Profile For PhantomTrain

Howdy y'all!

It's been a while since my last post where I was inquiring about if trucking would be a good move for me. I mentioned that I would do some research about it and decide based off of that. Well, I'm happy to announce that I plan to pursue a career in trucking! I have a plan laid out and everything, but I had one final concern.

I went in for my DOT Medical Exam this morning and I think I jinxed myself. I had a headache before I went in, so I took some Excedrin. I didn't realize that it could have an impact on my blood pressure until I left the clinic. Regardless, they approved me for a year.

For those of y'all in Texas, if my medical cert is good for a year and they find nothing wrong when I renew, does the deadline then increase to two years or am I stuck with the one year deadline? If the one year deadline is permanent, it's no big deal. I was just curious. Looking forward to hearing back!

Howdy y'all!

It's been a while since my last post where I was inquiring about if trucking would be a good move for me. I mentioned that I would do some research about it and decide based off of that. Well, this is part of that!

The big million-dollar question of the day is: What are some of the biggest stressors in trucking? More importantly, are there any steps you take to eliminate (or at the very least mitigate) the stress that comes with them? I'm curious to know what y'all think.

This post got quite the buzz ...which is exactly what I was aiming for! It's been one heck of a week this week, so I only now have time to respond. I'll try to respond to everyone as best I can.

You didn’t state what you are making now so it’s hard to advise you without more information. Important factors are your family situation and can you be on the road for multiple weeks at a time? It would be helpful if you could elaborate about your particular situation.

As Banks mentioned, driving can be as time consuming as working two jobs. But hating what you are doing now is not a good thing for anyone.

I should've mentioned this before (I knew I was forgetting something!), but I did the math again last night to make sure it was right, and leaving my second job out of it, I'm only making $35k in my current help desk position. If I factor my second job in, it goes up to ~$47k. That being said, I'm sure my family wouldn't mind me going OTR. They saw me once a month while I was in college the second time, so I think it could work out. I'm single with no children, so I don't really have any responsibilities other than paying my bills each month (and looking after my parents' dogs once in a blue moon).

PhantomTrain thanks for the post. First off, I am surprised that you are not making great money in IT. I thought they were paying good salaries in IT. What specifically are you doing in IT? Either way, I think you have answered your own question here. If you hate your job and you are miserable and you are not even making enough money to keep the lights on give trucking a whirl.

I think the fear of the unknown is my biggest reason for being hesitant. There's some things I know about, but a lot of things I don't know about this industry as well (which this site does a good job of telling others about). It's something I'll have to work out with myself (I've always been a rather indecisive person who easily talks themselves out of things).

(That and the thought of backing up 53' dry vans and hauling them around windy mountains gives me anxiety! )

As the others have said freight sucks right now. Unless you are in a nich market. The larger companies, most of them train, are looking everywhere for freight to keep drivers rolling.

With OTR trucking you can expect irregular paychecks. Don't expect the same week to week. There are many factors that can affect your miles.

That's another reason why I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I don't want to start a job where I'm guaranteed to make less than what I make now.

I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer here, but this current market is rough. I caution you about listening to those spouting about "I'm stacking mad amounts of cash homie" because they aren't being open and honest about what that really means. A lease operators gross revenue to the truck does look pretty impressive.

That's a pattern I noticed when talking to those people: their loved ones or relatives were all owner-operators (and they also probably drove when the economy was good). I'll definitely see if I can get in contact with those people to find out more about what they do and how that works.

I feel like I should probably do more research before pulling the trigger. I appreciate everyone's responses! It helps more than you know!

Howdy y'all!

I've been considering trucking on and off for a few months now. I've been hesitant to really go forward with it, but I'm nearing my wit's end with my current situation.

To put it in context: I've been working in IT for about 5 1/2 years and to say that I'm dissatisfied with my career choice would be a huge understatement. I've grown to loathe the career path I've taken (and the IT industry in general). I'm not making nearly enough money that a person with 5 1/2 years' experience in IT should be making and, as a result, I'm working two jobs (both of which I hate) just to keep the lights on.

I've played American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2, both of which I really enjoy. ATS was what made me consider truck driving in the first place, but everyone knows that real life and video games are two totally different things. I also know other people who have loved ones or relatives who were truck drivers and they all say it's really good money. I used to be motivated by attaining massive amounts of wealth, but now my biggest goal is to earn enough money to not have to work two jobs just to pay the bills (with a secondary goal of moving to Henderson, NV).

Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Would it be better for me to stay on my current path? I'm eager to hear what y'all think.