I'm just getting super frustrated looking for work. There have been several job posting for local drivers that would be home every day. They require CDLs, which I don't have, but there is a local community college with a truck driving training program, so I'm not too worried about that.
Is it worth being a local driver? Or are OTR guys better paid? Is worth being a truck driver at all?
I'm just getting annoyed looking for work. 
I am not a truck driver, but a know a couple. The guys make way more money than you might expect (one owns the business and 3 trucks or so, his brother in law also drives). In the really small Midwest town they live in they can live like rock stars.
Driving for a company might be a bit different, but maybe good to learn the ropes.
I also know a LOT of people who say that the trucking industry is hurting for people more than just about any other industry in america.
I heard a radio commercial (driving though Omaha this fall I believe) recently promising FULL benefits for driver and family for drivers who were home every night.
I'd see if you can find a company to pay for your training. I bet they are out there.
I was in the trucking business for close to 30 years but not for the past 6, I'm retired. I did drive for a while, less then 2 years and that was local. The "over the road" driver will make good money but a local "union" driver does well too and doesn't have to sleep in the truck or be away from home.
Getting a local gig without any driving experience can be tough. If a company is willing to hire you they won't pay much at the start. This of course is all determined by supply & demand, of local jobs and available drivers.
The one thing I see in ads for local drivers is "home every day". Well in some jobs you will be but you may be putting in 12-14 hours days and then go home to eat, sleep, and then wake up and do it over again.
Don't get me wrong, there are many good paying driving jobs out there but you have to be willing to work hard, put in the time, and then once you get some experience and your clean driving record you can move on to a better paying driving job.
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I'm just getting annoyed looking for work.
I feel ya' brother
I have my CDL but I'm going to try to find anything else before I really explore that option. I like being home way too much now.
Truck driver is like the number on job in 35-40 of the 50 states. So work should be easy enough to find. CDL with a clean license, clean record, and you should be able to find work just about anywhere. You would be amazed at how hard it was for me to find clean/sober drivers with a CDL who could show up on time. We paid the ones that did very well.
Nick_Comstock wrote:SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: I'm just getting annoyed looking for work.I feel ya' brother
Yeah I feel that way too. It's actually going to be hard going back to work. I'm trying to find stuff thats not telecommunications. After 7 years, I can't go back to that. I can't start over again and take a huge pay cut.
Our company, a natural gas utility, is always looking for guys who are willing to do a mix of construction but also have their CDL. There are lots of companies like that, where they need people who can do more than just drive. I thought about going through a local votech program that'll get you a CDL and show you the ropes of equipment operating, so you'll know how to both drive the low boy to the site, unload, operate, and take it home. Seems like there would be money in that.
I thought the USofA's economy was picking up like gangbusters?
Honestly, while in Canada you can make an "ok" living in trucking, its hardly what I would want to do especially if a family is involved. Only in Alberta is it a real career since demand is so high, and even then, breaking $100k per year including job bonuses is tough (not unheard of, just tough).
I'm a company otr driver, though I wouldn't call it a living. It's more of a working. I have been averaging between 40 and 50 hour out of the truck each week for a "guaranted home weekends" company. That's from closing the door to opening it again.
It is incredibly stressful on a family. And starting out the money isn't great. Expect to jump jobs a lot to get a raise.
HiTempguy wrote: I thought the USofA's economy was picking up like gangbusters?
That depends on who you ask; the bottom third-situation hasn't changed much, the middle class-for me, it seems about the same as it was pre-recession but with a complete lack of job security, the upper third-pulling away from the rest of us at an increasing rate.
I keep coming back to wanting to drive a truck for a living. I love to travel, I love the sounds and smells of the big diesel engines and I just plain enjoy driving trucks. I feel like a kid with a Tonka toy.
I plan to drive over the road if I ever retire from machining.
For the 4 or so years when I worked as a diesel mechanic I got to know lots of drivers. My mother used to drive and eventually started a partnership with a small trucking company and then split off on her own with a fleet of about 20 trucks. My brother and I were the mechanics for a while. I had 3 years or so of previous experience working in a fleet shop in St. Louis. She did pretty well for a while but the company went under a few years ago. The price of fuel ate away too much of their margin and with the majority of the trucks nearing one million miles and some over that mark it was only a matter of time before some big repair bills sent the company down the drain.
I know of one owner operator who hauls explosive hazmat and nets around $200,000 per year. He is ALWAYS on the road. I've known tons of company drivers who, financially, would have been better off flipping burgers. But they love being on the road and the nomadic lifestyle.
A lot of times breaking into the business is a catch 22 (unless you're willing to drive for less than the equivalent of minimum wage); you need a driving gig to get 2 or more years of experience, you need 2 or more years of experience to get a driving gig.
Some companies will pay for your schooling, if you agree to work for them for 1 or 2 years. They advertise saying you can make "up to $45,000 per year!". But, you know how that game works.
Mostly what keeps me from hopping in a truck for a living is being away from the family (already covered by several others in this thread) and the physical toll it takes on the driver. I like to lift weights at least 3 days per week and bike or box or grapple or pursue some other form of physical activity every chance I get, but you can't do that in a truck.
On top of the sedentary lifestyle you can't prepare healthy foods while tooling down the road either, so fast food garbage or truck stop fare would be the main source of sustenance. Neither one is very healthy. It is all too easy to fall into a low-paying, high demand driving job that pushes you too far physically and psychologically and will lead to chronic health issues. If you're careful you can make a good living and enjoy what you do. I've seen lots of guys who don't do either, but there are always exceptions.
When the price of oil goes back up there should be some high-paying oil patch related driving jobs. Think of all the project cars you could scope out all across the U.S.! 
Stang_Guy03 drives for a living. Hopefully he'll see this thread and offer some insight. My information is all second hand.
I was an owner operator for about 12 years. I always did OK but if you divide the rate by the hours actually worked it doesn't look that good. That said I always enjoyed my job. I was financially stable enough that I could be choosy about companies and loads so I always made money. But I was single at the time and I did not know many couples who made it work. I always said that when I got married I would quit and that is just what I did. One word of warning though is that once you go down that rabbit hole it is hard to get back out. The hours and the skill set required mean that it becomes tougher and tougher to transition into something else after a while. You don't make contacts that help you transition into another trade because you are always alone, and usually three states away when opportunities come up.
Check out www.usajobs.gov and see if there are good fits for you locally. We have bus drivers who need a CDL but are home every day, great benefits, and very stable paychecks.
When I was a little kid when the folks asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up my immediate response was "King!" Because why not, right? But when they pointed out that I probably didn't qualify for royalty my next choice was "Trucker" because in the mid seventies the OTR trucker was king.
Been there done that, my advice would be if you can ANYTHING else, even Home Depot I would do that, you will make ,more money per hour with less stress on your body. As far as "Home every day" that could mean from 2 to 4 am. when I decided to do it there was not a sole in the world that could have talked me out of it. Over the road or on the "Big Road" as they used to say, most of your time is spent waiting to get fuel, loaded, unloaded or this or that which you don't get paid for. if you can do anything else do it. I do agree with the bus driver deal it is a set schedule and pay.
HiTempguy wrote: I thought the USofA's economy was picking up like gangbusters?
Apple has a standing $250k sign on bonus for anyone who leaves tesla for Apple. The economy is going crazy, just in Concentrated areas.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:HiTempguy wrote: I thought the USofA's economy was picking up like gangbusters?Apple has a standing $250k sign on bonus for anyone who leaves tesla for Apple. The economy is going crazy, just in Concentrated areas.
Yeah and 8 major companies are dumping about 800 people by the end of March in Illinois.
In reply to Everyone:
Thanks for the honesty and heads up. Unfortunately there are no bus companies close to me. I think I'm going to get my CDL just to get it. I had to pass on a couple jobs because I didn't have a CDL in my hand, that weren't truck driving jobs, it was just a requirement.
I thought Schneider National had a learners program that helps get your CDL.
In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:
If you end up going OTR I think it's a requirement you like Red Sovine and C.W. McCall. 
The trucking industry sucks. The way to make money is to own junk trucks and find loosers to drive them and pay them $.30 per mile. The brokers have taken all the gravy out of the open market loads. It's not like it used to be.
A way for an independent to do well is to find a regular load that pays very well (usually because it goes into an area that has nothing coming back) and then pick up some crap load to pay the fuel coming home (or deadhead).
Driving local is another way but beware, an employer can legally run you 11 hours a day "driving" and 14 hours "on duty". "Home every night"!!! Many driving jobs don't pay overtime also.
I got out of that trap when I found a family owned lumber yard to drive for, delivering lumber wholesale. Hourly pay and the overtime is minimal as most job sites and mills close up by 3:30, that usually gets me home just as rush hour is starting. And I live 10 min from the yard.
Not a job for someone who has no patience or a short fuse. shiny happy people on the road make piloting a truck very challenging. Also lots of rules and rules for the rules, with no leniency from the Mounties you get educated by donations to the county.
There is lots of good as well, I run short errands often while I'm out. Instant gratification. Pandora is your best friend unless you can find HD radio with no commercials. You have to be smarter than the GPS! I go to different sites everyday, and some really interesting mills. Wood smells good! Construction guys are a pretty cool bunch.
How far are you from Chicago? I met a couple guys who drive buses for CTA last year and the seemed to be paid well.
If you are going to drive.. one of the best gigs is hooking up with some of the companies that -only- drive for theatrical/entertainment gigs. We are talking driving overnight to a gig, unloading, sit around for 12 hours, load the truck, drive to the next gig.. lather, rinse, repeat. You won't be home for months at a time, but you will get one of the easiest OTR gigs around.. and usually you travel as a "fleet" so you are never alone if something goes wrong
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:Fueled by Caffeine wrote:Yeah and 8 major companies are dumping about 800 people by the end of March in Illinois.HiTempguy wrote: I thought the USofA's economy was picking up like gangbusters?Apple has a standing $250k sign on bonus for anyone who leaves tesla for Apple. The economy is going crazy, just in Concentrated areas.
Don't forget Hospira was just bought out by Pfizer, so there goes probably 1,300 employees from Lake Forest by mid 2016. Most of those folks aren't your truck driving competition, but still an influx of employees.
mad_machine wrote: ...one of the best gigs is hooking up with some of the companies that -only- drive for theatrical/entertainment gigs. We are talking driving overnight to a gig, unloading, sit around for 12 hours, load the truck, drive to the next gig.. lather, rinse, repeat.
See this is why I want a CDL. Not because I want to make a career out of driving truck, but for that random odd-job that is awesome and requires a CDL.
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