do you guys regret choosing trucking as a profession?
 

you know, the typical if you could go back and do it all over again, would you question. some of you im sure cant get out of your profession due to job uncertainty and providing for your family.

so my question is, if you could do it all over would you still select truck driving as your profession?

Re: do you guys regret choosing trucking as a profession?
 

I got into truck driving back in may 2000. If I had to do it all over again, I would go back to 1995, begin then. :wink:

Would I do it again? Well I am doing it again. I got out of Trucking in 2000 cause of health issues and wrong doing by a carrier. I went on disability for 7 years. Well I am back in a truck today and enjoying every minute of it.

That has to be within your self, for there will always be freight to be moved, it up to you or your company to get the job.

There is only one Job I would turn down a Trucking job for and that the US Coast Guard, but it will not happen for 2 reason, my age and my health issues. I would never be able to go back into the Military.

I worked IT with computers in an office for 5 years. One day, I broke up with my fiance, sold my apartment, car, and belongings, and decided to become a trucker. So yes, it was a choice I made.

My only regret is that I didn't do it when I turned 18 as opposed to 25. I really never looked at a big truck twice and thought about it before I was 25 for some reason. It would be great to have 5-7 years experience at the age of 26 right now, but what can I do.

I love the job I do and wouldn't change it for the world.

The only problem with the job I do is yet again...the people who have never driven a truck sitting at a computer trying to dictate my life on a daily basis. Dispatchers are the major problem with this profession. Once I drop this huge company I'll be on to a smaller company who appreciates what I do more and treats me better than a number/statistic.

I don't regret getting into trucking.

In fact it's opened my eyes to the possibility I may hate myself and am out to cause myself as much mental anguish as possible.

:lol:

Trucking could be ok if i get the right company.

Currently I am tied in with a bunch of outlaws

and am trying my damndest to get free.

Just got to connect with the right company

I got into trucking at the age of 17 (we could do that back then), been at it 30 years now...I could count the number of women drivers on the fingers of one hand & still have fingers left over... and that included ME!

I am an owner/operator, I don't enjoy every minute of trucking, but I sure can't imagine doing anything else... I mean really.... what else would I do??? Can't dance...too fat to fly!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I love trucking. But i just wished it paid better. :wink:

I walked away from a highly paid position with my family's company.... Don't regret it for a second..... But in all honesty I still receive profit sharing from the family business though and that allieviates many issues that face today's O/O's....

I would've done it sooner.

Only things I really wish were different, was the pay a little better, and dot not being such di(ks.

Trucking is what I always wanted to do and I waited until I was 40 to do it, the only thing I'd do differently is to start sooner.

Do I regret being a trucker?

Today -- no way -- it's great!

Tomorrow -- um...ask me tomorrow. :lol:

yah i regret it. a little over 2 years in. too stressful, also have to deal with people makes my life go slower.

Re: do you guys regret choosing trucking as a profession?
 

I have to totally agree here. I went to grad school in 2000, should have gone to truck school instead. i would probably be debt free by now :P

I don't regret leaving my last job. When you are the mop boy at the peep show there really isn't any room for advancement.

I should have done it 20 years ago, granted at that time, I probably would have screwed it up... lol :lol:

I enjoy driving truck -it really is a great job. But the industry blows and I only stay in it because I've got a good-paying local gig, home everynight, and off every weekend/holiday. If not for that, I'd be a goner. No way will I live out of a 8X10 cell again and have to roll the dice to determine hometime. Nor will I ever work for .cpm...mileage pay sucks.

My answer on this would be a bit mixed. If I hadn't been in such a hurry to hit the ground running, I might have gone to university instead, and found myself a better paying profession. As for driving, I don't regret it overall. I've had regrets about people I've worked for, and perhaps being a bit hasty to come off the road, and drive locally, instead. And I'm probably still going to piss and moan, because I'm a truck driver, and that's what we do, but I don't cry myself to sleep because I ended up being a truck driver instead of a pencil pusher, American Idol finalist, Chippendale's dancer, or what have you.

I usually tell people I hate it to keep the the competition down and pay up.

I was one of those people who chose this profession with my eyes wide shut. I even worked for the company that I drive for currently *before* driving school & I still had my eyes wide shut! :shock: The drivers just weren't very forthcoming with the information & I didn't have the mental wherewithal to even consider that there might be a forum such as this one with viable information for someone considering taking the leap...

With that said, I have a loooonnnnggg list of cons when it comes to what I do. I think about jumping ship more days than not out of the week. However, the majority of those reasons have nothing to do with the actual driving... I have to add that even though I pushed my resume, interviewed, the whole nine yards and thought I was ready to leave... when offered some other employment I thought twice about whether or not I was ready to give it up... and then turned those offers down...

I will say this - there are lessons I've learned about myself, people in general, business practices, this country (that there is one outside the city in which I "live"), *what it really means to work for ones pay*, etc. that I am not sure I would have learned had I not entered this profession. I will say that it is a lesson I will benefit from for the rest of my life, and I wouldn't trade it for what I might've become had I not done it...

Perhaps one day I'll move on from driving, but I'm not sure I'll ever leave transportation.

i needed a good paying job with a fast training program. trucking fit the bill, so here i am. its alright, i guess. it could be worse. i get paid good and i dont have alot of the stress that some of the van and reefer guys have. i do miss my home during the week. but im home on the weekends mostly

If I had it to do all over again?
 

Seriously I would have sought out something like P&G, Busch or something with some stock options. When I was young, I never thought that trucking would be in the state that it is now. I grew up in a little town in Southern Illinois(Cairo), and there was Marys's truck stop. I use to get a kick out of seeing those big trucks roll in and grabbing gears leaving. It was so cool! But no, If hind sight was 20/20 I would have rather been a funeral director!

It was not my first choice...but after I was suddenly laid off in my REAL job because I earned to much($15h).........trucking saved my house. I wouldnt have picked it by choice. Also I went through a few OTR companies to find out you just get used and abused, for cheap. Took a while till I found MY trucking job which PAYS how it SHOULD!!! :D

If you regret getting into trucking, then it is probably time to quit and find something else. No job is perfect. Trucking is no exception. There are pros and cons to any profession.

I love my job...no for real. I make a decent living, get home every weekend. I am not chained to a desk or have an unbearable commute. I don't get hassled by the boss. its great.