2006-09-15 12:29:03 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
Is it worth it?
We don't have kids - we are thinking of team driving.
2006-09-15 12:30:23 · update #1
Well if you decide to do it team, then you and your parter will be together and you wont miss each other while you all are on the road. I loved truck driving. You have no boss over your back and you can spend your "home time" any where you want to. now if you are thinking about goin team company driving then there are alot of companies that train and will run you. I've had the best time at U S Xpress. They treated me the best of all the other companies, and i drove an automatic. which was a relief from shifting gears. they were also understanding when it comes to home time. I spent about 5 days at home every time i came back. If you were going to go owner operator i would ssuggest landstar. You pick your own loads and you go where you want to go. Truck driving is what you make of it. You can become an owner operator team and make BIG bucks just driving. Some people hate driving so trucking isnt for them. I love truck driving, i made a lot of money and i never got dirty.!!! Im looking into buying my own truck soon. If you love driving then there will be no cons. My advise: Go to U S Xpress, get trained. Then if you like it(after you worked about 6 months to a year) then decide to buy your own truck. Everyone has there own experiences with driving. Nothing beats a failure but a try. so you can read 100 of these responses, and you will never realy know what its like until you step foot inside a semi, and start driving it cross country, on the open road for yourself. good luck
2006-09-15 18:21:36 · answer #1 · answered by pretyboiricky 2 · 10⤊ 0⤋
You are looking at life on the road? OK, some of the pros and cons, as seen by an Australian. To start with, to get a semi trailer license is not that hard. You have to do a lot of training, and the best way is to learn from someone that is doing the job now. Travelling as an offsider can give you a feel for the work, before you commit to the cost of obtaining a license. With your fear of running over someone or something, do not be afraid of that. You drive now? It is the same principle driving a car to driving a 115 tonne triple road train... drive defensively, and allow yourself enough distance to stop in a hurry if you need to. Just remember, when you turn a corner, to allow for the length of trailer that you have attached... or that telegraph pole on the corner may be worried about getting skittled!!! Some of the good points about being a transport operator... You can get to see some spectacular countryside that many people have never seen... Depending on who you are working for, and what you are doing, will determine what sort of money you can make. You can also make lifetime friendships from the transport industry, and there is different career paths to choose should you get bored with driving. Some of the bad points... The enforcement agencies can regard your wallet as a cash cow, write you up for the most minor offence. You then have the fun of trying to get off the charge, which is not easy. You can spend a long time away from home, with only the phone and the internet to keep in contact with loved ones. You can sometimes get car drivers that do crazy things, and that can cause grey hairs at a quicker than normal rate. Depending on the reputation of who you are working for, you could get a rotten company to work for, and that is no fun! As a suggestion, try the offsider path first, to see if you are keen to get a semi license. If you do decide to get your semi license, find out if you can get work driving in your local area, doing deliveries and pick ups. That will give you confidence in your skills, and not be far from base should anything happen. If you are still keen to keep going, then you can look at doing either linehaul or long distance transport. I do hope that this has been of help to you, and wish you well with your endeavours in the future.
2016-03-18 02:02:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I drove for a very short while, and can give you plenty of advice. Firstly, it can be a good idea in your case with no kids. Team driving is also a great idea, because solitude is not your friend on the open road.
Secondly, if you do it, start off right. Go to a good school...find a big one with lots of financing options. Then, only accept a position with a reputable company...Werner is pretty good, and I hear that Covenant Transport in Tennessee is a great outfit for team drivers. The larger companies like this will use the Quallcomm satellite system that will keep you from having to overwork yourself. Small companies that still use paper logs encourage, or even force you to drive beyond the acceptable hours and miles as set forth by the law.
Be careful, and wise. There is plenty of money to be made if you play your cards right.
It should be known that I did none of the above things properly, and had a horrible experience. I wish someone had told me these things before I tried my hand at driving a truck.
Good Luck, and Be Careful Out There!
2006-09-15 12:39:47 · answer #3 · answered by Joe & Amy 3 · 5⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
What are the pros and cons of being a semi-truck driver?
2015-08-18 21:48:49 · answer #4 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately there are a lot of negatives... most of the posts are true and have come from firsthand experience. However, no one starts from the top and there are good driving jobs out there. I currently have 3 drivers that run my company's shipments... 95% are local (within 50 miles), the other are trips across one state border. These guys work for me as private contractors and get paid well for their services... of course my business success determines their salary ($60k to $80k annually). They are on-call 24/7 but due to the location of customers... they average about 1205 hours of road time per year which is less than the normal 2080 hours normal people work per year (40hour week x 52 weeks). Yes, there are a lot of down sides to this field of work, but if your serious... you'll find the up side. Good luck... do your best so you can be the best... soak in all the info you hear and keep clean and drive safe.
2006-09-15 13:24:19 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
the pros are its good money and you get to travel. the cons are you are never really home you dont get to enjoy the site as you travel, dot and the police are always on you. dispatchers want u to do the impossible and run illegally. this is not true every where but it go as a company driver first for a couple of years before you buy your own truck and try it out.
2006-09-15 12:39:52 · answer #6 · answered by mahs89 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
my grandfather was a semi-truck driver for 30-something years.
the only real pro is the money that you rake in from doing long-hauls cross-country.
but, there are a lot more cons...
-chance of getting your shipment hi-jacked.
-being away from home for long periods of time. (i think my grandfather said the longest he had ever been away from the family was 3 months.)
-you're always sitting down for extended periods of time, which isn't good for your blood circulation. he was spider veins and difficulty walking straight.
sorry if this discourages you. just thought you'd like to know.
2006-09-15 12:34:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
pros:its an income.
CONS: no life, loose contact with all your friends, see the world from the nastiest side with vulgar demented perverts arround every corner, no room to live, lonliness, huge phone bills, huge fuel bills, dirtiness becomes a part of your life, even the showers stink,
Suggestions: buy your own right after you get through training. get a used one from a company that has a rep for well kept trks with slow governors like Werner. Or if you have it; go straight for a new one and contract to Prime
2006-09-15 12:41:14 · answer #8 · answered by mr.phattphatt 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
the pros- you can make some good money
the cons- you'll be away from home for weeks at a time.
i took the class and everything, did it for about a month, but it was not for me, guess it takes a certain breed.
2006-09-15 12:35:49 · answer #9 · answered by Steve 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
if you like it you can't beat it. just do it to the best of your ability and treat every one the way you want to be treated. it a good job with decent pay if you do it right
2014-01-23 10:11:00 · answer #10 · answered by ? 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋