Who should go into trucking?
#31
09-05-2007, 09:29 AM
Who should go into trucking? Here's my ideal situation. No wife, no kids, no pets (that you don't want to take with you), don't like time clocks or a boss looking over your shoulder, like seeing the country (above the rest).Don't mind heavy traffic ,or traffic jams, cold sandwiches or greasy food, or owning an satellite radio. Good luck
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#32
09-05-2007, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by golfhobo
The median annual earnings is just shy of $36,000. Are you saying that the median wage before 1980 was $54,000??? Prove it!
Competing with the Fast Food industry??? NOT!!! The trucking workforce has basically ALWAYS competed with the CONSTRUCTION industry for its workforce! The current driver shortage occurred in the LAST decade when payrates dropped BELOW that of construction workers.
The 22% national out of service rating for Class 8 vehicles is proof in the pudding enough for me.
Prove it!
In the last decade more Americans died in truck accidents than in the Vietnam War...225 per week and rising...the equivalent of an airline crash every seven days.
Close, but no cigar! First of all, the Vietnam War (full deployment years) did NOT last 10 years! So, this is a nonstarter comparison to begin with!
Secondly, the figures are about HALF that! I'll see if I can find the link, but THE TRUCKER magazine, Vol 20, No. 16 (last half of August) has an article with THIS headline:
"the number of people killed in fatal accidents involving lare trucks in 2005 was 5,240, compared with 4,995 in 2006."[/b]
#33
09-06-2007, 02:17 AM
Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug
Trucking is unskilled labor. So is fast food. Not hard to figure out.
In the last decade more Americans died in truck accidents than in the Vietnam War...225 per week and rising...the equivalent of an airline crash every seven days.
http://www.bts.gov/publications/nati...ble_02_04.html
First of all, The Trucker is an industry-sponsored publication. Second, one-year comparisons are silly. You need to look at data that stretches over 5-10 years to find a trend. Unfortunately, while there are year-over-year increases and decreases, the overall trend is toward MORE accidents.
1999 - 759 2000 - 754 2001 - 708 2002 - 689 2003 - 726 2004 - 761 So TWO (2) more truckers were killed in 2004 than were killed in 1999. It will be the year 7004 before your dream of seeing 11,700 truckers/year killed on the highway is realized. If your vision is that 11,700 people/year are killed including non-occupants, the news is even worse: 1999 - 5380 2000 - 5282 2001 - 5111 2002 - 4393 2003 - 5036 2004 - 5190 It just doesn't look like we'll ever get there. Sorry. :?
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Brang it On!
#36
09-09-2007, 08:55 AM
Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode
Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell and lookin' like he should If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck 'n' it's all right now, learned my lesson well You see, ya can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself
#37
09-09-2007, 04:54 PM
Originally Posted by Aligator
Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug
Trucking is unskilled labor. So is fast food. Not hard to figure out.
In the last decade more Americans died in truck accidents than in the Vietnam War...225 per week and rising...the equivalent of an airline crash every seven days.
http://www.bts.gov/publications/nati...ble_02_04.html
First of all, The Trucker is an industry-sponsored publication. Second, one-year comparisons are silly. You need to look at data that stretches over 5-10 years to find a trend. Unfortunately, while there are year-over-year increases and decreases, the overall trend is toward MORE accidents.
1999 - 759 2000 - 754 2001 - 708 2002 - 689 2003 - 726 2004 - 761 So TWO (2) more truckers were killed in 2004 than were killed in 1999. It will be the year 7004 before your dream of seeing 11,700 truckers/year killed on the highway is realized. If your vision is that 11,700 people/year are killed including non-occupants, the news is even worse: 1999 - 5380 2000 - 5282 2001 - 5111 2002 - 4393 2003 - 5036 2004 - 5190 It just doesn't look like we'll ever get there. Sorry. :? Sorry to have to be the one to break the news to everyone but......those numbers mean NOTHING without comparing them to the total number of drivers. I'm sure that by comparing the number killed per ??? # of drivers will make a strong case for things being safer than before because there are more drivers now than in 1999.
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#38
09-09-2007, 05:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Ridge Runner
Sorry to have to be the one to break the news to everyone but......those numbers mean NOTHING without comparing them to the total number of drivers. I'm sure that by comparing the number killed per ??? # of drivers will make a strong case for things being safer than before because there are more drivers now than in 1999.
You must also take into account the amount of 4-wheelers on the road in relation to the amount of trucks. There are other variables which must be taken into consideration as well before you can make a definite conclusion. Also, what most of you fail to understand is that one-third of all truck crashes go UNREPORTED to the FMCSA according to a report from the GAO: http://www.theconservativevoice.com/....html?id=10082 In 2003, large trucks made up 3 percent of the nation's registered vehicles, but they were involved in 11 percent of ALL fatal crashes. :shock: :shock:
#39
09-15-2007, 03:46 AM
I'll tell you why I'm going to do it. It's a way to get my debt paid off and put a lot of money in my savings account so I can come back home and pick up where I'm leaving off in my real estate career. I don't have a time frame of how long I'll be on the road, but it will be long enough to accomplish the goals I have in mind.
#40
09-15-2007, 04:43 AM
For what it's worth this was in the Friday USA Today comparing wages and such from 25 years ago.
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD CURRENT DOLLARS 1982 $19,074 2007 $48,201 INFLATION ADJUSTED 1982 $40,573 2007 $48,201 THE BUYING POWER OF ONE U.S. DOLLAR 1982 $1.00 2007 $.46 Pretty sobering stuff. When inflation is factored in, we as a nation of workers have only increased our wages $305 a year for the last 25 years.
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