[redsfan]

I'll stick to my guns that it's all in what you make of it. Trucking is not the only industry where one spouse and/or parent is gone for long periods of time. There are many folks in sales who are gone all week and only home on weekends. Then, of course, there are military families where Mom or Dad may be gone for several months at a time. Then take into account all of the families where one of the dynamic duo works 2nd shift. Sure there home every day, but that's in the AM when the kids are at school and the other spouse may be at work so they still only have family time on weekends. IMO, none of this should ever break up a strong marriage. If she/he leaves or cheats just because you aren't home enough or if he/she is unwilling to give up any occupation to save the marriage, then the marriage probably wasn't going to last long anyway.

As for missing your child's events, that's a given. I can tell you that I've coached baseball for years and even when your dealing with two parents who both work the dayshift and are home by late afternoon, I have never been through a season where both parents made it to every game. Then factor in when you have more than one child, the chances of both parents making it to every event is impossible.

It's a good post and I agree with what your are saying, but to those who claim it will kill your marriage and your kids won't know you, I call BS. It certainly doesn't have to be that way at all.

[Piece Of Work]

For me trucking is a means to an end, my wife agrees with me that there will come a day when I come off the road. But we don't know when that day is though.

[choperbob]

too bad that so many new drivers don't get this info before they sign on as otr drivers. this job can be tough on any relationship. my bros in the club understand, that is why i still have my colors. my gal loves me and knew before hand what i was about, whew!!! phone sex is more common than real stuff. home cooked meals get eaten up in the first week out. my gal makes sure i always have a few steaks bagged up for my freezer so when i pass thru home i can load my freezer and have a quick home cooked meal before hitting the road again. i spent 4 weeks out and went home for 4 hours. we had dinner together{candellite} washed my clothes, did the bills, walked the neighborhood holding hands and even had time for a quick nap together. then now i am out here again for who knows how long. such is the life i am living. i had to fit in 4 hrs what most folks do everyday and don't think anything of it into my quick trip 200 miles out of route just to touch base with home. yeah i can go home every 3 weeks for 3 days, but my gal is backing my decision to pay off this truck in record time. she is a true truckers wife.

[Joethemechanic]

Originally Posted by choperbob

t my bros in the club understand, that is why i still have my colors.

??????????? You belong to a MC with a real 3 piece pach on your cutoff, and the best thing you can find to make money is a L/P with John Christner?????

Are things that bad up your way?

[choperbob]

yupper, each of us bros gotta do what we can do. i been clean and sober for a few years and my bros respect this. also driving a truck is my choice. i love it. i am doing something i have wanted to do for many years. either ya love it or it is just another stinking job. man, i'm having a blast and even making a few bucks. don't knock it till you walked in my shoes, bro. please.

[stshores24]

Originally Posted by choperbob

too bad that so many new drivers don't get this info before they sign on as otr drivers.

That's why I'm glad this forum is here...I've already collected some valuable advice.

This is my first post. I'm still weighing out whether I want to become a trucker, especially an OTR one, but it's the only thing I can find where one can make a significant amount of money without four years more college (for which I don't have the time or money). Plus it's something that I would really enjoy. I LOVE long road trips, seeing the country, and living on the road, and I have wanted to be a truck driver since I was a little boy.

I think what I'm going to do is get on with a good company that is willing to send me through training for free (in exchange for a year of service) and bust my butt, trying to work as many loads as I can, and try to get home as often as possible. We would have to sacrifice family time, of course, and I will miss that, believe me I will, but I think after 2-3 years experience I would be able to bring in much more money than I could in this dead-end, thankless help desk job. And I'd be SO much happier.

There are ways of being 'virtually' home...webcams, cell phones, and so forth, and my oldest daughter could go with me on runs in the summer. So it's not all bad. My wife's behind me, and while my kids will miss me mightily (and I will miss them SO much more), I need to do what is right for my family. We have been in financial trouble for years, and I have to do something now.

Sorry for the long post...

[choperbob]

there are other ways of getting a cdl than indenturing yourself to a company. try vocational education, state unemployment office, trade schools. usually financial aid is available thru them. also most truck driving schools offer financing. then you can pick a better class of employer. most reputable companies will pay your school bill if you stay with them a year. and you will not be stuck indentured to any paticular company. i don't know what money you are expecting to earn as a new driver, but, i was fortunate to start with a good company for my first year. i earned about $32,000 gross. sounds good? to me it was, but, i also spent quite a bit of that learning to live out here. also bought stuff like a micro wave, inverter, cb, fridge, sat radio, tools, and the list grows. so my real income was only about 2/3 of that then taxes came out. altho if you have kids you might just get a good tax return like i did.
not every family can take the stress of the dad/husband never being home. can your wife deal with you car breaking down? better get her a.a.a. primier. can she deal with a stopped up toilet? you won't be there when stuff breaks at home. she will call and you can't answer because of traffic.
altho there are lots of us guys out here who are making it. look at the turnover rate for this industry. it is high. i think those that do not make it are not quitters, but, they found spending the time with their families is more important than this job.
sleeping at the shippers dock for 4 hours, driving 8, sleeping 2, driving 3 just to be able to fuel to match the log book, then driving 6 more, napping 2, driving 12, fueling, napping 2 driving 6, sleeping 3 at reciever and then trying to make the log book work. day in and day out. think long and hard if you want to give up family life for less than what a carpenter makes.

[Ian Williams]

Originally Posted by choperbob

there are other ways of getting a cdl than indenturing yourself to a company. try vocational education, state unemployment office, trade schools. usually financial aid is available thru them. also most truck driving schools offer financing. then you can pick a better class of employer. most reputable companies will pay your school bill if you stay with them a year. and you will not be stuck indentured to any paticular company.

Well said.

I got my CDL from Con-Way in exchange for working the dock for 4 months.

There is life in trucking beyond OTR. In many places you can find daycab work in LTL, Dirt, Foodservice, Beverage , etc etc. You don't have to be out 2-3 weeks at a time to make a living driving. I work about 8hrs/day doing local driving and dock work and I'll earn ~38-40k this year.

[Darin Younce]

I will tell you what seems to happen to a lot of newbies ( at least me a several others I have been around. You see a big ad in the paper or on the side of a truck that says something like " Start a new Career , get your CDL" . The next thing you do is go home and say Honey , Ive got a great Idea , No more dragging shingles up a 12/ 12 pitch roof, no more
pouring footers in 100 degree heat , no more standing behind a counter
saying , Biggie size , I am going to get my CDL and be a trucker and make 50+ thousand dollars a year in my first year. The wife says OH boy , that sounds great. So you go to the local CDL training school , lay down thousands of dollars and your in. Now the CDL class gets you thru the permit test and sticks you in a wornout Freightliner with a 10 speed
and you commence to grinding gears for a couple of weeks till you are only gringing one out of perhaps every 4 shifts . You go to take the road test and nervously pass the road test and get you CDL. BAM, you are a trucker for sure, ready to set the highway on fire. Now you search and search through hundreds of online trucking company ads looking for the perfect ad , you know the one that will hire you with zero experience
and get you home every night . Or you have had several recruiters come thru the school and you pick the flatbed company because you know you are going to be home at least every weekend. Now you go to said company and find out during orientation that you are not guarenteed to be home everyweek but they will try to get you thru your home for
at best a 34 restart . By now you have talked to several truckers ( Professional drivers) and find out about life on the road will really be.
Crowded truck stops, tight parking , crappy food, big steel mills, backing across a 4 lane highway to get into them , logbooks , weight stations , smarta** dispatchers tarping in either 110 degree heat in Texas or -20 in the NE. Funny thing, the CDL training school never mentions any of this and rightly so because I suspect they would lose
half of their students . So newbies such as myself pay attention to these threads, these guys know this business and are not trying to discourage you ( neither am I just giving a dose of reality) .OTR trucking is not for everybody but some guys love it and it works for them . I have a great respect for all truckers ( well the ones that do things safely) . They are
pretty much under paid as i see it , and treated pretty crappy. Without
any experience at all , I can see that it takes a special breed to do this job
so my hats off to those who do it . Hope I did not discourage anyone , I am only trying to be realistic and am sure with out any experience I
may not have the full picture but I am only expressing what I have learned . I guess my whole point is I wish i had known more about this
when I first though about CDL school , I may have done otherwise.

[GMAN]

There are a number of pros and cons to this profession. One thing for certain is that it is a job which requires you to be more responsible for yourself. You are afforded much more freedom to do your job than many other professions. You will likely have a schedule, but you are the one who decides how you are going to meet that schedule. It is up to you to eat healthy rather than grab a bag of potato chips. It is up to you as to whether you park next to the truck stop building or in the back so that you can get a little exercise with the walk inside.

It is also up to you to make time for your family. Being away from home can take a toll on your loved ones as well as yourself. It is all about attitude. Going into this business you need to understand that you will be away from loved ones for 2-3 weeks at a time, especially starting out. Drivers have made this work for many decades. If you have a weak marriage, this will not help. If you have a good marriage, it could make it stronger.

This is a very demanding profession. It weeds a lot of people out the first year. Some can't handle the day to day demands of the job. You will need to enjoy your own company as you will be alone much of your day. Some of us enjoy that aspect of the job. It gives us time to think. The first 6 months to a year can be a bit tough, financially. It takes time to learn your way around this business. Once you gain some experience you can earn an above average income. This is one of the most secure professions you can enter. As long as you can pass the physical and have a good MVR, you can usually find a job. Rather than retiring or laying off drivers when they gain several years experience, you will more sought after. Older, experienced drivers are a hot commodity with carriers. The longer you work the more you will be sought after by the better companies. It is possible to earn from $50-80,000 or more with some experience. Some can earn over $100,000 in certain specialized areas. Those are not the norm, but a possibility. Most can earn in the $40-65,000 range with a few years experience. If you have a good attitude you can do well.