3 Weeks Down As A Truck Driver....

So you got paid 250 and you didn't do anything that day? That's good deal. 250+75 when you work is about 28 an hour. You can't argue with that. Do you ever take more than 1 load per day? Also, how often do you go home?

I would say the average is 10-12 loads per week. On a hood week you probably wouldn't be able to do much more than 14.. really hard to get 3 loads in a day everthing has to fall into pass perfect for you to do it in the hours we have been given. Of course that dosnt stop the "super truckers" from calming they get 4 or even 5 loads a day. Bull crap. Hahahah anyways.. on to your next question home time. I'm single no kids so I have nothing keeping me in Phoenix. Besides the fact I love phoenix and if I'm blessed with opurtinuty to have a family I want to raise them in phoenix I really don't have anything forcing me to stay there or be there at any set time at this point. So i have been out 3 weeks now and it will probably be another 4 weeks or so before I make it back..

That being said that's me personally. But the guys out here with family ties elsewhere tend to stay 6 weeks than go home for 7-10 days. Most companies require you to be out atleast 4 weeks but most people stay 6 to make it worth it. One big thing you have to remember is you figure out how to get home yourself. I like to refer to myself as a local OTR driver... if that makes since. I stay in probably a 300 mile circle but I'm living in a truck and at truck stops and am 3000 miles from home.

But anyways the company dosnt pay for you to get to/from home. That's on you. You pay for a plane ticket to and from home. It's not like these companies have a load to give you to get you home.. hahahah

But the biggest thing is when your home you don't get paid. So if I take 7 or 10 days off I miss out on a lot of money. The cost of the plane ticket isn't the problem. It's the fact I don't get off time pay that's the catch. So a 500 dollar trip to get to and from home can turn into a 2500 dollar trip when you factor the time I'm missing in.

Well hopefully that answers it. Yes the oil fields is a great way to make money. But they are some drawbacks compared to other trucking jobs.

After school and training, I will fulfill the 1 year contract with KLLM/FFE before I do the oilfield. That one year or even more over-the-road experience is vital. If I do the oilfields right away, maybe I one day I want to change to over-the-road, but don't have enough experience.

Holy cr*p Max.....you're in a great position!

But the biggest thing is when your home you don't get paid. So if I take 7 or 10 days off I miss out on a lot of money. The cost of the plane ticket isn't the problem. It's the fact I don't get off time pay that's the catch. So a 500 dollar trip to get to and from home can turn into a 2500 dollar trip when you factor the time I'm missing in.

That will be a challenge for you to deal with....let me explain. When I started driving I was 21. In an instant I went from making $250 a week in a warehouse to about $750/week (or more!!!) driving a rig. I could make all I wanted to because I was paid by the mile. Incredible. What an opportunity. So I ran and ran and ran.

Problem is I burned myself out. After about 6 months I had nothing left in the tank. I didn't even want to look at a truck. I was just exhausted. You think about becoming exhausted by running sprints for 20 seconds or having a long day.....maybe a long week. But when you run yourself down on a regular basis it takes its toll over time and that isn't something you can recover from with a weekend or two off. Mentally you become fatigued. You can't concentrate as well, your mood isn't as happy as it normally is, and you don't have the ambition you normally do.

Now keep in mind....nothing went wrong with my career. My safety and service record was excellent, I turned a ton of miles, I was making more money than I had ever made by far, and man was I having fun! I mean, how can a 21 year old kid not have fun cruising the country in a big rig getting paid well, right??? So I wasn't depressed or ill or discouraged in any way. I was just exhausted mentally and physically. The pace I set was just too fast. It wasn't sustainable. At the time you don't realize what's happening if it's never happened to you before. You notice over a period of weeks that you've been tired more than usual or your patience has been a little thin lately but you just figure you have to eat better or stop thinking negative. Then after a while you realize it isn't going away....it's getting worse. Time to step away for a while.

So take advantage of the opportunity you have to make a lot of money when you're young and single. You may want a family one day and you're definitely going to want to buy a home and nice vehicles and toys and all that. This job can help you build a strong financial foundation for yourself that you'll desperately need someday.....good money in the bank, good credit, and no debt. And man will you be thanking yourself every day of your life for making that happen. But one of the keys to making that happen is to work at a sustainable pace. It doesn't matter how many extra days or weeks you squeeze in if you have to take a month or two away to recover. You're not getting anywhere that way.

You've heard the expression, "Slow and steady wins the race." Well believe me, it's true. Now I'm about to turn 43 and I still approach life the way I did when I was 17....I have a lot of energy, I'm into a lot of different things, and I really put everything I have into my everyday life. I'm a highly motivated, enthusiastic dude. I'm normally up before 4:00 a.m. and I hit the ground running. But the thing I spend the most time thinking about is sustainability. My life is going great and I'm accomplishing a lot. But I make sure that I enjoy every single day. I never miss a nap. I never miss a football game. I never let everyday life become a grind because I've been there and it's not sustainable. It's one of those lessons I learned the hard way when I was young and ever since it has played a big role in how I live. So it would be nice to help others learn it the easy way....from my mistakes.

So don't be afraid to fly home and take your buddies out with some of that hard earned cash once in a while. In fact...I insist.

My ma always reminds me, "If you're not having fun, then what are you working for?" Seems obvious in retrospect, but it's easy to get caught up in making money and forget for a while that life isn't about working....working is what you do to enhance the fun you can have the rest of the time. Yes, take advantage of the great position you're in. But keep in mind that pacing yourself is critical to your long term happiness and success.

I hear you brett.. I certainly hope I don't get to that point in the near future. I agree with you though that all work and no play isn't going to end well. It's going to take some time to feel out what works best for me as far as time off verse time on. Hopefully I can get it right. In retrospect taking an extra week off dosnt hurt in the long run.. that just means when I decide to be done or hit my target of money saved up it may take me an extra week or 2.. no big deal in the long run its worth it.

I plan on having this job until atleast I have paid off trucking school (which is done now) and I have enough saved up to pay cash for what college I have left. (Around 25,000 bucks)

So i do have some goals in mind I want to reach..

And as a really far fetched goal.. start my own trucking company out here (multiple trucks not just buy my own). Before you all rail me on buying riggs and what not don't worry.. I'm going to figure out the buisness and numbers before I make any move. (It helps that my dad is the owner of a buisness that is running 20 trucks in north dakota.. so he knows what it takes.) So if the numbers or right and I can make money I'm going to do it. Because hell.. I'm young with no responsibility to put food on a table for a family so if it blows up in my face (hopefully not literally) I scratch it off and find something else. But if it works.. well than I'm a buisness owner. Ya me.

You can also take advantage of being in that area of the country to make some day or weekend trips with a cheap purchased or a rental car to places like vermont, maine etc just to see something different.

Take a look at the local national or state parks. You need to get that relaxation time in. I too worked like Brett was describing only I was doing it on an island in Alaska. Things got much better when I bought a boat and could leave the so called civilization behind for a day of fishing. To this day, I take a cooler of drinks, worms, fishing poles, chair and a good book. I also have a place where the cell phone does not work but I can catch 4-5 lb trout just about any day.

You can also take advantage of being in that area of the country to make some day or weekend trips with a cheap purchased or a rental car to places like vermont, maine etc just to see something different.

Hahahah "Cheap rental car." I'm 23 so I'm still in that "dangerous driver" category so I get extra fees. Hahahahah I totally get what you mean and am going to do it. I already have my first trip planed. Week 2 of the nfl season my beloved Arizona Cardinals are playing in New york. I plan on going. Don't know yet rather I'm going to do bus, rental car, or even a short flight over. I'll probably fly home for a week after that. So that will be my reward for 7 or 8 weeks of hard work :)