What I Did:
I was a truck driver for 11 years. I hauled general commodities and steel.
Why was it a bad job?
Trucking involves very long hours. You average on a good day about 4 hours of sleep. The rest of the time your driving or loading/unloading.
The DOT cops don't need a reason to harrass you. I was pulled around the scale house numerous times for no other reason than the cop needed to inspect one more truck before lunch time(the cops own admission) they do have a quota to make.
It gets hard to find anywhere to pull over and sleep, the truck stops start filling up about 4pm and the rest areas are almost always filled. You may get to your destination to pick up your load and be told it will be 6 hours before they will load you, and alot of the customers wont let you stay in the truck while they load/unload you, then your dispatcher expects you to drive all night and make an 800 mile trip by morning so your not late.
Never mind getting anything decent to eat. Your always tired, dirty and everybody hates you because your holding them up when they're trying to get somewhere.
I've been cussed at and threatend by numerous folks in their cars because they had to slow down from going 90mph on the interstate while I'm passing someone. Also the bad parts of town you may have to deliver in where you have gun fire and prostitutes and drug addicts all around your truck. Yes these are facts, I've lived it.
No matter what a dispatcher or recruiter tells you, they lie.
Weekends home means you get in late friday night/early saturday morning and then you leave sunday midmorning or afternoon. Even when your home all you want to do is sit due to physical and mental exhaustion. You miss out on everything at home, birthdays, christmas, special occasions like anniversaries or just being there for a loved one that is sick or sad. Something as simple as going to a movie is thrown out the door because your always driving to make that load. If your late alot of dispatchers will fine you. I finally got out of driving in 2008, I had two tickets in 11 years and the last one was for allegedly following to close. The dot cop gave me a 175. fine and six points on my license. I was going to go fight it but my boss would not let me off the road in time to make the court date. I found out a week before I got pulled over my boss was fighting with the DOT about the mechanical quality of his trucks. Needless to say he blackballed us drivers because three others got pulled over for questionable reasons. Trucking is all a money racket and nobody cares about the driver.
Tips and Tricks
- The lesson I learned is to go to college and get a normal career. The dream of traveling and seeing the country and the freedom of a truck driver are all selling tools to get you in the drivers seat. A driver is treated as nothing more than a number and expendable, there is no concern for your safety or the safety of others or for your health.
- Over the road truck driving is a horrible way to make a living, it's very lonely and depressing. I'm only 34, I started driving when I was 21. I have
- arthritis in my upper back and nerve damage in my arms due to being a driver. GO TO COLLEGE!
