Letting your job define you is different then having a lifestyle. The more I hear from you the more you fit into the very thing you say doesn't exist.

 

Explain the difference in relation to the "it's a lifestyle" trucker.

If you say so. :lol: I don't put up with a company's crap solely because I think "it's what you make of it", or that it is part of the job, which is one of the things that "it's a lifestyle" truckers are notorious for.

 

What would the families where the grandfather, father, sons and grandkids are truckers be defined as? Would they say that trucking is a lifestyle?

 

first off you cannot just say OTR trucking is just a job, because it is not. Yes it IS a job, but it is not your normal 9-5 40 hour a week job. You are living in a truck, even if you get home every weekend, you are still spending 5+ days in a truck. Now that is not to say that you are defined by it, but it is the job and the 'lifestyle' you chose. I don't live to work, nor do I work to live. I drive because I love most of the aspects of the 'lifestyle'. I love driving, I love traveling the country and seeing it, I even love the loner aspect to a degree. This does not mean I comform to 'coolie carrier excuses' either. If I was dealt a crappy load, I called my dispatcher and bitched for a better one, or if I sat waiting on a load I would be calling every hour on the hour bugging him. I did this for Swift I hardly ever had a crappy load because I wouldn't do it. I easily averaged 3000 miles a week. I didn't do it just to bust my ass, I did it because I enjoy doing it, I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it.

There are too many complainers and cry babies out there, as well as way too many people not taking anything serious, or taking things too serious. This goes with it is what you make it. It is what you make it is not an excuse to just let people walk on you, it is a way of looking at life that whatever happens you use it to your advantage. I didn't let my dispatcher walk on me, if I didn't like what he was doing, I made sure to explain it to him and communicate my unhappyness or disagreement, and made damn sure some sort of resolve was found that we both agreed upon. That again is not the same as some who try to think their dispatcher works for them, as opposed to others who say you work for the dispatcher, although ultimately you do work for who you work for and do need to do what they ask, but with a good communication you can make it clear what you like and want, and work with your dispatcher instead of either A just hating their guts or B just being walked all over, that is making it what you make it.

This ended up being a bit long winded but it gets the point across.

 

Blah, blah, blah :roll:

So what was your point?

 

I actually "pondered" this question while driving today...July 4th...Independence Day, couldnt determine a good definition of a "Lifestyle" Trucker, but...
I found all the examples:
If you spend the "Major" Holidays (Christmas/Thanksgiving/TODAY) on the road or in a Truckstop. That would be a "lifestyle" trucker.
(Dang it. :x ...I was hoping not to be one :cry: )

 

So what?

I thought you just said it isn't a job....

You enjoy doing your job. Good for you. That doesn't mean it is a lifestyle.

Then it clearly isn't a lifestyle for you, and it isn't "what you make of it".

I give up. I made it halfway through your post and I just wanted to shoot myself.

 

Im sensing a fresh "Lifestyle" comic strip coming up.

 

 

You are so full of sh#t the whites of your eyes are turning brown.