Differences In Free Time Between The Kinds Of Freight Hauling

Flatlander,

Like you, I have other pursuits that would like to do more than I do now. Those pursuits involve mental energy and thought. In my current job, I spend 10 to 12 hours a day in very intense mental effort, which makes it difficult to have the mental energy for my other pursuits that require mental effort. This does not even include commuting time.

My other pursuit involves about 1 to 2 hours in the morning of mental effort and thought. Then at other points in the day, I can review the work that I've done. With my other pursuit, I have learned that driving gives me the opportunity to think about the work that I've done in the morning. My hope with trucking would be to have that 1 to 2 hours in the morning to work on my pursuit. Then think about the work that I've done while driving. Time waiting at a shipper would be me time to review the work that I did in the morning. Thus, any downtime can be spent working on my pursuit.

But as Brett said, I would not work on my other pursuit the first year of trucking. If I had any free time or energy left, I would spend it learning as much as I can about trucking and developing the skills that I need to become a top tier driver. The idea being that, if I really immerse myself the first year, then I would have more mental capacity and time to spend on my other pursuit.

I think that it is possible to do what you want to do. And I think that, to a certain extent, Brett's actions (as well at the other moderators on this forum) speak louder than his words. This website has fantastic amount of information. So clearly, Brett has the time and capacity to do something other than drive his truck. Same thing with the moderators. They spend a lot of time and effort posting on the forum, writing articles, and really trying to help new people understand the industry.

I wholeheartedly agree with the cautionary advice given by the moderators here From my perspective as a rookie driver I can’t even imagine how I could handle an outside business pursuit and still do my driving job together My concern would be the distraction would interfere with the concentration I need to devote to doing my job and I mean that it takes my TOTAL concentration and even then I have trouble remembering everything I need to do As the Bible says, you cannot serve two masters

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I got the message loud and clear. I will live in the truck and just save my money the first year and then see how it shakes out. No worries. I am looking forward to the challenge.

Flat lander, great attitude. If you seek and accept advice from the long experienced drivers (and I’m not one of them yet), it bodes well for you and your potential for success Good luck!