Truck Driving as a profession. Thoughts?

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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?
 
When I was young I had a roommate who was a truck driver. Over the road. Seemed like a hard life. Gone all the time, truck stops, no real personal life. Great for me though, he paid half the rent and was rarely there!
 
I'm a semi mechanic at UPS. I have talked to truck drivers. The trucking companies cutthroat each other leaving very little profit to be made which trickles down to paying drivers squat. If there was ever one occupation that needs to be union, it is truck driving.
There are lots of truck drivers in the dry van sector working as indentured servants. Many of them are white males that come from Eastern Europe.
They work for no name companies, get paid very little, get home very little and have a depressing life. Swift, Schneider and all the other
newbie mills compete against that. There are good paying trucking jobs, they require you to have a good DAC record and time under your belt.
Many trucking companies even cheat you out of some of your Social Security and pay under a per diem scam.
 
I'm going to put this out there but I know nothing of his family situation: Oilfield (gas field?) trucking in Pennsylvania or Ohio. Might be a bit too far from home but I know in the oilfields of Alberta, it pays more than long haul trucking. The warning is that it is an up and down business, depending on the price of natural gas.
 
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i know 2 guys here in Michigan who do it .. one a gravel train and the other a Heavy haul like machinery .... they both do well as far as what i can see?
 
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.
 
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
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Soon to replaced by self driving trucks.


Having been the lead involved in speccing and buying Class 8 highway trucks for my company, wide spread adoption of driverless trucks won't happen for 15 - 20 years - at a minimum.
Sure there will be big press splashes of look here, this is fabulous, similar to the Tesla Class 8 tractor splash.
But I will be "shocked" if more than 100 Tesla tractors go into service and remain in service after 3 years on the road.
I was an early adopter of all-electric CPG delivery Class 6 trucks.
Bleeding edge is what I called that experience.
 
It takes a special person to go over the road. I have a CDL Class A, but i bought 1 truck that trickled into 14 trucks.

If a person has a CDL and can actually drive a truck the jobs are limitless..over the road and locally

Locally
Garbage, Soda, Beer, Logs, Gravel, Cement, Asphalt, Coal, Powerplants.. etc.

The best paying jobs are Beer and Soda but that is with also sales and alot of paperwork and long hours.

The easist are tanker- You really never touch anything just drive.


I have a job offer of $35/hr to haul water for a frac job. It will end and move from town to town..its just not what i want but if i were single and had no commitments and a little younger that would be a good job.

I have one friend that hauls milk to schools and grocery stores- he makes very little and works hard. I have another friend that makes twice what he does working for Fed Ex Freight and has it easy.


Most truck drivers change jobs many times always chasing the easy money.. one of the reasons I do not want to ever own trucks again.
 
A relative of mine used to make up to $2K (after taxes) a week as an OTR (over the road) CDL-A truck driver. Not a bad pay, however, he was mostly living in his truck, and was seeing his family every 2-3 weeks. This is not a living style for everyone, however, a great way to see the country though.
 
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


Trades pay good and no need for expensive college.
I sometimes post jobs in the Off Topic section for my trade.

I do have to admit I enjoy watching Indiana Jack OTR trucking videos on YouTube.
smile.gif



Off Topic: the military has tons of great career fields, some even have big sign on bonuses.
Army has $30K for certain MOS with 6 year enlistment. Cyber Security is an excellent MOS.
 
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