Getting Real About The Trucking Industry and How Things Really Are

I always appreciate hearing from our site's visitors. Always. I especially love the thanks we get for putting up positive, honest, and helpful information for those who are considering becoming a truck driver. None of us at TruckingTruth will ever be found guilty of sugar-coating things, or telling anyone that truck driving is nothing but a bed of roses. I have said on numerous occasions that I absolutely loved my 15 years on the road - not because it was easy, and not because it was always fair - but because it was an exciting, challenging, and constantly-changing lifestyle that allowed me to meet thousands of people, see every inch of this country from coast to coast, make good money, be a vital part of our economy doing a job I could be proud of, and have the freedom to set my own schedule, run my own routes, and make more decisions that affect my life and my career than most jobs give you. But I never said it was easy or always fair.

I've been fired numerous times from truck driving jobs, and it's true - sometimes I did not deserve to be fired. A couple of times it was a matter of miscommunication. One time I thought it was Ok to do something that we normally did, but for one certain customer we weren't allowed to do it. My dispatcher never told me this - he had forgotten. Another time I went home for the weekend because the dispatcher that was filling in for my regular dispatcher told me it was ok to do so. Turns out he just forgot to tell anyone else that I was doing it and the company thought I had quit and abandoned the truck - so both companies fired me. Both times I got my job back after the matter was cleared up.

I've been fired from a couple of trucking jobs because of too many logbook violations. Well, that was my fault. Now, did these trucking companies know I was cheating the book? Yap - I was running too many miles to be legal. Did they let it go because they were profiting from it? Yap - until I got caught by the DOT a few times. Then it was going to come down to the company getting in trouble by the DOT if they didn't fire me and claim they didn't know I was cheating the logbook. So they fired me to protect themselves. Do I think this is fair? Yap - because I understand the trucking industry and how all of this works.

I knew when I was cheating the logbook that all of us would make more money and these particular companies would let me do it if I kept a low profile and didn't get caught by the DOT. Did they actually tell me this? Hell no! They can't say those type of things! I learned it from experience. I also knew they'd throw me under the bus if it came down to one of us getting in trouble. I knew all of this, I accepted the inherent risks, and it worked out in everybody's favor for a long time - but not forever. It pretty much went like I figured it would go, and I walked away and onto new jobs without too much concern. Now I'm not telling you to do this, and I'm not telling you it will work this way at all trucking companies - because it won't. I'm just telling you what I did, how it worked out for me, and how I felt about it - and why.

Truck driving, more than any job I've ever had, is really a "do whatcha gotta do" kinda job. You put in a lot of long hours, you don't always get enough sleep, and you're dealing with a lot of heavy traffic, tough road conditions, bad weather, crazy drivers, time alone away from your home and family and friends, and a myriad of other challenges out on the road. But the key word there is challenges.

Personally, I love to challenge myself. I used to love getting out of the truck, looking back at that monstrous trailer, and laughing to myself about the fact that I drive a small building around - through the mountains, snowstorms, big cities, and back home again - bringing the people of this nation the goods they can so easily pick up from their local grocery stores, malls, and department stores.

I used to love pulling into my destination - snow and salt covering my entire truck and trailer, ice on the wipers, and tires sliding around in the parking lot. I'd back that thing in with only inches to spare while reminiscing over the memories of the past days' travels. Fighting through the cities, climbing over mountains, the heat of the desert, and the endless cornfields of the plains - the snow, the heat, the wind, the traffic - the meals in the truck stops, the nights with the engine rumbling, fueling in the freezing cold (don't lick the fuel tanks in the winter - they're aluminum - your tongue will stick to them!) - all so that I could bring people the things they needed to live the lifestyle we have all come to take for granted in this wonderful country.

I didn't need the thanks - and normally didn't get any - and I understood why. Because most people have never gone through what truck drivers go through - and many wouldn't want to. And that was part of what I loved about it - not many people were cut out for the truck driving lifestyle, but I was. It was challenging, rewarding, exciting, and filled with adventures - you never knew what was going to happen from one moment to the next. At times it was difficult, demanding, frustrating, exhausting, and unfair. And pretty much every night when your head hits the pillow, the alarm clock seems to go off immediately! Yap, it's already time to drag myself out of bed again - God it didn't feel like I had slept for even five minutes! But that's life on the road for ya.

If you're the adventurous type - if you're tough, you're brave, you're independent, you'd love to travel, you love making your own decisions, and you're the type that will do whatever it takes to get the job done safely - or you think you can learn to be these things - then trucking may be perfect for you! If you hate that life isn't fair, if you want to always know what's going to happen next, if you expect to be treated like a king, or you crave attention and appreciation - then I'd say leave trucking to those of us who were cut out to do it. There are a lot of things that trucking is, a lot of things it is not, and a lot of things it should or should not be - but regardless of how any of us feels about it, trucking is what it is. You either accept that because you love the richness that truck driving will bring to your life, or you get out soon after you get in and wind up one of those complainers you see all over the trucking forums of other trucking sites - crying that life isn't fair.

Truck driving is what it is, people. You're not going to change it. Believe me you won't. But no matter who you are, and no matter what you've been through in your life, it will change you. I know it changed me for the better - because I learned from it and I grew rich from it - not financially, but rich in wisdom, memories, and character. Our goal here at TruckingTruth is to let you know the truth about what life is like in the trucking industry - and I hope I've helped you see a little bit more of what it's all about. If you would be so kind, leave me a comment below for my efforts so I know if this has helped in some way.

Related Articles: