After having spent the last nine years training new drivers, I would sum it simply as you have gotta like what you are doing. This is the one occupation that has the highest job satisfaction of any job out there. Once you have at least a years worth of experience - yes! - there are union jobs that will pay $90,000 or more in three to five years - and you are home every night! (Or non-union (Sysco, Gordon Foods, etc) that pay a little less (IF you both like people and like work).
If you find that you don't like the road side of things there are plenty of opportunities to move into lateral positions as dispatch or driver management, load planning, recruiting, sales, etc., and even safety - if you like people.
If you find that special niche you may even want to jump in and start your company. There are several dozen guys from Bosnia in my town that already own tractor-trailer fleets of between four and in once instance - over 100 trucks. Not bad for being over here for five or six years with limited English skills.
So there is plenty of opportunity even in today's sometimes up, sometimes down economy. The sky is the limit. The key thing, again, is like what you do - no love your job - and the money and everthing else will follow. But you have to first take a chance, work only with people that are willing to help you grow, and enjoy what you do.
Take it from the Old Timer. All the best to everyone in 2008! God Bless.
There is no shortage of union drivers. Could perhaps pay and lack of benefits have something to do with that?? This is a very, very, competitive industry that is undergoing rapid change. Most trucking companies show zero or little profit year after year. A few in niches, business cycles, and certain segments will do well because of the opportunity to produce exceptional value. The rest expect the driver to work around the clock to make up for no so bright management decisions. If folks would run their operations like a business - there would be no talk of driver shortage. Right now the harvesters, for example, bring in thousands of drivers each summer to the US on HB2 visas - and pay an average $1,800 a month. Do you get the big picture???
Posted on January 1 at 9:20 a.m.
After having spent the last nine years training new drivers, I would sum it simply as you have gotta like what you are doing. This is the one occupation that has the highest job satisfaction of any job out there. Once you have at least a years worth of experience - yes! - there are union jobs that will pay $90,000 or more in three to five years - and you are home every night! (Or non-union (Sysco, Gordon Foods, etc) that pay a little less (IF you both like people and like work).
If you find that you don't like the road side of things there are plenty of opportunities to move into lateral positions as dispatch or driver management, load planning, recruiting, sales, etc., and even safety - if you like people.
If you find that special niche you may even want to jump in and start your company. There are several dozen guys from Bosnia in my town that already own tractor-trailer fleets of between four and in once instance - over 100 trucks. Not bad for being over here for five or six years with limited English skills.
So there is plenty of opportunity even in today's sometimes up, sometimes down economy. The sky is the limit. The key thing, again, is like what you do - no love your job - and the money and everthing else will follow. But you have to first take a chance, work only with people that are willing to help you grow, and enjoy what you do.
Take it from the Old Timer. All the best to everyone in 2008! God Bless.
Posted on December 31 at 7:20 a.m.
There is no shortage of union drivers. Could perhaps pay and lack of benefits have something to do with that?? This is a very, very, competitive industry that is undergoing rapid change. Most trucking companies show zero or little profit year after year. A few in niches, business cycles, and certain segments will do well because of the opportunity to produce exceptional value. The rest expect the driver to work around the clock to make up for no so bright management decisions. If folks would run their operations like a business - there would be no talk of driver shortage. Right now the harvesters, for example, bring in thousands of drivers each summer to the US on HB2 visas - and pay an average $1,800 a month. Do you get the big picture???