I Could Use Some Career (and Maybe A Bit Of Personal) Advice

I’ll try not to make this long but just a heads up, I’m not in a great headspace right now.

So I’ve kinda mentioned it here and there on the forum the last few months but I’ve had a couple job changes recently. I left G&Z in September because I was selling my house and they wouldn’t let me take my dog in the truck with me. I was in a sleeper truck and did a good amount of regional work but it was officially a local job so I also wasn’t sure how well it would logistically work for me to live in the truck full time. My plan was to sell my house and live in the truck to save money and pay off the rest of my debt. I really liked working for that company pulling pneumatic tankers and I was on track to make 6 figures if I stayed there til the end of the year. They also really wanted me to stay and there was great potential for growth there. I worked there overall almost a year and a half and it was probably my favorite job I’ve worked so far.

Anyways so I left them and went to work for a regional/otr small company in Utah (Ag Needs) doing flatbed. It was fun at first because I got to do loads I hadn’t done before including hauling heavy from time to time but the pay rate sucked. I made all right money but I was working my tail off and making, in my opinion, pretty sub par pay for the amount of work I was putting in. I worked there for a few months.

The house finally sold in January and I went on what was supposed to be a three week vacation to kinda reset because I haven’t taken time off in years. I ended up driving out to Utah and cleaning out my truck and quitting that job and taking like a month off and moving from Colorado to West Virginia. I bought a camper to live out of when I’m “home” and it’s on a friend’s property but my overhead is lower than it’s been in several years.

Fast forward to now…I started at SPD about a month ago again doing flatbed. This company is great. They pay pretty well (not top notch pay but definitely above average) and with me living out of the truck and working a lot I’m able to save a ton of money. It’s also great experience as we have contracts with major aerospace companies and the freight is often not conventionally shaped/sized freight so we have a lot of oversize loads. We also have a ton of high mile loads it seems like. Benefits are good, equipment is great, plenty of work, etc. Only thing that’s a little hard is their policy is you have to be out at least 3 weeks at a time.

Sorry, that was long, but here’s where I’m going with it (just wanted to make sure you had the background so I don’t have to explain later):

I hate it.

I generally like the work itself, as in, flatbed. And my current setup will allow me to be debt free in about a year if I maintain a reasonable budget and make around what I made last year or more. But I’m just not adjusting well to all of this. I can’t even say what it is exactly that I’m having a hard time with but I’m just bored and tired all the freaking time. I don’t get an hour down the road before I want to just start banging my head against the window. I seriously don’t know how you OTR guys and gals do it!! I do talk to friends a lot and listen to music and anything I can find but it only helps so much. And it’s not just boredom; there’s definitely a good amount of depression mixed in there as well. I did just break things off a few months ago with the girl I’ve been on and off with for a few years so I’m sure that’s not helping things. I’m also not used to the long trips with nothing but driving for days (I’m used to loading and unloading at least once a day). I’m also used to more of a routine with at least one weekend day off per week.

It’s a great job and I’m saving tons of money but I’m just not happy with it most of the time. I have my days I absolutely love it but the constant monotonous driving just kills me.

I have thought about leaving trucking but I want to at least stay in long enough to pay off all my debt. I just don’t know what to do about the way I’m just not in a good headspace at this job. I don’t know if I should just power through or look for something else. I also don’t want to screw up my work history by job hopping either.

I definitely feel a little weird about posting this and sharing a lot of my personal life in light of recent events on the forum but I really could use some advice on this. The average person doesn’t have a clue what it means to drive OTR and most of you are intimately acquainted with it.

Do you have any advice moving forward for me in this situation?

It’s obvious your life is a real dumpster fire right now, aul right? (Editors note: this is just an inside joke between us)

I didn’t realize you were struggling like you are. It seemed to me that you had found a great situation and a good plan. And I do think you have found that and you probably need more time to get used to it.

Frankly, you have been job hopping somewhat. When a driver does that the first thing that moves into his suitcase and travels with him are his personal issues and problems. You asked if you should power through your current unhappiness and maybe by asking that question, you provided your own answer. You have not driven for SPD long enough to get accustomed to the routine, lifestyle and schedule. It takes time to adapt to a different type of driving job. Have you given it enough time yet?

You have established goals for your life. Constant changes will not make you more content or help you accomplish your goals.

Dr. James Farmer said this: “We do what we HAVE to do so we can do what we WANT to do.” Knowing more about your excellent abilities and knowledge than most others on this forum I would urge you to stay the course and see if you begin to adapt to your current situation.

Pianoman,

Try adding some structure to your drive day by planning the time out in advance.

I generally structure my day as follows.

1st hour: drink coffee and/or talk on the phone.

2nd to 4th hour: listen to podcasts.

30 minute break: I prefer to stop at rest areas where I can stretch my legs and maybe find a geocache or see some interesting birds.

5th to 8th or 9th hour: more podcasts or maybe an audio book.

I will usually stop at least once more during this time frame.

9th to 11th hour: listen to music.

I listen to several different podcasts, but I don’t like to listen to multiple episodes of the same podcast in a row. So, during my 10-hour break or when I have down time during at shippers or receivers, I will add episodes from different podcasts to break up the monotony. My interests are history and philosophy, but I also listen to this learning Spanish podcast.

I also mentioned geocaching and birds. The Geocaching app is free and most rest areas have at least one geocache. My wife and like birding. An app titled Merlin will show your different birds in your area and even has a “sound id” function that will tell you what birds are nearby based on the bird calls you hear.

You have not driven for SPD long enough to get accustomed to the routine, lifestyle and schedule. It takes time to adapt to a different type of driving job. Have you given it enough time yet?

Definitely not. I’m just not sure I want to 😂

Dr. James Farmer said this: “We do what we HAVE to do so we can do what we WANT to do.”

I haven’t heard of James Farmer but I have heard that quote before and it’s a great reminder, thank you

Try adding some structure to your drive day by planning the time out in advance.

Thank you, I really like this. I’ve been generally structuring my work day by splitting my drive time into three sections of 3-4 hours each with a 10-15 minute break as one break and a 30 minute break as the other break. I never thought to structure my personal activities while driving.

I listen to several different podcasts, but I don’t like to listen to multiple episodes of the same podcast in a row. So, during my 10-hour break or when I have down time during at shippers or receivers, I will add episodes from different podcasts to break up the monotony. My interests are history and philosophy, but I also listen to this learning Spanish podcast

Do you have any specific podcasts you recommend? I only recently started trying out podcasts. I’d love to hear any recommendations others have as well.

I also mentioned geocaching and birds. The Geocaching app is free and most rest areas have at least one geocache. My wife and like birding. An app titled Merlin will show your different birds in your area and even has a “sound id” function that will tell you what birds are nearby based on the bird calls you hear.

Thank you for the suggestion. I’m definitely going to try out the Geocaching and Merlin apps!

Only thing that’s a little hard is their policy is you have to be out at least 3 weeks at a time.

Do the loads have plenty of time on them that you don't need to push your 11/14 every day? If the load has plenty of time are you able to shut down early and get a rental car to explore a bit?

my current setup will allow me to be debt free in about a year if I maintain a reasonable budget and make around what I made last year or more.

Try your best to push through it, keeping your eyes on the prize of being debt free. Trucking over the last 5 years has allowed me to pay off $40,000 in credit card debt while being in a single income household with a family to support. I felt a great sense of relief when I didn't have that burden any more. I was spending probably close to $1,500 a month on only minimum payments.

Look at what your monthly minimums are and how long it would require you to make those payments at just the minimum to be debt free. Once you're debt free and have more disposable cash you'll be able to pursue something that makes you happy without the worry of it not paying the best. With the money you'd save monthly on those minimums you could afford more vacations, or a bigger/nicer house while also building a nice savings and retirement accounts.

Youve gone through a bunch of changes lately, and those changes take time to acclimate to. One of the things that comes to mind though, is the length of your loads. While Im OTR , my average load length is about 550 miles. Company wide our average length is 428 miles. Ill usually pop a thousand or 1500 mile load every other week or so with shorter runs in between. One of the things I love about OTR is the constant change. I go completely nuts driving the same route every day. I really struggled with it when I was doing the Lowes dedicated. It literally puts me to sleep and puts me in a really bad mood, so I can Identify with the struggle.

Im wondering if it might be possible for you to run more series of shorter loads, somewhat like regional for them, but more like connecting smaller loads, perhaps at least multi stop loads. Again, with us, once I get in a certain region or lane, they will keep me in that area for a few days to a week.

I know part of it is where I run too. Running on the interstates kills me, especially through somewhere like North Dakota or Wyoming, at least driving in the wind is interesting. In general though western states offer challenging terrain and weather conditions, which you know well. I find myself being very attentive when Im driving through twisties in the mountains in incliment weather or on a tight two lane road with no shoulders, no guardrail and 8 percent grades. Also, the scenery is phenominal. Perhaps it might not hurt to ask to run certain areas more than others. When Im in the south and midwest, I take the US highway system and state roads most of the time. I love seeing the old towns, and the trip planning is interesting. I also find weather forecasting fascinating and constantly am checking myself against my plans and weather.

I too listen to a ton of music, but I also have entire days go by where Im just having interesting conversations with myself as well as obsessing on company policies and to work around financial issues at work. One other thing I constantly obsess on is if Im making my distances at the times I projected at the start of the driving shift. Now, talking to oneself so much might not be healthy, but Im usually happy as a bug in rug on the road.

There are also some struggles that are just endemic to OTR. Ordering things off Amazon and such is almost impossible. Meeting people is difficult, you never know if you will be back through town or not and when, especially with the wounded freight market right now. Setting a schedule for many things is very difficult, even more so if you have any hint of ADD or OCD.

Getting off the truck at stops is also vital, some runs we can, some we cant. But that love of exploring new places and going to places you havent been to, at least in a long time, should resurface after a bit.

My podcasts:

Pirate History Podcast

Literature and History (Doug Metzger)

Philosophize This (Steven West)

Tides of History (Patrick Wyman)

Awakening From the Meaning Crisis (John Verbaek)

America's National Parks

Ancient Greece Declassified

American Birding (ABA)

Big Picture Science

Joe Rogan

Fall of Civilizations

Rob did a great job of paying off debt! Congrats! I paid off $70k in 2 years but its just me, no family.

I did this by focusing on my goals. Eye on the prize is what kept me motivated. Once i saw the bills go down, i ran harder and trained. I would have crawled through crap so remove that stress of debt.

I often drive for 5 hours then stop for 2 hours. Eat, take a walk, take my shower then drive another 5 hours.

Before i had a home, i made it a point to get a hotel room from time to time.

Maybe try to learn something. I learned how to edit my videos. Try to learn playing a keyboard or guitar? Draw?

Do the loads have plenty of time on them that you don't need to push your 11/14 every day? If the load has plenty of time are you able to shut down early and get a rental car to explore a bit?

Hey Rob, yes they generally do but that’s also kinda the nature of flatbed so I usually try to finish them as quickly as possible so I can just burn my 70 up and take a 34. I could take longer but it would put me in a situation where I’m having to run recaps and I do a lot better with having that built in 34.

Try your best to push through it, keeping your eyes on the prize of being debt free. Trucking over the last 5 years has allowed me to pay off $40,000 in credit card debt while being in a single income household with a family to support. I felt a great sense of relief when I didn't have that burden any more. I was spending probably close to $1,500 a month on only minimum payments.

Congrats man, that’s quite an accomplishment! And thank you, I will keep my eye on the prize. I have about $45k left and with my current lack of bills for the most part I should be able to get it paid off in a year give or take. I’m in the home stretch