Should I Become A Truck Driver Or Stay With My Present Career?...need Help

Hi guys, First of all, this is pretty personal stuffs. I might sound like a 17 years old. Please spend some quality time on this.

I'm 26 years old man. I presently live in Florida, and I am registered nurse. I'm doing my profession for about 2 years only, and somehow things are not working as I wanted. I mean, I need more in life. I'm gonna write down some details of my present career, and some expectations from trucking industry that I have in my head. Dear truckers please analyse and give the best advise. 1. Trucking or nursing, my major concerns as far as now is money, and peace. 2. 2018 I made 71K working in a dialysis clinic 3 days a week, I stated dialysis fresh out school in 2017. At least, from the second or third year as a trucker, I expect nothing less than 50k from trucking 5-6 days a week. 3. Dialysis pays good money, but with 12-16 patients and 3 technicians per shift that works under my supervision alone. its pretty stressfull, the paper works, notes, freaking policies, protocols, orders, company productivity, state regulations, and over all on top of it comes the patient care. I'm not thinking about moving to another speciality or more degrees, as I am tired of all those. Patient care is very well rewarding personally but not the rest of items. 4. I love driving, and I love travelling. 5. Alone in a cab, doesnt bother me. I am an introvert pretty much, with very low drama tolerance. 6. My wife is in Canada. We've been in relationship long term for 5 years. No cheating, or trust issues, she is happy to join me once she's in Florida. So, no relationship wise issues. 7. I plan about owner operator trucking too, but doesn't have much knowledge. 8. I love trucks. 9. I don't know the stress factors in trucking much. Need help here. 10. Driving straight 10-11 hours. I guess I will do it. 11. Job prestige wise. I give respect to all jobs, and I used to be a deli clerk, janitor, and all other sorts........

I am in a comfort zone of my present career, I wanna get out of it. I need to explore more life and world. Sadly, I'm afraid if I let my present job go away, and choose trucking to end up as a failure.

Please help. Please go through the 11 above stuff and give replys as wise.

Thank you very much.

I can guarantee you trucking in particular your first year is very stressful it breaks a lot of people its not for everyone if your the type of person that likes working many hard hours and only seeing the country as you drive by it sounds to me like you have a pretty good career but i understand the draw i also had a great career yet here i am on my 3rd year loving it i think the drive of being the best of the best keeps me motivated but for alot of people they get burned out fast by this industry between traffic parking shippers and receivers and complete lack of sleep at times(i personally think 14 hour clock is stupid it forces drivers to drive tired) also most people rarely see their families which also breaks people so i cant say trucking is or isnt for you but i can tell ya alotta people come to driving thinkin its gonna be easy high dollar job and find out theres alot more to it than they thought either way best of luck to ya

Hello and welcome Aby. I will do my best to answer based on my own experience.

1: 71k for 3 days per week sounds pretty nice. But I understand your reasons for wanting out. You can definitely work your way up to that kind of money trucking IF you are willing to work hard, consistently and stay safe. We have a number of folks on this forum who are making that much or more. Had I finished out my first year I was on pace for about 60k. It's quite possible to reach 70+ within a few years if you got the work ethic for it.

3: stress can be very high in trucking, especially that first year. My first 6 months were some of the most stressful of my life. I think it's a bit different kind of stress than what you have talked about though. There is some paperwork and a lot of regulations, but it's just you in your truck and you are following these things to save yourself tickets and avoid trouble, not just 'cause corporate said so. '

5: I think introverts do well in trucking. Just gotta get through that training phase. A month in tight cab with a stranger can be rough.

7: You will not find much encouragement for going O/O here, ESPECIALLY as a rookie. I have not looked into it much personally, but we have some very experienced and successful drivers on here who have, and the consensus is that it is not worth it after the numbers have been crunched. Little to no gain in money for a lot more stress and risk.

9: There are many stress factors. Tight deadlines are the norm, limited parking especially at night, big city traffic frequently, sleep schedule can be erratic (I never had issues with this in flatbedding), driving in all weather conditions imaginable, time away from loved ones (even as an introvert this can get tough. Trust me.) And more besides. You won't have to deal with people in the same way as your other job though, just get along with your dispatch and do a good job and you will pretty much be left alone.

10: Long hours driving are the norm, but you will never do 11 straight. There is a mandatory 30 minute break every 8 hours, and even running hard you should be able to find time for another stop or 2 throughout the day.

11: Trucking may not be viewed as the most prestigious job, in fact it gets a bad name to a lot people, but among people who know what it takes, there's plenty of respect, and it is a very satisfying and rewarding job to succeed at!

In the end it is a highly performance- based job, so your results will be directly correlated to your effort and willingness to sacrifice. Be honest with yourself about how much you are willing to endure and put forth. If you still want to go through with it, then I encourage you!

One of the major reasons I got into trucking was to push out of my comfort zone, and it was DEFINITELY successful in that respect. It is a great way to travel, expand your horizons, build confidence and push your limits.

If you go for it, Just remember that it is challenging, steep learning curve, and there WILL be times you want to quit, just stay strong and take it one day and one week at a time.

You posted on here four months ago with the same questions. Not much has changed here in trucking. Are you serious?

PackRat points out:

You posted on here four months ago with the same questions. Not much has changed here in trucking. Are you serious?

I noticed the same thing when I read this last night. Here is Aby’s First post:

Without Dispatcher Stress How-To Be An Indepedent Driver

Any take a look at the advice we gave you 4 months ago, it still applies.

I just did a breakdown of leasing from a mega carrier...

Actual Lease Numbers P/L

Do you realize 5 days a week schedule is unrealistic for a rookie? Especially in training?

<2. 2018 I made 71K working in a dialysis clinic 3 days a week, I stated dialysis fresh out school in 2017. At least, from the second or third year as a trucker, I expect nothing less than 50k from trucking 5-6 days a week. 3. Dialysis pays good money, but with 12-16 patients and 3 technicians per shift that works under my supervision alone. its pretty stressfull, the paper works, notes, freaking policies, protocols, orders, company productivity, state regulations, and over all on top of it comes the patient care. I'm not thinking about moving to another speciality or more degrees, as I am tired of all those. Patient care is very well rewarding personally but not the rest of items. 6. My wife is in Canada. We've been in relationship long term for 5 years. No cheating, or trust issues, she is happy to join me once she's in Florida. So, no relationship wise issues. 7. I plan about owner operator trucking too, but doesn't have much knowledge.

9. I don't know the stress factors in trucking much. Need help here. 10. Driving straight 10-11 hours. I guess I will do it.

I am in a comfort zone of my present career, I wanna get out of it. I need to explore more life and world. Sadly, I'm afraid if I let my present job go away, and choose trucking to end up as a failure.

Aby, I came away from reading your post with more doubts than optimism about a trucking career for you. First of all, you may never achieve the income level/effort level ratio you are accustomed to. When you say you want to work no more 5 or 6 days a week, how many hours do you think a trucker's day consists of? 8 hrs.? No, more like 12 to 14 and it's not unusual for it to be more, even within the bounds of the HOS rules. And the statement: "I expect nothing less than" is a red flag. Most of the successful entrants into trucking would only use that wording like this: "I expect nothing less than to work my butt off, put up with all the hardships of training, accept whatever comes my way and to pay my dues." Your attitude seems a bit prima donna-ish for trucking.

Look at #3. Do you think trucking doesn't have "paper work, notes, freaking policies, protocols, orders, company productivity, state (AND federal) regulations"? And in trucking, much of these things you don't like have to by dealt with AFTER you drive for 10 hours with an additional 2 hours of non driving duty time. Oh, and you also might want to be an owner operator? Think of your list above, and OO is all those things you don't like on freaking steroids.

Number 6: Wife in Canada, you in Florida? Obviously that's a personal matter, but it does seem a bit odd.

Number 10: Don't guess. You will have no choice but to do it. But can you? Day in and day out?

My worry for you is that many of the same things you don't like about your current situation also apply to trucking. The good news? With trucking, you will find other things you don't like to add to your list.

I don't mean this to be insulting, but you have a very unrealistic view at what trucking is.

You'll never come close to that type of money unless you work 5x's more.

The rules and regulations are the same if not more than health care especially if your goal is to be an o/o.

Honestly, I would suggest you get a hobby or pet, or maybe even a part time job to fill your extra time.

Guys...

Aby asked the same exact question 4 months ago, was provided viable information and our standard starter links. He never responded to that and is requesting the same information and advice.

Troll? Maybe.

No trolls. Being respectful only. I just need every bit of informations from the experts, that's all. Sorry.

Thank you for the replies all of you people.