I know, I know.............it will be different with you........"you'll be the exception to the rule."

Disclaimer: I am NOT trying to persuade or dissuade anyone from getting into trucking.....I personally LOVE driving a truck....but, I am extremely fortunate,....because I retired from another profession at a fairly young age and am financially sound....... I drive a truck because I want to......NOT, because I have to.........there is a huge difference.

.....This in my opinion is one of the best post I have ever seen on any trucking board........I pulled it from another board (which shall remain nameless) and in my humble opinion it hits home, is hard-hitting, to the point and not full of the cushy, cushy make-you-feel good political correctness crap. .........Read it, take from it what you want and leave the rest.......in my opinion, an excellent post, not based on hearsay, but his and others personal experience and opinion........It might NOT be what you want to hear, but, it IS the truth........written by a person who has seen more white lines and miles (well over 1,500,000), than most of us will ever see, via his many, many years of professional truck driving....................Josh


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Newbies: You see me write a lot about the importance of craftsmanship and responsible profession behavior, and the going-rate wages and benefits for new drivers. Here's another side of the story:


OTR takes you away from your family and home for weeks at a time, and when you subtract even minimal expenses living on the road, there's precious little left for the wife, kids and home expenses.

You can make more net money for your family, work fewer hours, and at least sleep in your own bed every night with TWO full-time fast food jobs. The novelty of being a trucker and living on the road will wear-off pretty fast, and what's left is a disgraceful wage for the responsibility and risk, and in most cases, a family and home left abandoned and broke.

If you've got a wife and kids that need you and your support, DO NOT get into OTR trucking with Werner or anyone else. The number of tragedies -- guys who end up in divorce and living hand-to-mouth on the road while most of their paycheck goes to child support -- is staggering. They thought they could be a dad and husband with only a few days home a month and could eat baloney sandwiches most of the time and send most of their money home....WRONG! It rarely turns out this way.

No matter how much your and your family is dedicated to making this plan work, the fact is it will turn your relationships and finances upside-down. Few can make the stress and pitiful financial work -- and even if you do, you're missing the baby's first steps and the little league games and everything else you supposedly got married for. If you got married and started a family, stay home and be a husband and father.

OTR trucking isn't a "mission" to protect the public or your country like being a soldier or cop or firefighter. We're not heroes -- that's just what the industry tells us to take their crappy jobs. We just move paper towels or produce or little boats from one location to another -- just a low-wage worker doing relatively dull, mind-numbing work. Your body will get soft, your mind will suffer from the irregular sleep/work cycles, and your life will fly by with nothing much to show for the sacrifice. There's no retirement, no sick leave, no significant recognition for your efforts, and the trucking labor pool is increasingly dipping into the "working poor" class. This is no longer the middle-class job it once was,and the moment you make a poor decision behind the wheel that gets you in trouble, you're out on your azz facing possible criminal charges and civil action. The company will cut you loose and let you hang.

I could go on and on and on..... But the point is: This is a terrible career choice for a married guy with a family and home life.

You effectively disqualified yourself for living on the road in a truck when you started a family. If you're going to go on the road for weeks in a truck, you might as well just sit down with your wife and tell her you've changed your mind and are leaving for good. Hire a lawyer and get it over with before dragging her and your kids into this charade.

For a single guy...? That's another story. You can give-up your permanent residence, live out of a post office box and put away some money for a few years while living relatively comfortably on the road with all the cool gear. But there's no point in having a "real" home if you're never home to enjoy it. Your car will sit 26 days a month for all the payments and insurance, etc. And you'll effectively lose most of your friendships as you disappear from their lives.
But hell -- if you're single, want to destroy your health and set your course on slow suicide, who cares. At least you're not dragging anybody else down with you. And if friendships don't come easily anyway and you don't care much about a "normal" life -- OTR is actually a pretty good way to escape that reality. That's MY reality - to be perfectly honest - and I love this life. I'm a social misfit and a perfect match for this nonsense. But I wouldn't even consider it if I had the slightest responsibility beside my own admittedly self-destructive selfishness.

Got it? This job SUKS unless you're a little crazy and have nothing to lose. It's an irresponsible career choice if others depend on you, or you want anything like the "normal life" so many truckers come to miss after the novelty wears off.

40k may sound like pretty good money, but it's crap for the quantity of work, the responsibility and risk, the toll on your mind and body....and most of all, the family who'll see precious little of it from the dad who abandoned them to go live on the road.

Stay at home where you belong. Pretend you're an illegal immigrant and get into construction...ANYTHING but abandoning your family trying to be some hot-shot young buck again. Open your eyes and see the reality. The turnover is way over 100% a year -- even higher among newbies -- because most first-year drivers realize they've made a mistake and leave the industry, a little embarrassed and a lot poorer having been fleeced by a truck school and everyone else along the way.....

"...fair and balanced - you decide."

Read "Chopperbob's" post
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This post seems familiar. I thought I read this a couple of months ago on here. Weird. Yea it's a good insight though. hey Josh, what company do you drive for, or are you an O/O?

Damn, I almost shed a few tears. Definitly hits home.
I agree thats the best post i have ever read.

Yeah,there aint no lie about that. That is the truth. Truck driving is one of the highest most dangerous professions(cant remember the rank),and it is also ranked very high on divorce cases. That is something that is needed to be thought about. Thanks Ardmore. That is a true statement that was posted.

I'm not saying I'm the exception to the rule or anything, but I disagree with the post...

I'm driving because it's something I've always wanted to do..... I'm a family man (wife, kids, dog, 2 cats).... I know in my first year or two the money won't be great.... I know I won't be home all the time.... I know this will put a strain on my home life at first until I get some experience under my belt and can go to another company that is more family friendly and pays a decent wage....

But it is a decision that my wife and I made together.... I let her know all of this before hand.... We discussed this in depth.... We talked to many other families with OTR husbands..... We've read many boo-hoo posts here and elsewhere....

We knew exactly what we were getting into when I took this job and the hardships we would face.... Thanks to this forum, my wife and I knew what we were getting into....

By the sounds of it, that poster didn't fully look into the profession he/she got into...

For those new drivers reading this or those thinking about getting into driving, everything that poster said is true... But, if your not prepared for what you are about to do, you will lose your family and friends...

How did I prepare for this life changing job that I personally believe will help save my family life as much as possible?

1 - I researched not only the good points, but the bad and used all these points to make my decision.

2 - I waited. I didn't just jump into a truck... I prepared by making sure my family was as ready as possible (but you can never be ready enough).

3 - I purchased a laptop and webcam. I also subscribed to a wireless account with AT&T which has more hotspots than those that tailor to truck stops. This way I can talk to my family every night and with the webcams, I can see my family and they can see me as we talk.

4- Don't let pushy dispatchers screw you out of home time. Make sure you put in for your next day home as soon as you go back on the road so that you can make sure you get home when your supposed to.... This gives the dispatcher more time to plan your route to help get you home. Most companies will also let you switch to a different dispatcher if you don't get along with your current one...

5 - Research all the companies you can... Don't research by talking to recruiters... Talk to DRIVERS.... Get the truth about these companies...

No, your life will not be all peaches and creme on the road like the recruiters want you to believe... But only you can make it the best it can be.... And with today's technologies of wireless internet, cellphones, laptops, and webcams, it's easier than ever.... You DON'T have to end up like this poster did....

This is just my opinion.... I"m not a recruiter.... I am a driver like most others here....

Chip

You know, or you think, you know? That might make all the difference! :wink:

ChipW,
I gotta ask. Did you read the post ALL the way through? The dude loves his job, he is looking at it from the outside looking in, a "normal"persons point of view with a lot of personal experience thrown in. To be quite frank with you, you won't know for sure how the road will affect you and yours until you have been out there a few months.

Then you are saying you are the exception.

And this more family friendly company exists WHERE????? Good luck finding it. If there were one out there, then everyone would drive for them.

Somehow, I think you don't.

And if you are prepared, you probably still will lose contact with most of them anyway.

Research and a buck will buy you a cup of coffee. It's what you do with the research that matters. And the truth of the matter is - this is not a business well suited to someone with a family.

When your kids turn 18 - that's when you will be ready.

"Mommy, I want Daddy to watch me play in the big baseball game."

"Well, dear, let me turn the monitor on."

The fact of the matter is, it is their truck, and they will send you where they want to.

Out 2 weeks, home 2 days - that is the norm. Kind of sounds like a divorced father's visitation rights.......

And make sure that you help them get their recruiting bonus when you sign on. :lol:

Technology doesn't take the place of actually BEING THERE. Trust me. I speak from experience.

good post aff,now that we all have identified the problem how do we fix it :?: whats the soulition :?: . the problem as i see it is we need CARRER TRUCK DRIVERS . how many 18 year olds are dieing for our county but can not get a cdl to drive interstate.at 18 years old you can train to become a capenter,iron worker,BUT NOT A INTERSTATE TRUCK DRIVER :!: with the proper training program im sure we can have some very good CARRER TRUCK DRIVERS :!:

Rev.Vassago, I wasn't trying to glorify being a truck driver with a family.... But no matter what anyone says, and I'm proof, men and women with families are going to get into a truck and drive as a career.... Just as apparently you have and I have.... All I was doing was trying to do was show new drivers what I did to prepare my family and myself for a job that will be hard on our family life....

I'm sorry life on the road screwed up your family life and I'm not saying it won't happen to me.... But it is the life both you and I chose to live and I'm doing what I can to make it easier on my family.... Your right, technology won't replace being there... But it does help to ease the pain of not being there... My kids can see me when they talk to me every day... They can show me the cool things they make at school and they can see my reactions and smiles on my face when I tell them how great it is and how proud I am of them...


Chip