Family Riders/passengers

WOW Hustle, This is a 2 1/2 year old thread. Nice first post. Look forward to hearing from you again.

Yea, I posted for ALL the new drivers, or people looking into the industry, I wanted to clear up a few things and let them know that NOT everybody is judgeing them, and not everybody HATES driving truck, and CHILDREN enjoy the experience. Truck driving is just like any other job, IT IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT!!

One day my youngest son was with me, we were crossing the i40, several miles outside of Flagstaff. My boy was sitting there kinda quite, it bothered me a bit bcuz he's always in a GREAT mood. I asked him "What's wrong son?, you getting bored?, he replied " Heck no dad, I'm just chilling looking at everything outside the window, it feels good to be away from all the drama." I realized at that point that my kids really do enjoy being on the road for many different reasons, they get a chance to clear up their little minds, not worry about school, homework, chores, friends, girlfriends, ect. ect.

I should mention tho, I am home every single weekend, I only run the West. And I wouldn't advice raising children on a truck, but by all means, bring them along for the truck ride if they want!! For God's sake, stop being so selfish with your dam rig!!!

Hey all, first off I'd like to say hi and give my thanks to all who contribute to this site. I've found more info here and it doesn't stop, I really enjoy this site and I'm on it daily always reading.

I'm a week away from starting my NTI CDL course and couldn't be happier.

I can't be certain but I believe the biggest reason I'm getting into driving is because of the time I spent with my dad in his truck, who knows maybe I would have done it anyway if I hadn't but I'd like to share this.

I remember the first ride, and every time there after. I loved getting up into that truck, the smell and the sound when the truck started up and when we were out trucking around. Loved it, loved it, and loved it. (I was around 10 - 12 at this time)

We had talked about going on the road together, driving cross the states as a team (I was probably 14 at this point and loved the idea of that not knowing a dang thing about trucking other than the time with my dad lol) but unfortunately that plan is no longer able to work as he passed away in 2008 when I was 20.

That being said and doing a lot of hard thinking over the past year I realized I hadn't thought about it since his passing, now being 27 with a son who is 5... I thought to myself "Dang, maybe I can revive this dream". He's just like me in every way but who knows maybe he won't love the experience like I did. Of course I definitely agree there is an appropriate age to bring a child along, totally agree on that, especially if it's going to be a long trip. I can barely go 2 hours on a beach trip without the young guy getting restless on the way lol

Leading up to my final point... my childhood with my dad and his truck, my interest in trucking and the thought of my son experiencing the same thing I did has really got me excited about what I've decided to do now. Yes this story finally wraps up into something lol Just to add this is my first time doing anything like this on the Internet, commenting on a forum, but hope I did ok lol

Anyway that's my little rant and I'm tired of pecking on this phone screen. Thanks again for the site and all the info, especially Highroad helping me study a little before I begin school.

Bet you've got a lot of friends.

For the love of having a good childhood please don't take your children with you. Like I said before, the truck is a small walk in closet. Children need space they need to play and most importantly they need to socialize with other children. Your child will be stuck inside this truck not developing any social skills and being bored and lonely all the time. This life isn't the life for children. Send him to school instead. If you bring him I truly believe you're ruining his life.

Sounds like we are back onto the negative side of trucking again. Thanks for all of the insight. Was just a simple question about how to have riders in the truck with you, wasn't looking for a sermon on how going on a road trip in a truck will ruin your kids life. Geeze, what a load of b.s.

I'm new to forum posting. My above comment was directed at the original poster. I didn't realize that quoting his post would also quote his quote. Sorry.

Trucking truth is a very informative site (Thank you Brett! Btw) I remember back before I became a driver I used this site to educate myself bcuz as we all know, "Knowledge is power". Never thought about actually joining until now, this thread disgust me to say the least. And since everybody has an opinion on bringing along your children and spouse and so on so forth, here goes mine!!!

My boys love coming along with me from time to time, they love telling all their friends about the experience, the States they've been, all the different things they've seen, ect. ect!! Their friends are always extremely excited to check out my rig in the front yard, they get to understand what "sacrifice" is, "Hard work" is, we get to "Bond" , and there is plenty of room inside my truck!!!! We got satellite radio, high speed internet, PlayStation 4, flat screen TV, refrigerator, and the list of f***ing goodies goes on and on and on!!! Unlike some and fortunately for myself, I keep running and running so it's not like we're just sitting "bored" and "lonely" inside a truck full of spite and depression, on the verge of suicide or committing homicide LIKE SOME DRIVERS OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, THE ONES WHO DONT MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS, THEY CAN SEE YOU COMING FROM A MILE AWAY, THEYRE MISERY AND SELF PITTY ARE ALWAYS SEEKING TO DESTROY, THEY'RE PROBABLY FULL THROTTLE BEHIND YOU RIGHT NOW, OR MAYBE FINALLY SPEEDING UP (AFTER 5MILES @ 61MPH) NOW THAT YOU'VE DECIDED TO PASS THEM... EVERYBODY LIVES A DIFFERENT LIFE, EVERYBODY FEELS A DIFFERENT WAY, THE KEY TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S HAPPINESS IS TO NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT EVERYBODY THINKS, DO WHAT MAKES YOU ALL HAPPY!!!!! IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT SOME DIRTY UNHAPPY JUDGMENTAL TRUCK DRIVER THINKS ABOUT YOU, ITS ALL ABOUT YOU AS A DRIVER YOURSELF ;)

I don't think DOT really cares about his many people are in a truck, just don't be overweight on your steers.. Cheers

Do you have an ARI Legacy sleeper? Because you must need a lot of space for all of that... And by the way, over my childhood years I have been to and from Virginia (I live in RI) about 200 times and counting... Believe me, I've seen plenty... everything from 10 car pileups to single car rollovers... and I am not traumatized for life! It really depends what the kid's personality is... If he lets things slide by and just ignores them and enjoys life, he would probably like it. But if he is impatient and when something happens it's all he thinks about, he would probably not be good for it. I feel like I am that first kind... my parents got divorced and I've already let that slide by... and all those tragic wrecks I've seen I ignored to the point where I hardly remember them today...

I have seen fatal accidents with my child in the car just going to the store up the road 10 miles from the house right in town-one time we even saw a guy get ran over by a car just crossing the street and he rolled around under that car like a rag doll and when we went to help him afterward he was flipping his leg frontwards and backwards the wrong direction and wanting to know what had happened to his leg- he was severely messed up. And statistics say that most accidents happen in the cities not out on the road. Further more as far as Legos go-the kids 8 yrs and up play those on their on their XBoxes and Play Stations now (you can have those in your trucks). I haven't seen hardly any kids climbing trees or playing hide and seek or playing outside since the 80's in the city or the country at all. We only go to the lake and build sand castles 2 times a year and you can do that on your time off while trucking. I used to hike trucks for Penske as a vehicle component carrier and always took my two children with me-they liked coming with me and being with family is better for them than staying home and running down the road learning to huff paint, do drugs, and smoke cigarettes from the neighbors kids. You can take a bicycle and ride it or go for a nice walk or run when your truck stops after your 10 hours of driving are over, that is if your not cooking the books and driving more hours than is allowed. And I hope to see truck stops with exercise rooms for truckers in the near future and the kids could go too. They can get their education on the computer or iPad now too, just like Luke Skywalker on the Star Wars movie. A lot of homeschoolers educate their children this way now and they are at home learning. As a mother who has been on the road and raised children homeschooling I say YES to taking your children on the road and It is just as safe. Spending time with family is the most important thing of all.

I sincerely apologize for sacrificing some sleep to answer your question last night. It's the truth, you shouldn't bring your kids. What do you remember mostly about childhood when you were growing up? I remember Legos, video games, hide and seek, climbing trees, going on slides and making sand castles on the lake. If you bring your child with you, what will they remember? What will be their memory when they are grown up.

In a way, you're right about not taking your kids to avoid seeing those fatal accidents. What are the odds that you'll stumble upon that kind of scene? But you have to think about the kid. What's best for him. I know you're lonely on the road but that doesn't mean you need to drag someone else in there also.

How long have you been living inside of a truck? You're completely blind to just how small the living space is.

And by the way, I remember Brett talking about why not to bring kids with you in trucking. So I'm pretty sure he agrees with me. Trucking is a great job but with every job there are downsides to it. I'm apologetic that I accidentally pointed a negative side of trucking to such a sensitive and fragile man such as yourself. I should have just handed you rainbows.

I like this guys attitude about taking kids on the road with you and those other guys that oppose this idea are older, raised in a different generation, and out of touch.

Trucking truth is a very informative site (Thank you Brett! Btw) I remember back before I became a driver I used this site to educate myself bcuz as we all know, "Knowledge is power". Never thought about actually joining until now, this thread disgust me to say the least. And since everybody has an opinion on bringing along your children and spouse and so on so forth, here goes mine!!!

My boys love coming along with me from time to time, they love telling all their friends about the experience, the States they've been, all the different things they've seen, ect. ect!! Their friends are always extremely excited to check out my rig in the front yard, they get to understand what "sacrifice" is, "Hard work" is, we get to "Bond" , and there is plenty of room inside my truck!!!! We got satellite radio, high speed internet, PlayStation 4, flat screen TV, refrigerator, and the list of f***ing goodies goes on and on and on!!! Unlike some and fortunately for myself, I keep running and running so it's not like we're just sitting "bored" and "lonely" inside a truck full of spite and depression, on the verge of suicide or committing homicide LIKE SOME DRIVERS OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, THE ONES WHO DONT MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS, THEY CAN SEE YOU COMING FROM A MILE AWAY, THEYRE MISERY AND SELF PITTY ARE ALWAYS SEEKING TO DESTROY, THEY'RE PROBABLY FULL THROTTLE BEHIND YOU RIGHT NOW, OR MAYBE FINALLY SPEEDING UP (AFTER 5MILES @ 61MPH) NOW THAT YOU'VE DECIDED TO PASS THEM... EVERYBODY LIVES A DIFFERENT LIFE, EVERYBODY FEELS A DIFFERENT WAY, THE KEY TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S HAPPINESS IS TO NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT EVERYBODY THINKS, DO WHAT MAKES YOU ALL HAPPY!!!!! IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT SOME DIRTY UNHAPPY JUDGMENTAL TRUCK DRIVER THINKS ABOUT YOU, ITS ALL ABOUT YOU AS A DRIVER YOURSELF ;)

I don't think DOT really cares about his many people are in a truck, just don't be overweight on your steers.. Cheers

I'm a mother with ideas and I've seen children travel with the carnival and the circus and with truckers and I think they all do just fine.

Trucking truth is a very informative site (Thank you Brett! Btw) I remember back before I became a driver I used this site to educate myself bcuz as we all know, "Knowledge is power". Never thought about actually joining until now, this thread disgust me to say the least. And since everybody has an opinion on bringing along your children and spouse and so on so forth, here goes mine!!!

My boys love coming along with me from time to time, they love telling all their friends about the experience, the States they've been, all the different things they've seen, ect. ect!! Their friends are always extremely excited to check out my rig in the front yard, they get to understand what "sacrifice" is, "Hard work" is, we get to "Bond" , and there is plenty of room inside my truck!!!! We got satellite radio, high speed internet, PlayStation 4, flat screen TV, refrigerator, and the list of f***ing goodies goes on and on and on!!! Unlike some and fortunately for myself, I keep running and running so it's not like we're just sitting "bored" and "lonely" inside a truck full of spite and depression, on the verge of suicide or committing homicide LIKE SOME DRIVERS OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, THE ONES WHO DONT MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS, THEY CAN SEE YOU COMING FROM A MILE AWAY, THEYRE MISERY AND SELF PITTY ARE ALWAYS SEEKING TO DESTROY, THEY'RE PROBABLY FULL THROTTLE BEHIND YOU RIGHT NOW, OR MAYBE FINALLY SPEEDING UP (AFTER 5MILES @ 61MPH) NOW THAT YOU'VE DECIDED TO PASS THEM... EVERYBODY LIVES A DIFFERENT LIFE, EVERYBODY FEELS A DIFFERENT WAY, THE KEY TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S HAPPINESS IS TO NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT EVERYBODY THINKS, DO WHAT MAKES YOU ALL HAPPY!!!!! IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT SOME DIRTY UNHAPPY JUDGMENTAL TRUCK DRIVER THINKS ABOUT YOU, ITS ALL ABOUT YOU AS A DRIVER YOURSELF ;)

I don't think DOT really cares about his many people are in a truck, just don't be overweight on your steers.. Cheers

Also most of the new truck stops are awesome with great buffets- just think, you don't have to go shopping for breakfast, lunch, or dinner( just snacks) and don't have to cook or do dishes. The life of royalty.

Yea, I posted for ALL the new drivers, or people looking into the industry, I wanted to clear up a few things and let them know that NOT everybody is judgeing them, and not everybody HATES driving truck, and CHILDREN enjoy the experience. Truck driving is just like any other job, IT IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT!!

One day my youngest son was with me, we were crossing the i40, several miles outside of Flagstaff. My boy was sitting there kinda quite, it bothered me a bit bcuz he's always in a GREAT mood. I asked him "What's wrong son?, you getting bored?, he replied " Heck no dad, I'm just chilling looking at everything outside the window, it feels good to be away from all the drama." I realized at that point that my kids really do enjoy being on the road for many different reasons, they get a chance to clear up their little minds, not worry about school, homework, chores, friends, girlfriends, ect. ect.

I should mention tho, I am home every single weekend, I only run the West. And I wouldn't advice raising children on a truck, but by all means, bring them along for the truck ride if they want!! For God's sake, stop being so selfish with your dam rig!!!