2.6 Million Job Losses in 2008: It's Time To Turn To Truck Driving

Unbelievable. Simply a horrifying number of job losses. 2.6 million job losses is the government's official number. There will likely be small revisions to that number, but not enough to matter. And the worst thing that you must understand is that this is not the end of it - not by far. Unemployement is going to increase further in the first half of 2009. More layoffs, and more job losses. So can a career in trucking save the day for many of these factory workers, construction workers, salespeople, retailer workers, and other job loss victims across the board? You bet it can!

I did a recent article about layoffs in the trucking industry and how new drivers may actually be helped by the fact that trucking companies are trying to reduce costs and are therefore increasing the percentage of students they hire out of trucking schools. This is going to save the day for many unemployed workers across the United States.

So are you still skeptical about what I'm telling you? No problem. I totally understand. So let me make yet another point that I failed to mention in that previous article. Remember that most trucking companies hire from at least two thirds of the areas across the United States. It isn't like other jobs where your local economy is going to have a big affect on whether or not you can find a decent job. I've worked for a company out of Georgia while living in New York. I worked for a company out of Des Moines, Iowa while living in Charlotte, NC. I worked for a company out of Scranton, PA while living in Winterhaven, FL.

Remember, you're not driving to work, you're driving for a living. Most companies don't care too much about where you live. They have freight over a vast portion of the United States and they can get you home one way or another. Now keep in mind, almost every company has some restrictions about what territories they hire from based upon their freight lanes. But overall, you can live anywhere in the United States and find work at hundreds, if not thousands of different trucking companies.

I also want to stress that against what you might believe, trucking companies work very hard at hiring as many students as they can get. You would think that a company would want all the experience behind the wheel that they can get. Well, this is simply not true. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why, but I have theories. And yap, you guessed it - I never have an unspoken thought - so I'll share them.

First of all, trucking companies must have figured out that the costs involved with the extra fender-benders and accidents that newer truck drivers get into do not overcome the cost savings of paying a driver less money because of his limited experience. That was a theory. For a fact, I can also tell you that a company has no solid incentive they can offer an experienced driver to stay on for a long period of time. But they can either train people in their own schools and offer to cover the cost of the schooling if the student driver stays for a year, or they can offer tuition reimbursement as a solid incentive to keep drivers on board that are coming out of private schools. Turnover is one of the biggest problems in the trucking industry and companies can hire new drivers at lower wages and give them the incentive to stay longer - killing two "cost-saving-birds" with one stone. So as you can see, there are many reasons to believe that if you get into truck driving school now you'll have no problem finding a job once you graduate. Any companies that I have talked with lately said that they are all hiring as many students as they can get. Look, I don't own a trucking school. I don't make money if you decide to become a truck driver. I'm just telling you that if you're looking for a high demand career with good job security, truck driving is one of the best ones to consider. Protect your license, stay with your first company for one full year no matter what, and always make safety your number one priority!

And if you do decide to become a truck driver, never forget that at TruckingTruth we are always here to help you out with great advice along the way! Never hesitate to turn to us when you have any questions - cuz that's what we're here for!

Best of luck to ya!

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