Life on the Road as a Truck Driver

Today's world of trucking is nothing like the days of the 90's and early 2000's a time when it was easy to get a CDL lic and permits to earn a honest wage and hopefully get a little joy part from missing the family back home. There were always trucking companies trying to skimp on wages as much as they could. But no matter what they always focused heavily on new recruits due to the high turn over rates; and most importantly whatever the recruiter tells or I guess I should say sells you don't believe any of it. Only realize that they will say anything in most cases to get you in the door, just know as long as the wheels are turning then their happy; if those wheels aren't turning they will leave you on the side of the road (I've seen it happen). I started my truck driving career in 2003 not because it was a passion. But because I had no GED, married, and prepping for child to care for. Desperately searching for any means to provide; the only solution I could think of was to do what my father has done after seeing one of his weekly checks when I was 13yrs old, and that was driving trucks. Needless to say I hated it, but at least I was no longer hearing the words "that's not enough" from my now ex-wife thank God; being on the road everyday non-stop and only getting home every 2weeks for 2days was something I was not prepared for, despite the job description no one starting out as a trucker is really prepared to leave their family behind for that long and only being home 4 days a month. 14yrs later still driving these monster machines I can honestly tell you, trucking is by far a death sentence for a young couple even if your older it will have negative effects, and in most cases marriages fail simply because the driver is rarely around. The trucking companies are also something that new drivers today need to beware of and choose the company very carefully. For example, some trucking companies love to hire drivers from out of the U.S because they can pay less wages and have that foreign driver on a contract and if broken the driver can find themselves in a very bad situation and lose there work visa...... this would be the least of their concerns besides being stranded on the interstate anywhere in the U.S Some companies also have a program where couples can travel and work together, and as great as this sounds trust me, most couples argue more due to the small space, and limited break time away from each other this usually ends up breaking up the couple; imagine driving 10-11hr days 7days a week and showering only when you have the time at a truck stop; that's if you even make it to a truck stop at all. Most truckers go 3days without showering and that's stating it lightly not to mention the flat bed truckers, which their work demands large amounts of heavy sweat and dirt from the burning steel mills, and tarps. Which is why more often than not truckers end up having really bad hygiene practices, and smell like sweaty butt. The name of the game here is sleep, wake up, drive, deliver early or on time, unload, sleep, and repeat it all the next day. D.O.T does not make the job any easier ether.

D.O.T states that all drivers can not driver more than 11hrs per day and no more than 70hrs in a 8day period. These laws get way more complicated but it all creates stress on the drivers to hurry up, and deliver, and be ready to roll all over again just to earn a (possible) 1k check in a week, before taxes. Now this may seem like great $$ to you if your interested in becoming a trucker. But I ask you, how much is your personal time worth to you; how much is your time worth away from your wife, kids, and day to day ability to do the things you enjoy doing or would like to improve on yourself. See while the $1K per week may look and sound great you gotta remember; no matter how much your check is; you still have bills to pay and by time your done paying for it all, how much are your saving, that is if your even saving at all. In contrast to things, you could have a normal day to day life enjoying family friends and your own bed everyday with a local employment making a little bit less but still have the same amount in savings, or no savings depending on your families spending habits. With all my experience in this field I've come to realize that the magic in making truck driving work for me is to remain single, get rid of my apartment and surrender my life completely to life on the road, creating the results of always saving $$ even if I didn't have a savings plan. See it works like this, If I had no bills to pay and I'm making 800-900 per week after tax, lets add child support $100. per week so my check is now 700-800 per week. Well As long as I have a fridge in the truck and purchase some groceries, there is only so much I can spend and most of that would be at restaurants because I'm just way too busy working and sleeping to even try to spend my entire check unless I purposely aim to do it, thus my savings and wealth can only grow larger.

Now without a wife and bills to spend my $$ money on I have more options to go were I want, to invest, spend, and more importantly how I want to spend my off time or where, without stress constantly worrying about late bills at home if the wife has enough $$ to spend, or how to grow a biz with no money to invest in it for another couple yrs on top of my other $$ obligations. Stress I've found is the number one reason why drivers are depressed on the road, and is always in a hurry to make to that few extra bucks this is very a dangerous state of mind to drive in on the road while operating a 80k ton vehicle plus worrying about all the safety practices and D.O.T regulations. Now that I have freed myself from the world of stressful living I call it, I've noticed that most people I run into are unhappy at there jobs stressed out, and is miserable to interact with. I dare to say that I continuously see the real country we live in. They say U.S the land of the free, but really how can you be free, when your forced by our societies values to pay for things that in trap you, not to mention the laws that keep you trapped. For example it is illegal to live in a RV, most people don't realize that if everyone lived a truckers, or RV lifestyle with very little bills to slave for every day then the stress level would dramatically decrease. More people would have the funds to pursue their happiness a lot faster than average people with all those day to day burdens. But with such laws in place and more people focused on finding a partner to hurry up and settle down or dare I say hurry up and get laid; they keep themselves from growing as a person and having more resources to provide at a later stage in their life when they need them. Now don't get me wrong having a family is great, however most if not all young couples, or marriages argue about money to say the least. But had they focused more on building wealth, in their 20's and the young man purchase his 1st home before his 1st engagement or (oops) were pregnant. than life no doubt would turn out a lot better. I've also come to realize that once a trucker has a nice amount in savings, the need to hurry and make more miles drops and the dispatchers have a hard time understanding why the driver is so relaxed when things don't go so well. That is because even if the driver was forced to sit and not work for a few weeks, that driver still has enough $$ to enjoy life without any worries at all. This in turn causes the driver to work more peacefully and have a better communication with everyone in the work place; everyone will most definitely notice even the higher ups in management, causing that driver to be favored and remembered. See most dispatchers end up having stressed out drivers due to lack of miles for the week, or low paychecks for what ever reason, when dispatchers talk to these truckers it's a nightmare and some dispatchers even get hurt by the drivers physically. So lastly I say this to those who may be thinking about doing this kind of work........ (don't) unless your single and you are planning on getting rid of most if not all your responsibilities that cost $$. Having a apartment and paying rent every month is completely ridiculous especially when your only going to be around 4 days max a month. You could just as easily pay for a hotel and still have $$ extra to blow. If it's finding a women that worries you, well women will not know that you don't have a apartment or house especially when you pull out a large bundle of cash. When she says money isn't everything or $$ can't buy love bull!! Because women don't go looking for the homeless man on the corner. So save your $$, stay single, get a plan for the future then get out of trucking grow a biz!