Guys. Seriously, Is Trucking Worth It?

I'll try to keep this short. I'm close to 42. I've previously been self employed for about 15 years in home renovation. Lost that when Osama got elected, drove forklift for FedEx for 2 years, quit because it never went full time. Currently employed as a Para (teaching assistant) in an inner city school working with emotionally disabled kids. I do like my job, just isn't for me for reasons unnecessary to go into. I'm now looking into getting my CDL training through Trainco here in Northwest Ohio. I'm going to spend nearly $4,500 total doing this ($ I really don't have). I hear a lot of good about trucking, and some bad. Real quick, I have a wife, a 19 year old daughter, a 10 year old son, and 3 year old daughter. We're a close knit family, and I'm not worried about my family falling apart if I'm gone for a couple of weeks, but, like I said, we're close and I don't want that lifestyle for us. I wouldn't mind being gone for 2 or 3 days then come home for a couple. Even leave for week, no problem. I just don't want to raise my family from a cell phone. Of course I'd like to 8 or 10 then go home, but I hear that is rare. So I figure if I'm gonna be gone for 12 or 14hrs, I might as well be gone for a couple of days. Not to mention I wouldn't mind seeing some of the countryside. Of course, that romance side of trucking: seeing those beautiful sunrises, all the sites, cool truck stops (if I can back in :) ), and of course, eating 3 meals a day at the Iron Skillet buffet! Or is it BS? Is all that lost to tight schedules, and less than human dispatchers? Do the Oakridge Boys still play on the radio when you're driving an 18 wheeler?

Then there's pay, what would I expect to make for a typical job. I have a flawless MVR. I hear of guys calculating their hours/pay and figuring they only make about $13 bucks an hour (UGH). I have FedEx and UPS, as well as many others near me, but not sure if the first two would consider me, being new? Or who would be worth working for, for that matter.

Whew!, Then there's the part that you have to drive the truck! Backing, snow, ice, low bridges, fog, bad directions, lay overs, mountains and hills (worse yet, having to take off on a hill!!!) to name a few. Are these all the same concerns you all had, too? Are they an everyday challenge, or just a lot I'm just over-reacting to?

I'm tryin' to throw it out there and see if anyone with some varied experience can throw anything honest (the good and bad) my way. I have a sort of neat picture in my head of what it would be, and trying to stay realistic at the same time! I just want to make sure of some things before I spend any $. Thanks in advance yall!

P.S. Not trying to be a jerk, but I know a lot of people like to paint the picture that they work the hardest and suffer the most, heck, I'm guilty of it, too! But please, if there IS good, pleeease tell me!

Shilo, welcome to the forum!

I've been intrigued by this thread, mostly because it hasn't gone in the direction I would have thought it would. Let me just say that LTL jobs, while available in some areas to new drivers, are still kind of rare in most parts of the country. I think you've garnered some great responses and advise, I would like to give a slightly different way to look at your approach to a career change. I am a father of three daughters, and have a very close knit family. Before I got into trucking we spent almost a year discussing and learning about the realities of the job before I took the plunge. I was fortunate in that I had that liberty, I realize most of the time people are hard pressed to find gainful employment and need to get the ball moving much faster than I did. The decision to get into trucking definitely needs the commitment of support from your spouse and children - they have got to understand the reasons you will be making the sacrifices that affect both you and them, and they have got to understand the sacrifices they will be making because of your absence. There is no getting around it, over the road truck driving jobs put a lot of strain on a family.

I love being an over the road driver, I could regale you with tales of adventure on through the night with ease! I can also tell you of the painful moments on the phone with my wife or my youngest daughter with tears rolling down my face because I could have made something so much easier on them if I could have just been there while something difficult for them was taking place. There are a great deal of frustrations and pains that go along with the pleasures of this job. To answer your question: "Is it worth it?" - I would give a resounding YES! Unfortunately, not everyone can agree on that. It is a question that only you can truly answer for yourself. My two oldest daughters have gone out on the road with me and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves together. I documented those times together and I'm going to provide you the links to those trips so that you can get an ideal what this lifestyle is truly like. I will place them at the end of this response. My youngest daughter is going out with me in May of this year, and my wife is planning on taking a two week vacation from her Montessori school and running across the country with me in the fall of 2015.

The thing about getting into trucking that makes it so hard on people is that they never do seem to really comprehend what it entails. Many people quit during their training period, before they have even gotten a chance to run their first solo run in their own truck. Others make it through to getting assigned a truck and then throw in the towel somewhere in that first six weeks of running solo. We tell people all the time that it is more than just getting a job, it is an entire change of your lifestyle, and that is where people get all snagged up emotionally. Everyone has those feelings of wanting to give up their new trucking job somewhere during those first three months. It is just that big of a change to a person's family life and routine - I don't know how you can ever truly prepare someone for that much of an interruption to their life except to try and warn them that it will change their whole lifestyle, and that will certainly have an effect on the people they love. It brings a degree of alienation upon you from your family that is unnerving for the uninitiated - that is why I have tried hard to include my family in my new career as much as I possibly can.

For me, this career is worth the sacrifices - I truly enjoy all the challenges and continue to learn to deal with the family issues that arise in a way that makes it an acceptable choice of career for both my family and myself. My close friend, Daniel B., is trying real hard to land a local driving job after being two years over the road. He is ready to "regain his life back", as he puts it. That is the great thing about a truck driving job, once you have put in about a years worth of experience you will open up for yourself a whole new horizon of opportunities that will get you home every night and probably home on the weekends.

Think about it long and hard - if you think you and your family can endure one year with you being absent for weeks at a time, you will be building up some very worthwhile credentials for yourself as long as you operate safely. Then you can have as your plan to start working on finding a local driving job that will be more agreeable for a man with a family. I can assure you that you will be making a lot more money than you are accustomed to making at a part-time fork-lift operator position. My best wishes to you and your family in your decision making process!

Here are those links I promised you - I hope they are helpful to you in at least understanding a little more about the career and the lifestyle.

A trip with my oldest daughter

On the road with my second daughter

As usual Old School nailed it. And I would have to agree. Its worth it for me. I love this job. I dont want to go regional nor local. I hate when I have to do LTL loads. There is nothing to me like the open road under your tires rolling down the highway miles from where you started and miles from where your going, at least for me. I have 3 kids and im also a woman. This life isnt for everybody. Not even close. You have to decide that for yourself but guess what you never know until you try because I never would have imagined id be doing this. And yes at first It scared the crap out of me. Now ive been to 46 states, driven across all of the most talked about mt passes Donner, Cabbage, Veil (in the snow with chains on) Raton in dense fog, Mt Eagle, Snoqualmie, 4th of July, lookout. Well you get the hint right? Plus im a trainer now too on my 6th student. 2 1/2 yrs in and I couldnt see leaving.

As Old School said,

It brings a degree of alienation upon you from your family that is unnerving for the uninitiated - that is why I have tried hard to include my family in my new career as much as I possibly can.

. . . here is an aspect , I think many (if not most) people don't think about until it happens to them . . . in my pre-trucking life I was the Head Usher at my church . . . our church meets in a high school cafeteria (looks much more like a church than you might think) and we have to set up and tear down the who shebang each week . . . being Head Usher just meant I had to drive the truck, be there before anyone else and stay longer than anyone else and I scheduled the days the rest of the ushers were to be "on duty" . . . nothing glamorous but definitely some responsibilities . . . this meant I was INVOLVED and knew a lot of the others who were involved as well . . . when I informed the assistant pastor I would need to be replaced due to my new career, he got some others to volunteer for my responsibilities in short order . . . I had a few weeks to go before I left for training and I was sent off with some measure of fanfare . . . as the first months went by, I had quite a few "text" messages sending me greetings and wishing me well . . . I went home between the 1st and 2nd training phases to a warm welcome . . . I have only been home twice since then on a day I could attend church and then only a midweek (Wednesday) Bible study . . . the welcome was warm and I told a few stories (more than once) . . . I have been on the road for 8 months now . . . the phone calls and text messages have all stopped . . . I am sure were I to show up at church I would be warmly greeted BUT life moves on - with or without you . . . I feel more and more remote from my previous life as time passes . . . the grand kids go to school, the son & daughter are busy with daily life . . . friends have things to do that don't include you anymore so you become less and less a part of their consciousness . . . it's just a fact of this life . . . absence may make the heart grow fonder but it causes the memories to weaken and fade . . . no one's "fault" really, just life in these here times . . .

Jopa

Shilo, one of the things we like to do here is help people get started in this career, but we also want to help people get the info they need to decide if maybe this isn't really the best thing for them to do. You are new here, and probably unaware that we expend a lot of effort at times trying to dissuade some folks from this career, especially people with a young family.

I myself got into this after 30 years of self employment, my kids were grown, and it was an ideal second career for me. Any career takes a little effort at first to get oneself established, and trucking certainly is no exception to that rule. I worked my tail off during my rookie year, and busted right through the ceiling of most folk's estimates of what a rookie driver's pay would be. I ended up landing a dedicated job with some really great pay and benefits and I couldn't be happier with that result. No one jumps into the highest paying positions at first. There is such a lengthy learning curve involved in truck driving, and it really is a job where you are competing for the best jobs. To be the best and get the best pay you've got to be constantly producing for the company. There are so many obstacles that can foul up a truck drivers week that many fall prey to the difficulties of the job and get soured on it rather quickly.

There's no doubt that it takes special people to keep this great country's goods moving in an efficient manner. Most people never give a thought to the fact that some one may have risked life and limb passing through some treacherous mountain pass in the middle of the night just so their favorite brand of toilet paper would be there on the shelf at the local grocer when they need it. Trust me, I've met very few drivers who have traded their family for a paycheck - most are dedicated professionals with a family that they love and miss dearly. All jobs have their associated problems that come with doing what you love, trucking just has more than it's fair share.

Not being the most knowledgeable guy here.. I would say you would be looking for local or LTL deliveries. From your description it doesn't sound like OTR is what you are looking for... 3 weeks out 2 or 3 days home.

Yes.

Look for local LTL , P & D , linehaul. You don't have to go over the road. It's hard work either way; but it's good work.

-mountain girl

Not being the most knowledgeable guy here.. I would say you would be looking for local or LTL deliveries. From your description it doesn't sound like OTR is what you are looking for... 3 weeks out 2 or 3 days home.

Thank you both, is a few day out job considered OTR? Is that even a common run time at all?

Yes.

Look for local LTL , P & D , linehaul. You don't have to go over the road. It's hard work either way; but it's good work.

-mountain girl

Are those jobs typically open to new drivers? I talked to a recruiter about stuff like that, but, after all, they're salesmen... Thanks

Thank you both, is a few day out job considered OTR? Is that even a common run time at all?

Pretty much, yeah. Just be careful about hearing "a few days out" from a recruiter. That kind of promise might turn out to be a bit longer in real life than what the recruiter tells you. I'm not saying recruiters are dishonest. They just don't always get what the job is like in the real world. Even my recruiter, who works in the same office as all the rest of us, has a slight disconnect from the actual rigors of the job. It just turns out that way.

Stick around and keep asking questions as you go through this process. Everyone on here will tell you the truth about the real world out here.

-mountain girl

I'll try to keep this short. I'm close to 42. I've previously been self employed for about 15 years in home renovation. Lost that when Osama got elected, drove forklift for FedEx for 2 years, quit because it never went full time. Currently employed as a Para (teaching assistant) in an inner city school working with emotionally disabled kids. I do like my job, just isn't for me for reasons unnecessary to go into. I'm now looking into getting my CDL training through Trainco here in Northwest Ohio. I'm going to spend nearly $4,500 total doing this ($ I really don't have). I hear a lot of good about trucking, and some bad. Real quick, I have a wife, a 19 year old daughter, a 10 year old son, and 3 year old daughter. We're a close knit family, and I'm not worried about my family falling apart if I'm gone for a couple of weeks, but, like I said, we're close and I don't want that lifestyle for us. I wouldn't mind being gone for 2 or 3 days then come home for a couple. Even leave for week, no problem. I just don't want to raise my family from a cell phone. Of course I'd like to 8 or 10 then go home, but I hear that is rare. So I figure if I'm gonna be gone for 12 or 14hrs, I might as well be gone for a couple of days. Not to mention I wouldn't mind seeing some of the countryside. Of course, that romance side of trucking: seeing those beautiful sunrises, all the sites, cool truck stops (if I can back in :) ), and of course, eating 3 meals a day at the Iron Skillet buffet! Or is it BS? Is all that lost to tight schedules, and less than human dispatchers? Do the Oakridge Boys still play on the radio when you're driving an 18 wheeler?

Then there's pay, what would I expect to make for a typical job. I have a flawless MVR. I hear of guys calculating their hours/pay and figuring they only make about $13 bucks an hour (UGH). I have FedEx and UPS, as well as many others near me, but not sure if the first two would consider me, being new? Or who would be worth working for, for that matter.

Whew!, Then there's the part that you have to drive the truck! Backing, snow, ice, low bridges, fog, bad directions, lay overs, mountains and hills (worse yet, having to take off on a hill!!!) to name a few. Are these all the same concerns you all had, too? Are they an everyday challenge, or just a lot I'm just over-reacting to?

I'm tryin' to throw it out there and see if anyone with some varied experience can throw anything honest (the good and bad) my way. I have a sort of neat picture in my head of what it would be, and trying to stay realistic at the same time! I just want to make sure of some things before I spend any $. Thanks in advance yall!

P.S. Not trying to be a jerk, but I know a lot of people like to paint the picture that they work the hardest and suffer the most, heck, I'm guilty of it, too! But please, if there IS good, pleeease tell me!

I've been right where you are at before, only two months ago even. Since Trucking Companies are always hiring, people and myself included begin to focus on what is wrong about the job instead of what is right. I got my CDL from Prime yesterday and am already on the road with TNT for 6-8 weeks then my own Truck. If you don't want to pay the money for a School, then go to Prime. They pay for your CDL training if you stay with them for a year and also front you 200 dollars a week for food until you get your CDL. You go to Orientation, study and take the CDL permit, then you are eligible to be picked up by a trainer to go out on the road for 3-5 weeks or until you get at least 75 hours of driving. I'm AMAZED at where I'm at as far as driving in rush hour traffic, inner city driving, downhills, shifting, etc..etc.. in about 4 weeks time now. It was HARD. I'm not going to lie to you. It pays well because so many people either can't pass the UA, can't pass and get their permit, can't hack life on the road for 3 weeks, and finally, can't pass the skills training when you get back to the Yard to test. You have to pass a Pre-trip, Backing and Road Test. They weed out the people that don't want it quickly. Way less then half of my original class is still around or has actually received their CDL. After I got back from being out on the road for 3 weeks, I practiced hour after hour on my backing skills to pass the driving part of the exam. I'm one hundred percent happy that I both went to Prime, that I got into Trucking, and that I received my CDL. I have lots of opportunities now for my future and I love the lifestyle and job. I love to drive. I love being able to be in control of that Big Rig. I love almost every part of the job. I'm Single though without any kids though. Most local and regional trucking jobs you have to pay your dues over the road for a year for. I think you have to really want to do this.. And finally, there is LOTS of money to be made. Talk to some drivers for Prime and they'll show you their pay stubs. Definitely real good money in this business.

Thank you both, is a few day out job considered OTR? Is that even a common run time at all?

Pretty much, yeah. Just be careful about hearing "a few days out" from a recruiter. That kind of promise might turn out to be a bit longer in real life than what the recruiter tells you. I'm not saying recruiters are dishonest. They just don't always get what the job is like in the real world. Even my recruiter, who works in the same office as all the rest of us, has a slight disconnect from the actual rigors of the job. It just turns out that way.

Stick around and keep asking questions as you go through this process. Everyone on here will tell you the truth about the real world out here.

-mountain girl

Thank you!

Are those jobs typically open to new drivers? I talked to a recruiter about stuff like that, but, after all, they're salesmen... Thanks

-Shilo

YES! Yes. Fed/Ex, UPS Freight, Yellow, Reddaway, Saia, yes. There's work for new CDLs. Also look into the training programs that some of these companies offer. Some of them pay for CDL training if you also work on the dock for a while. It's worth looking in to.

-mountain girl

Are those jobs typically open to new drivers? I talked to a recruiter about stuff like that, but, after all, they're salesmen... Thanks

-Shilo

YES! Yes. Fed/Ex, UPS Freight, Yellow, Reddaway, Saia, yes. There's work for new CDLs. Also look into the training programs that some of these companies offer. Some of them pay for CDL training if you also work on the dock for a while. It's worth looking in to.

-mountain girl

Good to know, I have a Saia operation 5 minutes from me. I hear they are good to work for. I guess they're all about the same, there will be pros and cons, and certain people difficult to work with no matter where you go...