So I often hear truck driving sucks but consider
 

I spent 5 years as a machinist which was the bet job i ever had but here in Ohio from 2000-2005 about 250,000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing field and unfortunately mine was one of them.

I began to pursue a career in the medical field, there are plenty of jobs in the medical proffesion that pay extremely well ex, nursing, radiographer, respiratory therapist, these jobs have a starting pay pay ($32,000-$40,000) nursing starts around ($45,000-$50,000 and even higher).

You must consider that trucking may have its downsides but the medical field and all jobs do. In medical field you have to be in daily physical contact with patients who are dying, wounded, bleeding, intoxicated.

Imagine having to take x-rays of a 1 year old who was burned of 75% of thier body.

Having to clean people who cannot control thier bodily functions.

Watching a 13 yr old kid die of a heart attack.

Watching an 18 yr old kid die right in front of you from gun shot wounds.

See 10-15 people a day who are dying from cancer, many you have become friends with.

Having a patient spit on you or attemtp to attack you.

Having to clean a man's underpants after a drug overdose.....

Imagine sitting in a room for 5 hours with a guy who just hit a telephone head first on a motorcycle while going 45 MPH while the docs try to revive him.

Witnessing death on an almost daily basis and the effects it has on others

Imagine dealing with these types of things on a DAILY basis, maybe not everyday but many times a week

Plus having to work 3rd shift for the first 5 -10 years of your career.

Whats my point? All careers have thier good and bad sides, after going through some of the above...........driving a truck might not seem to be that bad

It would be an intersesting experiment but if you took 25 disgruntled OTR truckers and gave them jobs in an hopital ER and pay them the same amount of money that they made OTR, after being in close contact with ASS HOLE doctors and relentless nurses (both of which could have you fired easily) You might find many of these truckers would break thier necks to get back into a truck and be happy they did so.

Many careers thay pay well ($35,000-$55,000) have thier downsides...

I basically wrote this after reading the "Newbs be warned post" in which this person writes about the horror of OTR trucking......

Here is a little part of that post;

You make some valid points, ohiomohawk. You are right about there being a down side to ANY job. Life is full of trade offs.

Working in Healthcare is not for everyone.
Working in Trucking is not for everyone.

I don't get your point? How does one speak about a profession...
that they have not worked in,
and have only the bystanders TV version of?

I would praise you for you service in Healthcare....but....????
Anyway...what else as a student of Trucking...can you tell us about Truckers and how easy we have it compared to.......oh ....I don't know.....
how 'bout being a Cracker Salesman in Harlem? :?

:lol: :lol: :lol: A Cracker selling memberships for the KKK in Harlem :lol: :lol: :lol:

Equally, it would be something of an experiment if you took 25 digruntled healthcare staff and placed them in trucks, woke them after 5 hours sleep, with very little real nutritional intake, vigorously and relentlessly pursued them all day on the phone, threaten their position, alienate them, force them to work beyond their legal hours, constantly introduce new legislation which could imprison them, but, don,t actively support any training in the new laws, then claim ignorance is no defence, ask members of the public to harass and abuse them, restrict their movement throughout the working day so that they inevitably suffer D.V.Thrombosis, Lower back pain etc, And finally, set such unrealistic performance related pay bonuses that they,ll never achieve them.

Point is, the grass in not always greener... As Gman rightly said

You are working for the wrong company. :roll:
I have none of these problems. I am home weekends, and bring in $1000+ per week.

I am happy :D

f.o

i am home 99% of the weekends Holidays off and make fairly good money Company dinner once a year and 3 weeks vacation a year only run 60 hours or less in 5 days just have to find the right company to work for there are good ones and bad ones Use to work for a company that treated you like crap

:P
If you dont see the point why post??

Where did I state trucking was easy???

Not looking for your or anyones praise.....

My point is some careers are easier, some careers are harder

The point is..what is easy to one person, is impossible to somebody else. Therefore no one career could be labeled "easy" and another "hard" because it all depends on the person involved, not the job itself.

I believe, that AFF post, you are reffering to, has not much to do, with "easy/hard".
It's more about lifestile, and normal life, or should i say lack of it! :P

Even, if you are home on weekends, which is not an option, for a lot of truckers, you are still "part time" dad, and husband, compare to majority.
And it doesn't matter, what you think of trucking "lifestile" b4 you entered the industry, only time will tell, how it will turned out to you, and your family life.

So, i believe, AFF, simply was trying to warn newcomers, that's all!

The funny thing about AFF post is the fact that he missed his kids games and was gone quite often with his job that was not in the trucking field. Most of his colleagues seem to envy him in his truck driving job.

Every job has its ups and downs if people don't like trucking they should get out and quit complaining about it. You will find whiners and complainers in every industry.

And while some of what was stated in the post may be true to a certain degree much of it was overstated. And nothing was good about truck driving.

My husband likes driving and he had a rough start. He will continue to drive and does not want to look for anything else at this point. We take the good with the bad.

I agree these people should do something else that complain about driving I am sure they would find plenty to complain about in their new occupation as well.

Goin Fer It's Wife

Lots of downsides to trucking-

Inconsistent quality of food, parking, weather. You get used to all of this :lol:

I've spent days in Vegas, rode waverunners in FL on my days off, and visited many of my family members and friends. Trucking has its +'s and -'s. I could be around sick people all day, thats why healthcare costs so much.

Sounds like something Kramer would say.

I love that line! :lol:

Who in a right mind would like driving 10-11 hours a day, all wether, traffic, and road conditions, day after day, and year after year... :roll:

Yea, it is fun, for the year, or two, but than is just a duty, and only thing is to like about it, is a money, in your bank...if any! :wink: :P

Are you hoping to insinuate something about me.... :evil:
Because of your misplaced humor in the Comedy Club?
You are some class act.
Really now....who is acting like Kramer??? :roll:

Your the one that said: selling Crackers in Harlem?

Maybe someone who had another job that they liked even less! And you say it is fun for the year or two that is longer than most jobs are fun.

As I said if you do not like it get out! Why stay in it?

Goin Fer It's Wife

Cause your husband, can't handle the job i do ..yet, once he is ready, i'm living! :P :lol:

And seriously, didn't i say, i like my bank account? It's a living, and i've been doing it for too long, to quit now.
But if i could start my life over, i'd rather be sailing... 8)

Yeah you get all of that, weather, traffic, road conditions etc..... But that's what makes trucking so fun, interesting, challenging or whatever else you might want to interject, not to mention the change of scenery everyday. I'm kind of a loner and don't talk much so this job is perfect for me. Thats why I put up with the bad along with the good of this job. I guess it's a good thing were all different or we would all be doing the same job. :D

Interesting discussion
 

Always entertaining to read that trucking sucks . . . especially since I haven't started CDL training yet!

I'm sure it does suck in many ways. For one thing, you're essentially powerless (unless you're union . . . and even then :) ).

The "powerlessness" aspect of trucking is that the true money is earned not in % of Load or CPM . . . but in the type and number of loads and miles you get. That's all determined by someone above you.

Of course . . . try going to work as a university professor or salesman and see what "powerlessness" is all about!

For another, there's a huge disparity between hours on the job and pay.

But a lot of jobs have that disparity. For example, a manager/executive making $100K is doing pretty good nowadays. But, it's common to see managers/executives who make $100K, work 10-12 hour days (with commute) some weekend work, take stuff home at night, do extensive travel, etc. That's around $25 - 30/hour.

There are probably truck drivers out there making more per hour (if not necessarily for the year) . . . and having a lot more fun doing it.

The bottom line (for me) is that trucking appears to be a Way Of Life.

In that sense, it's a lot like being a cop or a priest or an explosive demolitions guy.

It's not all about the money. You either love the work or you don't. You can do it for the money and a lot of Americans who have no other choice do . . . but there are also a lot of others who looked around at other things and decided this Way Of Life would be pretty interesting.

I dont think anything was being insinuated. I think he was just making a joke and maybe you took it the wrong way.

Re: So I often hear truck driving sucks but consider
 

Just keep in mind that when you turn that key to the right and become a first seat driver you will...

1) Put in an average of 80-100 hours per week on the job
2) Eat, sleep, breathe, and live in the truck 24/7
3) Not see home for at least a week or two
4) Be exempt from the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) which means among other things, no overtime after 40 hours.
5) Be employed in the 9th most dangerous US occupation
6) Perform a wide assortment of freebies for your employer

The only reason you can still make decent money in what basically amounts to an unskilled profession is that the job can't be outsourced. But the trucking companies are doing their darndest to get immigrants and foreigners behind the wheel. In addition, Celadon, Schneider and other carriers are actively hiring Mexican-based drivers to run US freight. Oh yeah, and don't forget about the NAFTA superhighway either.

Despite what you hear from the media/trucking companies, there is NO shortage of drivers. The truth is that there's a lack of people willing to put up with the low pay, freebies, poor treatment, and time away from home in irregular-route OTR truckdriving. That's why the majority of these outfits sport a massive 100% - 130% churn rate.

The job doesn't reaaly "suck" per se. Besides that, he's right on the money, tho.

You are too late. It was already ......asked and answered.

While it is true that there are hours in which you are not paid, many professions are in the same boat. Some have already been mentioned. Just look at school teachers. They are paid for being at school, but most take papers home to grade ON THEIR OWN TIME. I have known of teachers who spend about as much time home working as they do at school.

Driving a truck is a lifestyle change. I think the main difference is that you sleep in the same place where you work. I rather like having my bed with me. When I finish working I can park, stand up and walk into my bedroom. There is a downside to being on the road. You are away from family and friends, but there are other professions where the same is true. Traveling salesmen, construction workers, oil field workers, etc., are away from their families for a week or longer. Most salesmen are not paid for their travel time. They don't get paid until they sell something. No sales, no paycheck. Construction workers who work away from home may travel several hundred miles to their work site. They may spend hours traveling and not be paid for their time. The same with oil field workers. Each of these professions can earn an above average income. They also have hours related to their work that they are not compensated. You either enjoy your job or you don't. If you don't like it perhaps you should go to work for McDonald's where you punch a time clock and will be paid for all of the hours you are at work. Wait....you will not be paid for driving back and forth to work. I suppose that won't work either. :roll:

Look, I'm just stating the facts about irregular-route OTR truckdriving. If you want to compare your job to other low-paying lines of work so it makes you feel better, then knock yourself out. Whatever rocks your boat.

To the original poster, if you feel that driving truck would make a good stock-n-trade, then by all means GO FOR IT! All I'm saying is don't settle for less than what you're worth because that's exactly what these OTR companies demand from you. And it's essentially a battered-wives mentality. Instead, do a little digging and you'll find that there are trucking jobs that will pay you a great wage for every hour on the job and get you home every night and weekend with your family. However vitrually NONE of these jobs are in OTR. Nor do they require the much-vaunted "lifestyle change". :roll:

You will more than likely have to be abused\exploited\ripped-off by some pack-mule, coolie-carrier OTR sweatshop outfit for a year or so to get that one-year of experience. I won't deny that. But once you get your chops, there's a whole world of opportunity waiting for you: LTL (line-haul and P&D), parcel (UPS, FedEx, DHL), post office, foodservice (Sysco, US Foods, Rhinehart, etc), fuel-hauling, tankers, dumps just to name a few. Or you can get your -P- endorsement and work for the bus lines. It's all a matter of choice whether you want to be exploited or not. And I suppose that's the great thing about this country is that you still have the freedom to choose. That can't be said of many countries in the world.

Tthere's absolutely no reason to do this job and clock-in a gazillion hours per week while putting up with all the freebies. Nor do you have to live in/for the truck or spend your nights/weekends/holidays in pickle parks, truck stops or deserted off-ramps. Leave that for the Supertruckers. :D

There are ups and downs to every job. Trucking is no exception. Whether one achieves success or failure in this business relies more on your attitude. If you have a poor attitude, then you are likely to not enjoy your tenure in this business and not last long. It is a radical change from what most are accustomed. If you don't like change, then you probably won't enjoy this business. Just because some either couldn't make it in the business or chose not to stay doesn't mean that you should discourage others from pursuing their dream. There are other professions which have just as many negatives.