Do You Want to be a Truck Driver?
I do what I do for numerous factors, however the most important one is that I like what I do! If this sounds like I am grumbling, I am not, this is simply the method it is.
To me there is nothing better than a moon night, with some heat lightning off in the range on a roadway that is all to myself. On a night like this I will sit back and listen to the rhythm of the tires on the road, resolve a couple of problems in my mind, write a song, and truly simply enjoy what I do. To me this is why I drive a truck, and absolutely nothing more! Sound romantic? I guess it does, but there is a lot more to it than this.
My typical time out on the roadway is 6 weeks. I will take a week off and then go back out again when I do come house. Now not all drivers drive this way, some are home once a week. The common practice is to be out about three weeks and then come home for a couple of days. The industry requirement is that you get one day off for each week out on the roadway. A workweek includes seventy hours. There is no overtime, and as soon as you figure in all the hours that you do not make money for, or manage to hide, your typical workweek is more like ninety to one hundred hours a week! This is just working time, however remember you don't get to go home every night, you get to consume, sleep, and be trucking! The hours are very irregular and long. One day you will be trucking through the day, the next the night. You might deliver at 3:00 AM or 10:00 PM. There is no such thing as a set schedule when you are a cross-country truck chauffeur.
A lot of people believe that we put freight in the trailer and go, we have a nice journey throughout nation and deliver our products. Well, the truth is that all pickups and shipments are by consultations that we as drivers do not set. There have been times where I have actually gone from LA to North Carolina in 42 hours. That leaves no time for sleep, and prior to you ask-- NO I do not take drugs to stay awake !!! I consume a lot of coffee, smoke too much and take 15-minute power naps to keep going! Not all trips are like that, however if you are not getting as numerous miles in as you can, and you are not keeping your dispatcher happy, you are not going to earn a living. You make less then minimum wage if you sit down and figure out what you make with the hours involved! That is not to state that I don't make great cash, I do. But time worked that is not paid, plus the time invested away from house brings your average method down.
This is not a trip; I have seen all 48 states of the continental USA, every province of Canada, The Northern Territories, Alaska, and the Border of Mexico, all through the windscreen of a truck. I have seen a lot. Nevertheless, I very seldom get to go sightseeing. Attempt pulling an 18 wheeler into a national park, and see what you are informed, or try taking a truck into downtown and discover a program to park at, in most cases it ain't going to occur. Unless you have good friends that are willing to come choose you up, the majority of your time off is spent in your truck at a truck stop, or terminal. Even personal time out on the roadway is limited. You would think that we might drop our trailer and take the truck just to get around. Well, in today's trucking you are now tracked by satellite, every move you make is taped, and your dispatcher can tell where you are at right down to the block number. This is not as much of a problem if you own your own truck, however as an owner-operator you need to report every mile the truck goes to the government for road tax reasons, so you actually do not want to go running around to much!
The majority of America believes that their items originate from the storeroom in the back of the store; they don't think any farther then that. If you can think of one thing that is not delivered by a truck driver please let me know, but I doubt that you can. At some point a piece of everything ends up on a truck, and individuals like me exist to get it where it requires to go. Birthdays and vacations are absolutely nothing when you drive a truck. In 1997 I spent Christmas day driving through Utah and Colorado, and Christmas supper was at a truck stop. The morning after Christmas I delivered my load, the receiver asked where I lived; I told him, he stated "Gee, regrettable you were not house for Christmas, but we really needed this item for an after Christmas sale." There you go, they need it, your life is put on hold. I did get home on New Years, which was when I got to commemorate my Christmas. This is not something that is uncommon, its more typical then anything.
Being out on the highway is generally the very best part about this job. Once the freight is on the trailer, and you have made your escape of the city into open country, you can relax and take pleasure in what you do. Then there are times when you have to battle just to keep rolling. Last November I got caught up in a Midwest winter season storm. I only had 10,000 pounds. in the trailer (I can transport 47,000 lbs.) After investing a good part of the night battling snow and ice, attempting my best to keep the trailer behind me, I chose to call it a night. After about 4 hours of sleep I got back up and pointed west. The winds had actually picked up. Burning out of the north at about 70mph. I played Hell trying to keep the truck on the roadway. About 40 miles from Cedar Rapids, Iowa the wind gusts where near to 100mph, with a 70mph constant. There where 4 people running together for some moral support if absolutely nothing else. As all of us came around a sweeping corner to the right, a gust struck all of us hard. The truck in front of me was blown over, the two trucks behind me where blown over, I increased on 9 wheels and came back down on all 18 in the nick of time to swerve and miss the truck that remained in front of me. I pulled over and made sure everyone was OKAY, and called the cops, then made my method to the next truck stop. I called my dispatcher and informed him what had taken place and that I was shutting down. I sat for 13 hours till the wind died enough to go again. The consumer had pled me to attempt and make it on time, or their assembly line would pull up. It is difficult to comprise 13 hours of driving time, and all I will admit to is that I made my visit time with 5 minutes to spare! This is among many stories that can be told about battling and beating the elements. The other trucks that I was running with were not so fortunate! There have actually also been times when I wasn't so lucky myself, one night a drunk motorist caused me to roll my truck. I was fortunate in the sense that I am here to tell you about it, and I need to not have been!
You would think that receivers and shippers would be thankful to see you. Not real! You are treated like shit! If you happen to be at a grocery warehouse you will end up unloading your own load, taking it off of the pallets that it was shipped on, and putting it on theirs according to the way they want it stacked. Then you will pallet jack it down an aisle where they will count and put it away. Request a bathroom, you are not allowed to use it, ask for a phone, again you are not permitted to utilize it. The only thing you are permitted to do there is work for them. You are informed to come back the next day if you are 5 minutes late for a visit. If you are on time, you will wind up waiting on a couple of hours just to get a door to back into. If you are more than 30 minutes early, you are not allowed on the property. You are nothing more than low-cost labor! Once again this is more common than not, and the whole time you exist you have to keep a smile on your face and tolerated it.
If you get a ticket you are not likely to come back and battle it, so you are most likely to get a fake ticket. Tickets for truck chauffeurs are 3 times as much as for other drivers. Truck scales in some states can be the very same way.
Must you still decide that you want to drive a truck, truck-driving schools are about the only way to discover. The book understanding is fantastic to understand, but a book does not drive a truck, and in here a lot of cases the writer of the book never ever has either. When you are in a truck stop, there is constantly some story being informed.
You can play the part of a truck chauffeur actually simple-- get a chain drive wallet, some cowboy boots, western t-shirts, and a huge buckle that says Peterbilt or something like that, and a cowboy hat or ball cap. To be a truck chauffeur is a lot various then what you see in the movies. It is hard work that takes a lot of commitment, with extremely little respect.
Why do I drive a truck? It was a dream. Why do I stick with it? I enjoy what I do! Do I recommend it? Hmmm, I would need to speak with you to find out what makes you tick. It takes an unique type of person to be out here. Part Nomad, part Gypsy, and mostly Loner. You have method too much time to think, so you need to be comfy with your thoughts. You have extremely little time to do, so once again you require to be comfy with your thoughts. What I do out on the roadway is not a game, nor is it a huge experience. What I do is my life, my highway, and many of all, my Dream! I drive for no other factor then that!
Unless you have friends that are willing to come pick you up, many of your time off is invested in your truck at a truck stop, or terminal. The truck in front of me was blown over, the 2 trucks behind me where blown over, I went up on 9 wheels and came back down on all 18 simply in time to swerve and miss out on the truck that was in front of me. There have actually likewise been times when I wasn't so fortunate myself, one night an intoxicated chauffeur triggered me to roll my truck. Tickets for truck chauffeurs are 3 times as much as for other chauffeurs. You can play the part of a truck chauffeur truly easy-- get a chain drive wallet, some cowboy boots, western shirts, and a big buckle that states Peterbilt or something like that, and a cowboy hat or ball cap.