Family Life/ Marriage

As I investigate becoming a truck driver, after all research up to now I wonder how drivers keep marriage and family life alive, everything I read this has too be one the hardest parts of truck driving,any advice? I love my wife immensely .. would hate to screw up marriage. thanks for any advice

As I investigate becomming a truck driver, after all reseach up to know I wonder how drivers keep marriage and family life alive, everything I read this has too be one the hardest parts of truck driving,any advice? I love my wife emensely .. would hate to screw up marriage. thanks for any advice

Well Ct H. I won't speak for the drivers out there. But I can speak from experience being in the military and having to be away from home for very long periods.

I forget which blog it is but someone wrote "If a marriage can survive trucking, it can survive anything".

Which pretty much hits the nail on the head.

I too love my wife dearly. And I am not looking forward to the separation. But due to things out of our control, I have to make a career change. And I have always wanted to go into trucking. And my wife being the loving and caring person she is, she is behind me 100%. Well, maybe 98% most of the time.

She is not fond of the separation either, but she understands we have to do something.

Our plans, after my year is up, looking for a better paying company with good benefits and changing jobs and she quit her's and come on the road with me. At least part of the year. She has a photography business and she is looking forward to all the pics available out there on the road.

Another point you can look at. After you get a few months or a year, you don't have to stay OTR. You could go regional or dedicated. Not as much income from what I have read. But you are home a lot more. Dedicated I believe are home nightly. And regional are home weekends.

There are several blogs on here from truckers and wives. I suggest you take a look at those with your wife. Let her read them. They give a "no holds bared" look into the trucking life.

As many have said, it is not just a job. It is a lifestyle. If you are good at what you do. Like what you do. It seems like a pretty darn good and stable career/lifestyle.

Best wishes to you.

Keep it safe out there. Joe S

I have written many times on the trucking lifestyle when it interacts with a marriage...just do a search and I'm sure you will find them. They may have been on the old forum, and I don't know how to access those, if in fact we can...

I'm 21 and been married for almost two years and I can tell you right now that trucking sucks the life out of a marriage. But if a marriage can survive then its definitely a strong marriage. It's a strain when there's some kind of drama and your wife is crying on the phone but you can't hold her to calm her down. It can be overwhelmingly stressful. She'll have to do all the bills and all the household chores. Both of you will need to be stronger and adapt to the sudden changes. It can be done, don't get me wrong, but it's not easy. There's a reason they have the name "truckers wife" - those are the ladies in our society who have to put up being married to a man they hardly ever see.

The comments above are referring to our articles about Trucker's Family Matters and they're excellent articles filled with a lot of great advice.

Trucking is very, very hard on marriages, and especially on children. We try to caution people on getting into trucking when they have a family. In fact, I often try to outright discourage it. But I'm also acutely aware of the fact that people often get in a tough spot and have to do whatever it takes to put food on the table and I always respect people that have that kind of determination. So it's a very personal choice.

I would have to believe it takes a very strong marriage to survive the separation of spouses when out on the road for so long. I have wanted to be a truck driver for most of my life, but I just never wanted to take a chance that my marriage would survive the lifestyle. Of course, it would just depend upon the individuals, and their circumstances. I don't have that problem now and can make the jump. If I decide to marry in the future, I would like to be able to bring my wife on the road with me. Otherwise, I will just wait until I retire before being concerned with marriage. But that's just me.