I been reading these forums and other trucking forums about 4-5 times a week, and i saw a post about this guy saying something about its not for everybody but its a good career if you can hang in there. I dont know if this is me or not but it seems like 69% of the things i read is negative towards trucking. I dont know if these trucking forums are filled with drivers that wine like babies or just not satisfied with their job. I really want to start trucking but sometimes i question that desision about getting into the industry from reading the forums all the time, can someone shed some light on this topic please?
Whats wrong with trucking??
- Thread starter chevy454
- Start date
iceain
Well-Known Member
most of what u read is true bout the industry has been slow for several months now to where companies r either closing or lattin ppl go that dont want to go team and scuch but the biggest thing is with the economy such as it is there are ppl struggling to make ends meet every where just not in this industry
Biker
Yes, I am!
It's not for everyone. There are many who get into the biz thinking it's going to be a 9-5, Monday through Friday gig. First time they're away from home for 6 weeks, they quickly find out otherwise.
To make decent money, you have to keep the wheels turning. Many are fortunate to have runs that get 'em home on weekends or at least a day per week. However, that's not the norm. Freight is slow right now, and the ratio of drivers is higher than the amount of freight needing to be moved.
IF, you don't need to be home on a semi-regular basis, and don't mind being on the road during holidays, weekends, birthdays, etc., then yes, it may just be the ticket for you. But if missing just one birthday is going to land you at best, in the dog house, you may wish to rethink career choices.
FlatBroke
Well-Known Member
I hate it...but is all I know how to do.
patriciajnsn
Steering Wheel Holder
Biker pretty much said it all.You have to want to drive truck over the road.Sure it's not for everybody.I've been driving over 4 yrs and I love it.Some do get homesick if gone even more then a week.When im on the road I prefer staying out out a month or longer.Some don't like truck driving because there's alot of nite driving involved.It does'nt matter if I drive days or nites.Some of the drivers are just compulsive whiners.It's all what you make of it.If you have it in your mind,I hate truck driving and find nothing but bad things about the career then yes you're going to hate it.You have to look on the possitive side of things whether it's driving trk or any other profession.Driving a semi over the road isn't a job it's a life style and many don't like that type of lifestyle.But there is so much more to it then all the negativity you hear.But you have to be 100% possitive you want to do this.If you think you're going to miss your family then I would suggest you wait till you're absolutely possitive.I don't have a husband or kids so it's perfect for me.
ironmanwife
Barn goddess
Aww..I bet its Not so...if you like hubby he has a love hate for it..
FlatBroke
Well-Known Member
I guess I probably do have a love hate for trucking. I came into trucking back in 96.
In 96-97 you could still get diesel for $.85 cents per gallon. I pulled a bucket, hauling coal, rock etc. You could actually go to a coal mine and ask for 40 tons...I would scale out over 120,000 lbs. was it legal? Nope, but you could still do it.
Same as rock, in a rock quarry I used to not go down the road weighing less than 120,000 lbs. no matter what. I have actually been pulled over by KY DOT and had 96,000 lbs...and him to tell me to have a nice day.
Now, most rock quarry's allow 80,500 lbs...and most are 80,000 lbs period! I have had to unload less than 100 pounds before the scale would let me out.
Nowadays, I see trucks get tickets for 100 pounds over gross. Used too you could drive for three days straight, as long as your last entry in the log book looked halfway decent. They didn't care, now pull into a coop with the log not up to date and see what happens.
It's more like a job now, I have to do twice as much paperwork as I used to. Traffic was way better, there was not as much of it. Now, its hurry up and go, go , go...
In 96-97 you could still get diesel for $.85 cents per gallon. I pulled a bucket, hauling coal, rock etc. You could actually go to a coal mine and ask for 40 tons...I would scale out over 120,000 lbs. was it legal? Nope, but you could still do it.
Same as rock, in a rock quarry I used to not go down the road weighing less than 120,000 lbs. no matter what. I have actually been pulled over by KY DOT and had 96,000 lbs...and him to tell me to have a nice day.
Now, most rock quarry's allow 80,500 lbs...and most are 80,000 lbs period! I have had to unload less than 100 pounds before the scale would let me out.
Nowadays, I see trucks get tickets for 100 pounds over gross. Used too you could drive for three days straight, as long as your last entry in the log book looked halfway decent. They didn't care, now pull into a coop with the log not up to date and see what happens.
It's more like a job now, I have to do twice as much paperwork as I used to. Traffic was way better, there was not as much of it. Now, its hurry up and go, go , go...
CHEVY 454 i think thats wright. my friend if you want to get into trucking im the last one that would try to talk you out of it ive only been out here for 45 yrs and counting and i would not quit for anything but let me tell you a little about the business befor you make a decision.
first let me say that it is true that trucking is not for everyone but it is for anyone that wants a good career and a good living and one that is not afraid of work.
now to the good stuff. trucking is the most diversified business in the world , there are all kinds of way to truck and if you take the time to look you will find one that you like .
now you got to remember that if you start in this business your not going to be home every night , it envolves a lot of time on the road and i mean a lot of time .
now in this business you can pull a van , a reefer , a flat bed , a step deck, a doubel drop , a low boy, a stretch trailer, to name just a few . you can haul produce, frozen food, steel, machinery , heavy equipment , haz mat, explosives , and a whole lot more just depends on what you like to haul. as for me i haul heavy equipment and machinery and oversize loads i pull a step deck trailer.
machinery and heavy equiment along with over size loads pay the most with less work that why i haul it .
it depends largely on you and what you want to do. ,you can drive for a company or own your own truck, if you own your own truck you can lease it to a company or be idependent and haul for yourself as i do im am an independent .
you can make some pretty good money if you want to work like i said ive been out here a long time and no way will i ever quit, trucking is a way of life and the life i choose.
now im not saying it is without problems it has plenty but most of the problems drivers bring on themselves its a good business and a good life but it does take some getting use to and YES YOU CAN DO IT if you decide that is what you want to do in life there is always room for one more .
as i think you have already learned every time you ask a driver a question he will have an answer and every driver will have a different answer to the same question and a different opinion on all the problems that we face when like i said for the most part the drivers are the cause of most of the problems we face not all but most i like you read all the blogs and i listen to all the gloom and doom that you hear about and i must be doing somthing wrong i dont have all those problems my point is this business is just what you make it no more no less. you can do it and you can make a good living at it just look at the buisness and listen to all you hear and then disregard the bad and all the things that dont make any damn sense if it dosent pertain to you then dont worry about just turn right and keep on going you got a load to deliver.
hope this has helped you in some way if you need to no somthing more or if i can help you in anyway dont hesitate to ask ill be more then glad to help you in any way i can.
best of luck and good luck in your new carreer.--------------------J.R. HORTON
([email protected])
first let me say that it is true that trucking is not for everyone but it is for anyone that wants a good career and a good living and one that is not afraid of work.
now to the good stuff. trucking is the most diversified business in the world , there are all kinds of way to truck and if you take the time to look you will find one that you like .
now you got to remember that if you start in this business your not going to be home every night , it envolves a lot of time on the road and i mean a lot of time .
now in this business you can pull a van , a reefer , a flat bed , a step deck, a doubel drop , a low boy, a stretch trailer, to name just a few . you can haul produce, frozen food, steel, machinery , heavy equipment , haz mat, explosives , and a whole lot more just depends on what you like to haul. as for me i haul heavy equipment and machinery and oversize loads i pull a step deck trailer.
machinery and heavy equiment along with over size loads pay the most with less work that why i haul it .
it depends largely on you and what you want to do. ,you can drive for a company or own your own truck, if you own your own truck you can lease it to a company or be idependent and haul for yourself as i do im am an independent .
you can make some pretty good money if you want to work like i said ive been out here a long time and no way will i ever quit, trucking is a way of life and the life i choose.
now im not saying it is without problems it has plenty but most of the problems drivers bring on themselves its a good business and a good life but it does take some getting use to and YES YOU CAN DO IT if you decide that is what you want to do in life there is always room for one more .
as i think you have already learned every time you ask a driver a question he will have an answer and every driver will have a different answer to the same question and a different opinion on all the problems that we face when like i said for the most part the drivers are the cause of most of the problems we face not all but most i like you read all the blogs and i listen to all the gloom and doom that you hear about and i must be doing somthing wrong i dont have all those problems my point is this business is just what you make it no more no less. you can do it and you can make a good living at it just look at the buisness and listen to all you hear and then disregard the bad and all the things that dont make any damn sense if it dosent pertain to you then dont worry about just turn right and keep on going you got a load to deliver.
hope this has helped you in some way if you need to no somthing more or if i can help you in anyway dont hesitate to ask ill be more then glad to help you in any way i can.
best of luck and good luck in your new carreer.--------------------J.R. HORTON
([email protected])
patriciajnsn
Steering Wheel Holder
There ya go chevy,who would know more about the trucking biz then jr,silver,bull and a few other veterans on here.
Sinister
pari animositate
Another thing you will find in trucking is an over abundance of people who seem to want to do nothing but reminisce about the "good ole' days" and how things used to be, wihtout really having any suggestions or any real point.
Take these stories with a grain of frickin' salt. Your experiences will be both positive and negative. How you weather the crap you'll go through will determine your success or failure.
Here are some realities:
1- Most likely, you will always be slightly uncomfortable in some way. Hungry, thirsty, looking for a bathroom while sitting in traffic (which can be one of the worst things), tired, needing a shower, up against a tight schedule, traffic, weather, DOT, a nagging/frustrated wife, kids who miss you, tight money situations, lack of decent parking, on and on and on and on...
2- Most of what you hear from other drivers will be negative, so accept that and make your own judgements.
3- A lot of drivers are simply too stupid to understand things fully, or even bother to try to, and would rather whine and complain than look for ways to make thigs better and solve problems.
Try not to be one of those drivers who constantly runs over things, tears up equipment, has accidents, and then shrugs it off like you don't care. Be better than the next guy, and it will show in your performance and pay. The object of the game is not to run things over, but to do the job with a minimum of difficulty and hassle, and the best way to do that is simply to keep a clear head as much as possible, and be very aware of your surroundings.
Take a shower. To me there is nothing more disgusting than white trash waddling through the restaurant who clearly hasn't bathed in at least a week. There is no reason not to. You get a free shower most of the time when you fuel, and yes you can make time.
Mostly your attitude is what determines whether or not you last in this industry. Best of luck.
jeffthompson
Active Member
i've been a trainer for a few years and most guys that start out after training don't make it even for the first year because....
1) the demands on being away from home and wife/girlfriend/kids are too great. you only get home say once a month typically and then u dont even hit the exact day u asked for off.
2) they whine too much and piss off the dispatcher and dont get many miles. if there is one person u want to like you it is your dispatcher.
3) they get tickets and some get into minor accidents (getting your truck stuck in mud is considered an accident at my company) and a few may get into serious accidents but none of my 16 students has that i know of.
4) they do bonehead moves and receive scorn from other drivers, most just need to slow down and learn to take turns type stuff.
basically it wears them down and they quit. its not all smokey and the bandit out here and it is real work with a lot of alone time, big penalties for screw ups. not everyone is cut out for it.
1) the demands on being away from home and wife/girlfriend/kids are too great. you only get home say once a month typically and then u dont even hit the exact day u asked for off.
2) they whine too much and piss off the dispatcher and dont get many miles. if there is one person u want to like you it is your dispatcher.
3) they get tickets and some get into minor accidents (getting your truck stuck in mud is considered an accident at my company) and a few may get into serious accidents but none of my 16 students has that i know of.
4) they do bonehead moves and receive scorn from other drivers, most just need to slow down and learn to take turns type stuff.
basically it wears them down and they quit. its not all smokey and the bandit out here and it is real work with a lot of alone time, big penalties for screw ups. not everyone is cut out for it.
FlatBroke
Well-Known Member
Hey noob...you can go to hell for all I care...If you don't like what I post...dont read it.
These are the reason's I hate trucking today...the point was to show how much it has changed, and NOT for the better.
FlatBroke
Well-Known Member
I don't think that was pointed at you specifically. Touchy today are we?
Yea, when someone quotes part of a post and adds Blaa Blaa Blaa....to the end of it..
Sounds to me like it was directed right at the OP of the quoted part..
Back in 1991, if you had message boards like this, and the internet was highly popular, you would be seeing these same exact comments being made about trucking. I know, I listened to it on the CB all the time.
Every industry has it's problems. There are two industries I have spent quite a bit of time in, trucking, and automotive (as a technician). The auto industry is the same way, only the amount of money I could make now as a tech in a dealership is less than what I could have back in the mid 90's.
I left trucking to go into the automotive field, put through college by Ford Motor Company. Shortly into my career, I was able to earn very good money, and felt I was very close to being able to make it into 6 figures, factoring in all the side work I did. Then things changed. The push to bring in less experienced techs in came, independent dealerships were being bought out by large companies, and I seen drops of over 20K per year to my income.
This pushed me back into truck driving, which pushed me back into the dealership, which pushed me right back into trucking.
Finally, I realized that things had simply changed everywhere.
To put an end to this long rambling, this will sum it up.
When you listen to people talk about the industry they work in, you are going to get a high percentage of negativity, and any positive will generally go overlooked. That is just the nature of people, some worse than others.
Trucking is what you make of it. If you truly have a passion for it, you will be just fine. Times are tough for everyone right now, including trucking.
Every industry has it's problems. There are two industries I have spent quite a bit of time in, trucking, and automotive (as a technician). The auto industry is the same way, only the amount of money I could make now as a tech in a dealership is less than what I could have back in the mid 90's.
I left trucking to go into the automotive field, put through college by Ford Motor Company. Shortly into my career, I was able to earn very good money, and felt I was very close to being able to make it into 6 figures, factoring in all the side work I did. Then things changed. The push to bring in less experienced techs in came, independent dealerships were being bought out by large companies, and I seen drops of over 20K per year to my income.
This pushed me back into truck driving, which pushed me back into the dealership, which pushed me right back into trucking.
Finally, I realized that things had simply changed everywhere.
To put an end to this long rambling, this will sum it up.
When you listen to people talk about the industry they work in, you are going to get a high percentage of negativity, and any positive will generally go overlooked. That is just the nature of people, some worse than others.
Trucking is what you make of it. If you truly have a passion for it, you will be just fine. Times are tough for everyone right now, including trucking.
Cerberus
In God We Trust
Looks like Somebody has a case of Cerbitis today. Irratibility and quick to bite are just a few of the symptoms.
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