truck driving

[Silver R/T]

Anyone on here is a truck driver? What are pros/cons, would it be reasonable to be one at my age of 22 and being single?

[Old Moparz]

There will be plenty of time to get hemorrhoids.

[Dans 68]

There will be plenty of time to get hemorrhoids.

 

Aside from the bottom problems, you are the correct demographic! Give it a try! (I went to college for upteen years, so ... for what its worth)

Dan

[Lowprofile]

Ah, Where do I begin??
I have been a "over the road" driver for the better part of 20 years. It is without a doubt, one of the most stressfull,overworked, underpaid,unappreciated Jobs in the world. Having said that, I don't think I would want to do anything else!

There are so many things you need to know before you make this kind of comitment. Long hours, ALWAYS! Good pay? Sometimes!! Look, I'm a gypsy at heart, so the thought of having to "punch a timecard" scares me! 9 TO 5 is not in my vocabulary. I am very lucky. The company that I am leased on to[I own my own truck] works only in the entertainment industry. We do Rock & Roll, Broadway shows, Country, Hip-Hop, R&B, etc......... For the past 2.5 years my wife and I have been working on WWE Wrestling. Finding a good company will be  the cornerstone of your career.
These days , there are so many rules and regulations to follow!  So much traffic to fight!!  Good Luck choosing your next job!  

[TruckDriver]

Ah, Where do I begin??
I have been a "over the road" driver for the better part of 20 years. It is without a doubt, one of the most stressfull,overworked, underpaid,unappreciated Jobs in the world. Having said that, I don't think I would want to do anything else!

There are so many things you need to know before you make this kind of comitment. Long hours, ALWAYS! Good pay? Sometimes!! Look, I'm a gypsy at heart, so the thought of having to "punch a timecard" scares me! 9 TO 5 is not in my vocabulary. I am very lucky. The company that I am leased on to[I own my own truck] works only in the entertainment industry. We do Rock & Roll, Broadway shows, Country, Hip-Hop, R&B, etc......... For the past 2.5 years my wife and I have been working on WWE Wrestling. Finding a good company will be   the cornerstone of your career.
These days , there are so many rules and regulations to follow!   So much traffic to fight!!   Good Luck choosing your next job!  

What he said. And in 23 years of driving, I never had hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids were more of a problem when trucks didn't have air ride cabs and suspension. Some of the trucks today ride better then some cars and pickups. I did 8 years of over the road, I owned my own semi, and been driving dump truck for the past 15 years. I started driving over the road when I was 21. I been in all 48 states, and Canada. Yes, you see a lot of things, some good, some bad. You get to deliver in places most people wont walk through by themselves in the day. New York City, you dont stop at stop signs or else the hookers will jump in the truck in some places. And even when I didn't stop, they tried to get in. On the other hand, the good things I seen were driving across Hover Dam, got to spend New Years eve in Las Vegas. Been on Broadway in N.Y. city, (the only place I ever seen striped out cars on a main street) been to the topless beaches in Florida, got to see a lot of Gods land that still is untouched by growth. But the hours a awful long. A lot of places expect you to drive at least 2500 miles a week or more. I used to get a lot of "your load will be ready when you get there", just to find out it wasn't even being made yet. So then you are put waaaaaaaay behind schedual, and have to drive all damn night to get there on time and still not make it. So then you have to wait til the place your delivering at makes time to let you back into the docks to unload. Then if your lucky, you wont have to unload it by hand all by your self. And that goes on all the time more then I can even explain. Sound harsh, it is, but it is also the truth. The average person has no idea about they way you get pushed to deliver on time. Now I will say, that is not true in ALL cases. But it does happen a lot. Another good one you get told is, when you wanna get home, the dispatchers sometimes have there way of keeping you far from there. Then like Lowprofile said, there are the crazy drivers. You people that have never drivin truck have not seen anything close to the stupid drivers us truck drivers seen... trust me/us! I am NOT saying you shouldn't drive OTR, but I am just trying to tell you what to expect. As far as the pay, the company I drive dump truck for also has about 100 over the road trucks. And our OTR drivers right now average about $1200.00 a week bring home pay a week. As dump driver, I am averaging about 600 to 700 a week after taxes right now. And right now, we as dump drivers (we have 18 dumps) are averaging about 12 hours a day. Today I just put in 13 hours punch in to punch out time. I got up at 3:30am, left the house at 4:30am, started at 5am, got home at 6:30pm. Yes long hours, but still less I was getting when I drove OTR. Again like Lowprofile again said..."It is without a doubt, one of the most stressfull, overworked, underpaid, unappreciated Jobs in the world. Having said that, I don't think I would want to do anything else! And I couldn't agree more. Good luck whatever you choose. And remember this.. driving is always better then haveing someone watching over your shoulder all the time in a factory to meet quotas.

[1970440RT]

I just gave it up after 10 years in.  It is probably the perfect job if you have no wife and kids.  The hardest part is just starting out, you get the crappy loads, crappy equipment, and on top of that you have to learn the ropes.  I worked for a company and used their equipment mainly in the northeast.  Many of the people I knew who were owner operators said it was very difficult to make money and have a family at the same time.  If you look at strictly at the money paid for the load, you think " holy crap that is alot of cash!" but if you own your own equipment, truck payment, fuel costs, and taxes eat into that money bigtime.  The biggest con for me was the loss of weekends and holidays.  If you are used to Monday thru Friday 9 to 5, this will be a big change.  As the other guys hinted at somewhat, you need to be a patient person to do this, expect to deliver a load and them not be able to empty your trailer for a couple days. And of course the load is always "rush".  Either you will be "late" or " too early, come back in a couple hours".  The huge pro for this job is the driving!  If you like nothing more than to jump in the car and go for a cruise to relax, like me, you will absolutely love driving a rig.  Sometimes I still wish I drive just to be able to run through 14 gears and be bigger than anyone else on the road.  It can be exhilarating.  If you don't like it, you can always quit and do something else.

[BigBlockSam]

drove a truck for the ny times for 23 yrs, gave it up 3 yrs ago. i worked nites . i started at 2 am and worked weekends. now i got my life back. Rene

[8WHEELER]

I loved it, I just hauled local in WA and OR hauling heavy equipment for a pretty
large Construction outfit ''now they are huge''. I only drove for 5yrs had my own
rig ''KW'' and had it home most every night, worked 36hrs strait a few time's but I
was younger then and thought I had the best damn job in the world. I will never
regret it evan though putting in 80hr weeks would get the wife lonely, and left
very little time to have fun with my Chargers.

Dan

[Wakko]

If you DO start drivin trucks, you're gonna spend alot on cellular internet so you can post while driving..."Wow, I just saw a cool billboard!"  "Hot chick just passed me in a Camaro!"  "I Finally got rid of that itch in my shorts!"

[FastbackJon]

If you DO start drivin trucks, you're gonna spend alot on cellular internet so you can post while driving..."Wow, I just saw a cool billboard!"  "Hot chick just passed me in a Camaro!"  "I Finally got rid of that itch in my shorts!"

lol, or other interesting posts like...

"dont drink"
"lol"
"ooooo"
"lol funny"
"lol those are some funny shots"
"old but good one"
"so whats point of this one"
"shit happens, you have to deal with it"
"can we just have 2006 topics locked?"
"its sad no matter 75 or 100"
"photoshop without point"
"too many to list"
"someone got his plate hopefully"

 

[Silver R/T]

If you DO start drivin trucks, you're gonna spend alot on cellular internet so you can post while driving..."Wow, I just saw a cool billboard!" "Hot chick just passed me in a Camaro!" "I Finally got rid of that itch in my shorts!"

lol, or other interesting posts like...

"dont drink"
"lol"
"ooooo"
"lol funny"
"lol those are some funny shots"
"old but good one"
"so whats point of this one"
"shit happens, you have to deal with it"
"can we just have 2006 topics locked?"
"its sad no matter 75 or 100"
"photoshop without point"
"too many to list"
"someone got his plate hopefully"

wow dude, tell me youre not in love with me cause I never seen someone care so much for me.... weird

[FastbackJon]

In love with you? Where did you get that from? Maybe you need to put the crack pipe down...

 

All I did was click on "show last few posts by Silver R/T" and copied and pasted.



I'm suprised you didn't know about that site feature since you are on here practically 24/7

[Wakko]

Hahahahaha....

[TruckDriver]

I should of said that one of the benifits was you do get flashed once in a while.

[Shakey]

Anyone on here is a truck driver? What are pros/cons, would it be reasonable to be one at my age of 22 and being single?

A 22 year old single truck driver 

The lot lizzards would have a field day with you.     

Hell, they might even give you a 50% discount.  I say go for it.

[TruckDriver]

Anyone on here is a truck driver? What are pros/cons, would it be reasonable to be one at my age of 22 and being single?

A 22 year old single truck driver  

The lot lizzards would have a field day with you.       

Hell, they might even give you a 50% discount.   I say go for it.

[bull]

I just gave it up after 10 years in.   It is probably the perfect job if you have no wife and kids.

This is why I never did it, even though I easily could have. My father did it for years and then started a trucking company and asked me if I wanted to drive. I thought that was a wierd request considering the fact that he was rarely home and when he did come home he always wanted me to help him work on the truck (just the sort of thing a teenage kid wants to do on his weekends). He always seemed pissed off about PUCs and insurance and money in general and between that and him only being home about 8 days a month I pretty much concluded it was a crappy job -- especially if you have a family. But if it's just you it will probably be fine, however, be prepared with a backup career in case you do get married, otherwise you'll be facing some serious issues with the wife.

[8WHEELER]

Bull, he was home 8 days a month heck thats more days a month that I was home 

Dan

[Andrew]

.   I kept the door closed and averaged 150k miles a year :

what does this mean in non-trucker talk?

[TruckDriver]

I just gave it up after 10 years in.   It is probably the perfect job if you have no wife and kids.

be prepared with a backup career in case you do get married, otherwise you'll be facing some serious issues with the wife.

Somewhat true. There are a lot of women truck drivers out there now that you could hook up with. Or you could find a local job driving just in state or in you area. Thats why I got into dump truck cause you still get about 10 to 12 hours a day in at work, but you still get home every night.

[Lowprofile]

I just gave it up after 10 years in.  It is probably the perfect job if you have no wife and kids.

be prepared with a backup career in case you do get married, otherwise you'll be facing some serious issues with the wife.

Somewhat true. There are a lot of women truck drivers out there now that you could hook up with. Or you could find a local job driving just in state or in you area. Thats why I got into dump truck cause you still get about 10 to 12 hours a day in at work, but you still get home every night.

All very true.......
Trucking is one of the most dangerous jobs you can have. Remember, you are piloting a 80,000 lb. missle down the highway at speeds up to 75 miles an hour [in some states]. Things happen in the blink of an eye....you always have to be on your guard... So, if you are faint of heart, do yourself a favor and have a backup career. I would look into doing local work first before jumping into long haul.

Yes, there are lots of women truck drivers these days. I met my new wife 7 years ago at work. I was previously married for 10 years to a stay at home wife, which ended in a terrible divorce, basicly beacuse I was never home. My new wife drives her own truck, which is great, because when your living in basicly a 12 ft box for months at a time, the last thing you want to do is share it with someone else!

Trucking is a tough life, my friend.......choose wisely   

[BigBlockSam]

  Trucking is a tough life, my friend.......choose wisely     

 

it's hard to keep a women when your never home and they have to sleep alone
there's also dot physicals and   random drug and alcohol  tests    

[Lowprofile]

12 ft. box, damn dude that's a condo. Do you have one of them bed buggers sleepers?

Naw, just a Freightshaker with a condo.