Anybody Left A Higher Paying Job In Corporate America For Trucking? How Did It Work Out For You?

There are many good companies that offer regional with good hoe time.

Hey.......can we leave Lot Lizards out of the discussion?

You're such a trouble maker. ;p

And sambo... "Rainy" was short for "Lorraine of Spain" my purebred dalmatian.,.. So I used "Rainy Dal" after she died. Goofy I know

I can't say I left Corporate America, but I left Barbering to become a truck driver. I make 1/3 of what I did as a barber. Granted, I had to pay my own taxes. Eventually, I hope to get that number up to between 1/2 and 2/3 of what I made cutting hair.

It still tickles me that schooling to become a truck driver is 1/10 as long as that to become a barber. I know everybody says you learn your craft after schooling. Trust me, the same is true for being a barber. It takes at least a year cutting in a shop to get your haircuts down to 15 to 20 mins with a lineup and neck shave without leaving lines everywhere. And I do use a straight razor. It irks me when I see Barbers using safety razors.

Here's the only thing I can add that is hopefully helpful. If you DO stick it out with your current career and it DOES end up going south badly and you end up loosing your job... Well, know this...the Federal Government offers money for vocational training programs, include private CDL schools. There are two ways to qualify, one is meeting certain low income requirements. The other, is if you applied for, received, and are currently collecting unemployment benefits from your state, then you AUTOMATICALLY qualify, regardless of your what your income/life is like. That's what I am doing right now. My school costs exactly $4,980 and I'm not paying a cent for it. (It even includes the permit and licensing fees and DOT physical fee). I'm in my second week and am very excited about what lies ahead for me.

I thought I'd share that with you because if you can get your CDL from a private school, and not have to pay for it, then why not?! If, when you get into a trucking company, you decide that the trucking world is NOT for you, you'd be under no obligation to the company to pay back a 3-4 grand for not sticking it out a year.

Oh, just Google WIOA and whatever county you live in and you'll surely find some links and information as to where you would go to get that ball rolling. Note: You don't just walk in and they give you 5K . They make you jump through some hoops. It is probably at least 6-8 weeks from the time you go to a first orientation for the program to the time you get your certificate that you take to a participating school and start your learnin'. Best of Luck to you Zen!

It will take you several years to even approach 70 K. Also, this job comes with its own unique stresses. I'm 56 years old, divorced, grown Children. From my experience so far, I can see how this job would be tough on a marriage and family. Do your research

Also, keep in mind that you will work many more hours as an OTR driver than you do in your corporate job to earn an equivalent amount of money. I'm guessing that your current job is basically 8 to 5, weekends off, like most "corporate" jobs. To earn 70K as an OTR driver, you will likely be away from home for weeks at a time, working upwards of 80 hours per week. If you consider how much you earn on an hourly basis, you will be taking a big pay cut if you leave your current position to become an OTR truck driver. I don't know you personally, but I doubt that this would be a good move for you at this stage of your life with a young family.

Truck driving is good for some people. Those of us that are misfits in the "corporate" workplace, restless souls, loners, rebels, etc., and it's good for people with background issues that make them unemployable in other occupations with similar earnings potential.

Technically I haven't started my trucking career yet. There's just over two more weeks to go until I leave for orientation. But I'm leaving a 27-year career in the flooring trade. Primarily a carpet installer, but other flooring as well.

I've made GREAT money, with sometimes as much as 5 employees. For the past couple years, I've kept it down to two employees and myself.

Trucking income will easily halve my average take-home pay. But it's become not so much about the money anymore, as it is quality of life.

Physically, flooring has beat me up. I cant continue to do this. Add to that the frustration running a business, taking care of employees, and always worrying about the next liability. I simply haven't wanted to do it anymore for a long time now.

I never have any real time to get away on a vacation. On the rare occasions I do, it's to go down south to FL where I'm from to see the family. So seeing the country just hasn't been an option.

I see trucking as a way to solve a lot of problems for me hopefully. I can take it easier on my body and mind, while also gaining the freedom to explore, albeit from the cab of a truck. And not only will I get to see my folks in FL more often, I'll get paid to drive there!

This is something I've wanted to do for a long long time. So in a couple of weeks, I'm doing it!!

Point is, local can be harder initially but I would think most companies ease you into it before they go full-throttle into making you do pickup and delivery into Joe's Dairy Farm :)

At the risk of sounding like I am disagreeable I want to point something out. I understand completely, the desire to start off with a local driving job. I do not think it is a good way to start this career. I don't begrudge any one who manages to get started this way, but the fact is that precious few are successful when dong it this way. I know very well that we have a few drivers in our forum who've done this, and if I'm not mistaken, "Auggie69" is one of them. We also have a few who were OTR for year, switched to a really great local job, then realized the reality of the difficulties that we stress so often in here, and very quickly switched back. I remember "Heavy C" as an example of this. There are others, I'm just naming a few to make my point. I just don't see the point being made here about how most companies will ease you into making more difficult deliveries, that sounds good and logical, but it is completely impractical for the shipping companies.

I'm sure mom and pop shops won't tolerate too many mistakes at the local level but the biggies have as much incentive to do so as they do at the OTR level.

When I said "ease into" doing local, I'm not referring to schedule but to level of difficulty. I'm sure this may even differ between terminals within the same company let alone the LTL industry.

Anyhow, I know with my terminal new local drivers get introduced into it by doing easy drop and hooks, maybe spots or local deliveries to companies with docks. Then as experience is gained sending the same driver out with a liftgate to more residential stops, maybe different areas in the locality that demand a different skill set and then out to the entire area to do multiple Pickup and deliveries both rural and urban.

There is no way that a company that wants a driver to be successful LTL will set him or her up to fail day after day. It's a self-fulling prophecy.

I'll jump in here quick in response to the little side discussion going on about local trucking jobs and career paths in trucking. First off, not all local jobs are similar in difficulty and pay. Realize that in regard to difficulty, or rather exposure to difficult situations (viz. backing obstacles), P&D is much more demanding than linehaul in the LTL world. The driver that Old School mentioned to support his argument was hired as a P&D driver. Another driver on this forum took a stab in LTL, wanted linehaul, but had to take a P&D position. Both drivers had trouble. P&D can be hard.

Linehaul is pretty laid back compared to P&D. Linehaul drivers usually pull doubles and don't back into tight docks or have to maneuver around precarious receiving areas at a customer. The linehaulers that do pull the occasional van will only be backing into familiar terminal docks. This is pretty much the norm.

LInehaulers also rival or exceed the aforementioned salaries typical in corporate America. At my terminal, runs of 525 miles per day are pretty normal. Our current top rate is .6378 cpm. A driver that has a schedule run of 525 miles a day will work 5 days a week, be home every day, and gross at least $80,000. That's commonplace at my terminal. Some linehaulers work close to an 8 hour day and gross over $65k a year. Their runs are so short they can turn them without even taking their 30 minute break. Others have big runs, work 12-14 hour days, and will gross over $100k a year, and still get home every day with weekends off.

Not all local jobs are the same in difficulty and pay. And opportunities vary depending on location. I just wanted to lend a little more perspective.

I'll jump in here quick in response to the little side discussion going on about local trucking jobs and career paths in trucking. First off, not all local jobs are similar in difficulty and pay. Realize that in regard to difficulty, or rather exposure to difficult situations (viz. backing obstacles), P&D is much more demanding than linehaul in the LTL world. The driver that Old School mentioned to support his argument was hired as a P&D driver. Another driver on this forum took a stab in LTL, wanted linehaul, but had to take a P&D position. Both drivers had trouble. P&D can be hard.

Linehaul is pretty laid back compared to P&D. Linehaul drivers usually pull doubles and don't back into tight docks or have to maneuver around precarious receiving areas at a customer. The linehaulers that do pull the occasional van will only be backing into familiar terminal docks. This is pretty much the norm.

LInehaulers also rival or exceed the aforementioned salaries typical in corporate America. At my terminal, runs of 525 miles per day are pretty normal. Our current top rate is .6378 cpm. A driver that has a schedule run of 525 miles a day will work 5 days a week, be home every day, and gross at least $80,000. That's commonplace at my terminal. Some linehaulers work close to an 8 hour day and gross over $65k a year. Their runs are so short they can turn them without even taking their 30 minute break. Others have big runs, work 12-14 hour days, and will gross over $100k a year, and still get home every day with weekends off.

Not all local jobs are the same in difficulty and pay. And opportunities vary depending on location. I just wanted to lend a little more perspective.

I just passed up a linehaul opening. I'd be working nights. Make a lot more money but I hate driving nights :)

Yes I worked as a network engineer 10 years. Worked out great I love trucking

I just passed up a linehaul opening. I'd be working nights. Make a lot more money but I hate driving nights :)

I hear ya Auggie. Thankfully I work out of a larger break bulk terminal and have enough seniority now to keep daylight linehaul schedules. I haven't worked nights in about a year and a half.