Well I have not the experience yet of how intrusive the DOT is in Trucking ... yet .. but they can be quite intrusive into a pilots life. Ramp Checks, and if they violate you .. you are guilty until ... well you are guilty .. whatever it takes. It took a year to clear a violation of flying an unworthy aircraft. The Annual Sticker had not been added to the airframe logbook but I had a receipt from an authorized repair station the annual had been done. Meanwhile .. my life had changed.
I think the government is the government and once provoked goes into action.
Fly into any Class B Airspace like LA, Phoenix, Atlanta and you find lots of traffic but it is far more controlled. Fly around some uncontrolled airports and I would rather be in a truck any day. I have the following Posting of a near mid-air a few years ago:
http://www.forpilots.com/archive/rec.../7/msg7661.htm
What does this have to do with Newbies ??? It seems that other jobs are golden compared to your job .. just like flying .. but they have troubles too ..
Truckin Ranger .. I do not know a damn thing about driving trucks .. but I know how to fly an airplane.
However .. I think it is interesting what peoples perceptions are .. like Highway man thought pilots had it made in the shade and that it takes a lot more skill to fly an airplane. I am personally right now just in the training phase can state emphatically I learned to fly an airplane in 40 hours. I soloed in 6 hours. Funny how we all have our own perceptions. I have a lot of respect for all of the newbie tales in this forum and I can only hope I can catch on as quickly.