Is Trucking A Way Of Life For You, Or Is Trucking Just A Job?

[Mike]

They're still like that are'nt they,I mean about bragging???????????????? Many times I drive past businesses and some places I deliver to that is just full of jbhunt trls.I get the feeling alot of these big companies are trying to put the smaller ones as well as O/O out of business.

The big companies are definitely trying to put the little guys under. All under the name of the ATA. Posted here a while back about an email I seen over the bosses shoulder regarding CSA2010 and how when it came out it would help eliminate some of the mom and pop outfits. The guy who sent that email was very proud of himself for typing that....

 

[patriciajnsn]

I sure hope it does'nt come to that.Jason is doing real good but soon that all could change.

The big companies are definitely trying to put the little guys under. All under the name of the ATA. Posted here a while back about an email I seen over the bosses shoulder regarding CSA2010 and how when it came out it would help eliminate some of the mom and pop outfits. The guy who sent that email was very proud of himself for typing that....

 

[Sinister]

Not cool. Then again, I know how to make a molotov.

We can do the 70's all over again. Except this time it will be big guys vs. little guys.

I remember as a kid in 78 or so, the teamsters on Long Island would strike, and they "scab" companies would be tasked with hauling the frieght they refused to. They would stand on overpasses on the LIE with banners (they still do this today), and at night they would drop empty 55 gallon drums as "scab" trucks passed under. Once, they did it in broad daylight. All I remember was my dad screaming for my mom and me to get in the sleeper as we went under the overpass. The drum hit the top of the trailer.

Several times we went to the yard in Deer Park, and people had jumped the fence and trashed trucks, flattened tires, and stolen equipment.

The unions on the east coast are serious. They will kill for what they feel is theirs.

I've hated them for the longest time because of that. I was FIVE years old when the overpass incident happened. They might have killed a five year old boy that day. That's when my dad started carrying pistols in the truck. But now, given the info that the big companies want everything, and little guys stamped out...I sort of understand it.

In the coming years...it'd be wise not to drive for large companies.

And don't take your kids along.

 

[Mike]

In the 70's, everything about NYC was dangerous. You literally risked your life walking out into the street in many areas. It was a different breed of people there.

 

[Sinister]

That's true. They had (until the late 80's at least) crews that would come out onto the cross bronx and strip cars in just a little while. The term "sitting on milk crates" comes from these crews. I haven't seen that in ages, come to think of it.

I know once, getting onto the GWB outbound, there was a cadillac on the shoulder. There was a big bridge stanchion there, and it was actually a few inches over the white line, broke down. I was in the right lane, and a Shop Rite truck was actually swerving toward me. Usually these guys are pretty good, but this one must have been having an off day. I threaded my way between his trailer, my left mirror, and the caddy.

The ICC bar on the van trailer caught the front bumper of the caddy and ripped it clean off, laying it 90 degrees in front of the caddy. You DON'T stop on the Cross Bronx if traffic is actually moving.

I used to run NYC a lot.

Rear view mirrors left sticking out on parked cars are something of a sport.

Back to the topic, I guess that was part of my "lifestyle" also.

You get absorbed into different aspects of the job. I used to really pride myself on being able to get 5 stops off before noon in NYC. Now...I can barely stand it. I did it several times with ATS, and only then because it was the best they offered. I have no desire to be in that mess.

Of course, I have stress in a million other ways hauling the loads I do nowadays.

So that's anothe aspect of the "lifestyle"...how do you handle the stress of whatever you're in? Are you good at leaving it at the yard? Do you go home aggravated? If you know you have a ****ty dispatch next week, can you sleep that weekend? I usually can't.

Yeah...it's a lifestyle. Good or bad, it takes up most of your life, either physically, or mentally. Thats a lifestyle.

 

[farleyd]

Back in the late 70's I spent 6 months on the road in a 1960 something cabover IH with a bed bugger named Woody. No lie!!
There was no glamor about the truck or the driver. lol he told me it was a lifestyle just because the job demands it. If you are a teacher,bank teller or sell cars you go bowling on wensday nights and church on sunday. You keep plans to take the kids fishing and drop by to see your folks after. So yes it is a lifestyle even if you think of it as just a JOB.

 

[Bigwheeler]

"And yes, I have a rosy view of trucking back then. I often went to bed at night with my AM radio on, listening to the Midnight Cowboy, Bill Mack. Always started the show with the "Orange Blossom Special". "

I used to listen to that while hauling fuel around DFW and east Texas. We made our drops at night when traffic was light and most of these places were closed. You brought back some memories!

On topic, driving a truck is just a job if you do it in a local setting where you go home every evening. I met many a student driver who was looking for just such a position due to home and family constraints. It is the OTR driver who experiences the lifestyle of a trucker at it's fullest and best or worst. When your workweek consists of 14-21 days and you learn to stock up on what you need in your vehicle to minimize costs and prepare for contingencies such as breakdowns, snowstorms, layovers, etc., and when you learn to sleep in Barstow, CA until 2AM so you can drive on down and park at the receiver's place before the morning rush in SoCal, then you understand what the term "lifestyle" really means to a trucker. There's no way to describe just how beautiful a moonlit night is while running through the snow-covered mountains without any fourwheelers around; and all one can hear is the purr of the engine and the music. Lifestyle? Yeah, it's definitely a lifestyle! Tudaloo and Happy Trails!

 

[Racer X 69]

Back in the early 90's, there was alot of hatred out here for JB Hunt.

Still is considerable disdain for them, and some of the other mega trucking companies.

 

[Racer X 69]

Howcome????????????????? Whyd they think jb was taking over the industry??????????????????

Because they were trying, just like Swift and Werner.

 

[Racer X 69]

The unions on the east coast are serious. They will kill for what they feel is theirs

It isn't just the East coast.

When the Aerospace Machinists are striking at Boeing things get pretty ugly. I have seen cars burned or otherwise destroyed. They even burned a guys house down once because he decided that earning a living and paying pills was more important than solidarity.

They even threaten and beat up fellow union members who cross the picket lines and scab.

Ugly business.

 

[Sinister]

Because they were trying, just like Swift and Werner.

True. Big companies have their place in this industry. Handling accounts of 200 loads a week that small outfits couldn't cover adequately. The problem with large companies is that they end up setting a standard for the rest of the industry, and they shouldn't. They have the lowest hiring standards, the most unskilled drivers, have the most wrecks...

...and have the strongest voice when it comes to regulations.

It really is a shame.

 

[Racer X 69]

They have the lowest hiring standards, the most unskilled drivers, have the most wrecks...

...and have the strongest voice when it comes to regulations.

It really is a shame.

And the highest turnover rates.

 

[knucklehead]

If you asked truckers 20+ years ago,

If you have been around trucking for a long time, you probably understand this a little more. Years ago, truck drivers were different. They were hard working, and always there to help you out when you were in need. True highway angels.

So driver, which is it? Is trucking just a job for you, or is it a lifestyle?

We still work hard, don't we??? Still help out one another. Cell phones and nation wide road service mean most won't be stranded.

Guess the way companies treat drivers an vice a versa is the big difference.

 

[Road Dust]

A very insightful thread, imo. From my observations, it seems like those who still enjoy trucking, and could never imagine doing anything else, usually consider it a lifestyle.

 

[searay]

I love what I do, because i'm treated like a human being. My customers are excited to see me.

 

[Cj Caudill]

you all are funny too, I personally don't have 20 years experience but I have had the trucker blood runnin thru these veins for 49 years. Being born into a trucker's world and living a truckers lifestyle of on the go 24/7, loosing track of what is goin on and where. My life has been filled with adventure, heartbreak, happy times, sad times, damn the dispatcher times, and Thank you God for getting me out of that one times. But I believe with all my heart that if you are a true trucker that it is a lifestyle and the people around you who are truly your friends and love you for who and what you are make it a fantastic life style. I was born a trucker and I will leave this world a trucker. I just hope the gates are taller than 13' 6'!!!!!! ROLL ON!

 

[patriciajnsn]

When I was with Werner and i'd get hometime,I absolutey positively HATED going back out because I knew where I was headed,the east coast and there i'd stay till hometime once again.With this company I enjoy going out after hometime.No matter how tough the laws are,trucking will always be a way of life for me.

 

[Rhodie]

If you asked truckers 20+ years ago, I think most would say that trucking was a way of life for them. The truck driver and the truck were "one" so to speak. For some truck drivers today, it may still be a "way of life", but it seems like more and more it has become "just a job".

If you have been around trucking for a long time, you probably understand this a little more. Years ago, truck drivers were different. They were hard working, and always there to help you out when you were in need. True highway angels.

So driver, which is it? Is trucking just a job for you, or is it a lifestyle?

Let's ask a question here first.....will you miss it once you leave? I was raised by a father who never ever sent a vehicle in for a service, he did it all himself. He taught all three his boys to drive a truck by age 14 (granted it was Africa and the cops don't get out that far!!) I think that once you have "diesel in your veins" you will not get it out. I did leave but every truck I passed on the road was always "reviewed" and discussed with any poor soul who had the disadvantage of being in the car with me. Will $5/mile make you miss the family any less? If yes then I may need to review my priorities in life and that goes for any profession! Trucking and especially ORT is and has to be a way of life, a love of the open road, changing environment and reserved for someone who enjoys his/her own company....if not don't get started....you will get hooked!

 

[Mike]

Let's ask a question here first.....will you miss it once you leave? I was raised by a father who never ever sent a vehicle in for a service, he did it all himself. He taught all three his boys to drive a truck by age 14 (granted it was Africa and the cops don't get out that far!!) I think that once you have "diesel in your veins" you will not get it out. I did leave but every truck I passed on the road was always "reviewed" and discussed with any poor soul who had the disadvantage of being in the car with me. Will $5/mile make you miss the family any less? If yes then I may need to review my priorities in life and that goes for any profession! Trucking and especially ORT is and has to be a way of life, a love of the open road, changing environment and reserved for someone who enjoys his/her own company....if not don't get started....you will get hooked!

Lots of truth here.

I left the industry for a few years, and I was DONE with trucking. Wasn't long until I was doing just as you said. I would examine the trucks and get curious what they were like on the inside. I found myself missing trucking more than I ever thought I would.

 

[notarps4me]

If you are home every night it can be just a job. I have worked jobs where I traveled and stayed in a motel and that was a job. In a truck tho, to me it seems to be a life style if I am sleeping in the truck. At night I am not flipping on a light switch and going down the hall to take a leak. I have to get up; get dressed and go inside to a restroom. I have to look for a place to park. I have to adjust to a lot of things that is more than just doing a job. To me it is life changes not just a job. I have never married a job, but driving can be hard to get out of. That part of it is not a job, but something that has altered how I live.