a lot of those guys run small pups and day cabs work decent hours and still bring home a decent pay check. the only down side is you will be required to move the mild and creamer by hand on a dolly off the truck and into the stores. also look at your local farmers is you have any in your area. a lot of those guys are really good to work for and treat you very well. i work for one and i tell you what hes the best guy i have worked for. will give me time off when ever i need it as long as i can give him some notice of course. keeps me as busy as i want to be or as slow as i want to be. yah i don't get paid the best but like i said i am VERY happy to work there.

also another route to look at is why drive OTR go to your local county garage and see if they need any drivers. yes you wont be driving a tractor trailer in most cases, you will usually be in a dump truck but its still driving and around here county an state workers get some damn good benefits and pay to boot.

derelict77 · #12 12-19-2006, 02:42 AM

I was ready to strangle my trainer after a month in the truck with him, and he was a prettty decent guy. The two things that hit me the hardest after settling into the otr groove were feeling as if I was working for free, and being away from home. Bite the bullet for a year if you really want to drive for a living and then start squeakin`, youll probably get oiled like I did.

Sans Argonauts · #13 12-19-2006, 04:03 AM

Good advice all the way around, Jimbo. I also blew diesel smoke for USA for two years, so know them backwards and forwards. IMHO, you're better off going with another company should you go back to driving.

However, since Family is the real reason why you got off the road, I think that what your heart.... as well as several of the other posters here... are telling you is that even if you do go back to THE ROAD, it won't be any better next time either. You are still going to miss them. Someone cue John Anderson's song "Wish I Could've Been There," would you? All you will be able to think about is the fact that they are back home wondering where you are, what you are doing, if you're safe or if you have taken that "final ride," and you are alone somewhere out there on the highway at two in the morning, tired, lonely, dirty, feeling behind-schedule at knowing you have another 300 miles to go to the delivery, and a thousand or more miles away from everyone and everything you care for.

I understand your need to make a living for your family, but you also have an obligation to your family simply by your continual and ongoing edifying PRESENCE to them both as a father and as a husband. That's a presence that you can't provide being home three or four days a month. In many ways, it's a kind of abdication of your role and responsibility both as a husband and as a father... ostensibly...and ironically to "provide for your family." I don't want to step on anyone's toes saying that. My hat is off to those myriad and many drivers who can and do make their family lives work when they are home just a few days a month, but... for me at least, I felt that my first duty was to being the guiding force in my family by my at-home presence and my moral example. So... I made the choice to leave THE ROAD for good.

Trucking, in and of itself, especially if it gets "in your blood," becomes for a married man like a mistress of sorts. You still love your wife and family, but, God help you, can't seem to stay away. It becomes one of those "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenarios. Except in this case, "the road" is the "other woman." I'd find another career field myself, friend. Or maybe try local if blowing diesel smoke and switching gears is really your passion. Although, having also been there and done that on my own attempts to spend more time with my family before leaving driving entirely, you'll find that driving local has its own problems as well. Yeah, maybe you're still sleeping in your own bed every night, but it's just for a couple of hours because you have to be 200 miles away for a 0700 delivery the next morning... even though you got back home at 2300 the night before from bumping docks and shuttling trailers around town all morning, afternoon, and early and late evening. But Hey! At least you're Local! You still get to "sleep" in your own bed at night. Also, expect a significant drop in pay from the pittance that you brought home while OTR. You'll find that "driving" a cash register at 7-11 actually pays more than many Local jobs.... and the hours are a helluva lot more regular. Or... bite the bullet and try to go the Dispatch route. At least then, you will be a lot better than 99.9% of Dispatchers in that you have actually seen the inside of a truck, much less actually hauled freight for pay with one.

I wish you luck, man. You're in a tough spot. I've been there myself, so I know. In the end, however, I decided to stay Home where I ultimately felt I could do the most good... not in simply earning a buck, but in being an active PRESENCE in my family. Aside from those admittedly not-uncommon moments in the years since out on the Interstates commuting to and from my regular 9-5 job when I'll pass by a "big truck" and feel that kind of wistful longing and yearn for those days of yore when I also blew diesel smoke for a living, I've never regretted it. I guess in a rather weird and arcane way, it's a bit like that scene from the film "Uncommon Valor" when the character Wilkes is asking the Colonel if he ever got over the bad memories of his wartime past, and the Colonel replies, "No, but you finally make friends with it." I guess the analogy that I'm trying to make is that once you leave the road for good, you never get over it.... but with time, you can "make friends with it." I have been able to watch my boy grow up. I've always been there for my wife when she has needed me. We get to pray together at the table every night before dinner. I think in the end that being a husband and a father first, and a wage-earner second, has to count for something more in the long run.

Just my two cents...

geomon · #14 12-19-2006, 04:31 AM

What a well stated reply!!! Children MUST always take priority and raising them well "usually" takes being there. Sure trying to get home for a birthday counts for something, but BEING there at that never forecasted moment when they need you most....is priceless! Now I said "usually" because there are always exceptions and well centered moral kids definitely come from truckers/military/shipping families....it just takes a lot more effort and work....and knowing you will miss those moments.

Anyways, very well said Sans Argo. By the way....what state (not of mind) does one find one's self in when one finds one's self "betwixt Colchis and Corinth"?

Sans Argonauts · #15 12-19-2006, 04:39 AM

Um... actually... both "Sans Argonauts"... and "betwixt Colchis and Corinth" are a play on my actual name. I always bugged my parents about why they saddled a child with such a tragic name. :lol:

http://www.mythweb.com/heroes/jason/index.html

:lol:

geomon · #16 12-19-2006, 04:48 AM

Ahhhh, THAT Corinth and THAT Jason...

A New American Tragedy:
CRE is the place where Jason and the Argonauts went to be conquered by the "Golden Fleece" agreement....

Sans Argonauts · #17 12-19-2006, 04:53 AM

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

By the way geomon, I agree 100% with what you said about the outstanding job that many military/trucking/shipping families do raising good kids. That makes them better parents than most. Hats off to Trucking (and also military/shipping) parents and the two-fold job that they do. 8)

neverbeenlate · #18 12-19-2006, 01:47 PM

I agree that the best course for you if you cannot find a local driving job is to forget abot driving. Find a job where you can be home every night. Do not miss your kids growing up--you can never never get that back. Your family comes first. Best of luck to you

Jimbo56 · #19 12-19-2006, 08:52 PM

I want to thank each of you for your sincere and honest comments. They were much more honest than what I expected. Most of you suggest that I totally give up the idea of OTR trucking in favor of a local driving job or find a job counting nuts and bolts somewhere. That's brutally honest and that's what I ask for. Perhaps your right. I do know that I always had a dream of driving a truck and it wasn't until the kids were finished high school that I had the opportunity and that's where I stumbled. Maybe it was too much "BJ and the Bear" or Claude Atkins in "Moving on", but I still have the dream. Local driving jobs seem only to look at multiple years of experience. Perhaps because those of you that have been on the road for a number of years are trying to get off and spend more time with your family. I wish you all the best. I'm not giving up yet, but your comments have opened my eyes a little wider. (I'm almost bug-eyed).

Thanks to all for your suggestions and Merry Christmas to all.

millersod215 · #20 12-19-2006, 09:41 PM

Hey Jimbo56, keep your head up man, just to let you know there is hope out there, i graduated from driving school when i was 19, and got a local job right out of the gate, and 4 years later i'm with the same company. I pull a flatbed in Florida hauling sod, and have a good time doing it. But I also was like you and thought OTR is what it was all cracked up to be, i tried it, and tried it again, and for good measure tried it one more time, all to find out it's not for me, it's no big deal if OTR isn't your gig, keep your eyes open, and i guarantee there's someone out there willing to give you a chance. I didn't take notice to where you live, but check in to excavating companies, paving, cement, etc. Someone will give you a chance, good thing for you is you're not 19 like i was, it was like pulling teeth for me to find a job, but i did. Your age will help you get on most insurances, so just look into it.