am i the only one here that really enjoys his job? in fact i love my job. better pay by at least 15,000 than i made managing a grocery store that did 300,000 in sales a week with 100 employees under me. very little stress. i got great hometime at my job. and to top it off i have a wonderful wife and three beautiful children. is there anyone else out there that is truely happy and would recommend trucking to someone else? would you do that knowing what crap some had to go through to get the good job you have now, was it worth it? in my case yes, just wondering about others?

[Smooth]

Interesting topic for once ...... I was working at a used car dealer detailing and selling cars before I drove , it was fairly easy but there was no future in it and the income was under 25k yearly .

I started driving when I was 21 and hated it at first , I thought I was always getting screwed when the reality was that was just trucking . I talked to a number of drivers at my first company and I realized I actually was one of the luckier ones .

Once you find people who can handle the job , all you have to do is find the lifetsyle that fits you . I got called back to Yellow on lay-off and gave up by far the easiest job I've ever had and I now regret doing so . It fit my lifestyle , 4 hours driving round trip and 5 hours unloading daily ,6 nights a week hgome everyday and $850 weekly for doing under 1200 miles . During the unload time I just slept . Yeah , the money wasn't great but it was low stress and home everyday . So , the short of it is I would recommend truck driving in the right setting .

[Syncrosonix]

after high school, i did the minimum wage grind for several years, and even completed a few semester of junior college at fresno city college in fresno, california. i'm still 8 units away from having my AA degree in computer science. i'm also on my third and a half year of "vacation" from school.

i worked at a pizza place for almost 5 years. i also worked at a walmart supercenter in scottsdale, arizona. that's where my back problems began. being an overnight stocker for the pet department wasn't very fun at all. yeah, it was a wonderful workout, but came at my expense. finally, 13 months ago, at the age of 23, i finally realized what i wanted to do in life.

i began searching for schools and eventually found one that suited what i was looking for. i went off of my own gut feelings rather than asking a ton of people. only to get a ton of different answers.

i drive for swift and it doesn't really bother me. i have a ton of patience and tolerance for bull, so it takes a LOT to really tick me off. i have also come to realize with this company versus many others who have a negative outlook, i am one of the very few lucky ones.

occasionally i stop into the wally world i used to work for and speak with the remaining people who i worked with. they all know what i do now and some even seem rather interested. i've recommended it to all who ask. all i tell them is that before they go to a school somewhere, they gotta be willing to understand and accept the fact they may not see home very much at all throughout the entire year.

of course, that's easy for me to say, because i'm not tied down to any woman, i don't plan on having children, and i don't really plan on ever getting married. it's a personal choice and i find that i'm much happier flying solo in life.

i might sign up for online courses in the future. it's so i can have something to fall back on in case my body gives out on me, especially my back. every little bump in the road causes a searing pain to shoot through. it's gone out once already. i don't want to be sitting at home, bored off my ass, and collecting a worker's compensation check. i've already been there, done that. i do plan on doing this until i either croak or my body no longer agrees with anything i'm trying to do.

[okie]

I worked 15 years for the state. Made what averaged out to a .025% raise every year. Got passed on for a Managers position, as the only one with a Safety/Security Degree in the Safety & Security Dept??? Then was chosen to be the 2nd in command one day, called in the next day to say they had changed mind. Both men promoted, I had trained. I at that point had researched trucking for about a year already. Called Central Tech, they could get me in next class. Turned in resignation the next day. I love my WalMart dedicated job. I average in a week what I used to make with the state in 2 weeks after being there 15 years. My wife and kids ride with me once in awhile. I replaced the old van with 190k miles with a newer 1 with 25k on it. Replaced my car with 260k with a little pickup with 75k on it. My wife leaves on a cruise in 2 weeks (Stay at home mom of twins) I am happy yep. Choose a good carrier and pay the dues like everyone says, and doors will open you did not know of. As for me, Crete was my first choice, the Crete Walmart dedicated being 15 minutes from my house was just the luck for me.

[Jumbo]

After 15 years I still like it for the most part.

[BHG0069]

I like my job a lot. Only other career I could see my self doing would be a commercial airline pilot.

[zipy46]

I like Driving ...pretty cool job



8)

[Mackman]

I like the job i have now alot. Workin for a small Excavating company. I drive tr- axle mostly and the Lowboy. This has to be one of the best jobs i had. It is alot of fun working there. The boss is cool as you can get. He lets you work on your own car or pickup in the shop. A co-worker was workin on his truck on a saturday and didnt get it done and he let him take a company pickup home. Just alot of the little things that means alot to me. On fridays he gets a case of beer in the shop so when we come in from a job. we can have a beer or 2.

That kinda stuff gives him no turn over rate. Most of the company has been there 10+ years. I have no plans on leaving anytime soon.

[bigm3944]

Originally Posted by Syncrosonix

after high school, i did the minimum wage grind for several years, and even completed a few semester of junior college at fresno city college in fresno, california. i'm still 8 units away from having my AA degree in computer science. i'm also on my third and a half year of "vacation" from school.

i worked at a pizza place for almost 5 years. i also worked at a walmart supercenter in scottsdale, arizona. that's where my back problems began. being an overnight stocker for the pet department wasn't very fun at all. yeah, it was a wonderful workout, but came at my expense. finally, 13 months ago, at the age of 23, i finally realized what i wanted to do in life.

i began searching for schools and eventually found one that suited what i was looking for. i went off of my own gut feelings rather than asking a ton of people. only to get a ton of different answers.

i drive for swift and it doesn't really bother me. i have a ton of patience and tolerance for bull, so it takes a LOT to really tick me off. i have also come to realize with this company versus many others who have a negative outlook, i am one of the very few lucky ones.

occasionally i stop into the wally world i used to work for and speak with the remaining people who i worked with. they all know what i do now and some even seem rather interested. i've recommended it to all who ask. all i tell them is that before they go to a school somewhere, they gotta be willing to understand and accept the fact they may not see home very much at all throughout the entire year.

of course, that's easy for me to say, because i'm not tied down to any woman, i don't plan on having children, and i don't really plan on ever getting married. it's a personal choice and i find that i'm much happier flying solo in life.

i might sign up for online courses in the future. it's so i can have something to fall back on in case my body gives out on me, especially my back. every little bump in the road causes a searing pain to shoot through. it's gone out once already. i don't want to be sitting at home, bored off my ass, and collecting a worker's compensation check. i've already been there, done that. i do plan on doing this until i either croak or my body no longer agrees with anything i'm trying to do.

Syncrosonix,

Could you drop me a line I live in queen creek and would like to talk to you about swift [email protected]

[cmegobye]

I am a 59 yr old female trucker. I've been OTR for 15 years. I LOVE my job. I had wanted to drive a truck when I got out of High School in 1966. Boy, did they laugh at me and put me down. I had to wait till I got to be an OLD LADY before I could get into a truck. Of course, I probably quit in a heartbeat of I won the lottery!!! Until then, I am very happy with Crete and will remain here as long as they will have me. It is not just a job, it is a life. It's different from every other job out there. You either ARE a trucker or you aren't. If you aren't 'a trucker', you'll know it and then there are choices to be made. Money often plays a role in the decision of whether to move on back to the 'you want fries with that?' jobs