Truck Driving as a profession. Thoughts?

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: ZZman
Was reading an article about the huge shortage of drivers. Many companies even pay for the training. My son in law needs a decent paying job that doesn't require college or a huge learning curve. Any truckers out there? Thoughts?


How old is your son in law ?
Any health or problems with the police?

 

[nickaluch]

Get him a civil service or state job. My good friend is a union custodian at a public school makes 75k a year free family health insurance and a pension after 5 years service.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: ZZman
Was reading an article about the huge shortage of drivers. Many companies even pay for the training. My son in law needs a decent paying job that doesn't require college or a huge learning curve. Any truckers out there? Thoughts?



If you want to keep him away from your daughter it might work in your favor lol. Otherwise its a tough life for most and hard on the body.

Highly certified Tanker drivers etc can make a respectable living, however most put in long lonely hours without much payoff.

As others have suggested learning a skilled trade is the way to go. Maintenance, construction, electric, plumbing apprenticeship ect. These are fields in high demand with wages higher than most 4 year degrees provide if one is willing to get a little dirty.

 

[PiperOne]

If he does do it...he will likely have to start at one of the training mill fleets (Swift, Prime etc)...as long as he gets it in his head not to STAY at those places once he gets some experience (like over a year) he can then climb the ladder of companies until he gets to a decent one. It can be an ugly first couple of years...but it can turn into a nice way to make a living. One thing...if he needs to be home a lot (family kids etc) then an over the road job is not going to work out. Good Luck to him!

 

[ZZman]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice


How old is your son in law ?
Any health or problems with the police?



26
No
One minor traffic ticket

 

[Mr Nice]

68A in the Reserves or Guard is a great job as a civilian. I've been in this field for the past 33 years. Tons of opportunities as a field service engineer. We recently hired a 68A and started at $35 an hour + full benefits, company car, etc...

 

[Andrew1972]

I presume he has learning issues given your condition of learning curve , if yes maybe a good fit.

Otherwise technical training may be worth pursuing for a better work life balance. We have a lot of pretty decent manufacturing jobs locally but they require a 2 year specialized degree which local community colleges are covering the gap and have placement.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: madRiver
I presume he has learning issues given your condition of learning curve , if yes maybe a good fit.

Otherwise technical training may be worth pursuing for a better work life balance. We have a lot of pretty decent manufacturing jobs locally but they require a 2 year specialized degree which local community colleges are covering the gap and have placement.


I definitely agree with you about 2 year degrees from a community college, but even those degrees have a learning curve that teaches the basics.

Paid internships are the best way to get your food in the door. Nothing better than getting paid to learn.... then offered a full-time job at the end of internship.

 

[SeaJay]

Its one thing to drive a truck. Its another to unload the goods at a retail location and bring them into the store and occasionally having to stock shelves with the product.

 

[xxch4osxx]

Originally Posted By: Mantooth
I know this is off topic from your question, but I'd recommend getting an education at a respectable trade school. Lots of opportunities available for careers that can't be performed by computers or by someone in a foreign country. If my kids decide against the college route, they will go to a good trade school and learn a skill. IMO, that increases their probability of landing a job that won't leave them working paycheck to paycheck.

Just my .02
This is what I would be telling him. He will make way better money in a trade than he ever will driving a truck. Not to mention working way less hours with a trade than trucking as well. Been driving trucks 24 years myself and dislike it more every year lol

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
Originally Posted By: Donald
Soon to replaced by self driving trucks.


My take on the whole self driving thing is that it will be 10 to 20 yrs before you see it a lot. As a software engineer I know, there's still a lot of bugs to work out.


As another FW engineer, I'd say they don't need full self driving in commercial application. If they can run 3 trucks with 1 driver as the lead, 2 as followers, between long haul hubs that are within hours limit, they can easily save a lot of labor out of it. That's some seriously low hanging fruit that can be done very quickly (we already have those fancy cruise control and vehicle to vehicle communication, drive by wire, etc).

Not a good long term career for young guys to start out right now. I would focus on local routes and specialty delivery (i.e. medical stuff) instead of generic semi driving.