Profile For Grumsy R.

Well, this is why I'm here. Most of what I have learned has been from a small sample set and honestly it seemed like some BS. I'm glad I've asked these questions of you guys =)

I have been skeptical of some of the claims I have heard from the folks my wife and I have chatted with. I do understand business and how to make one grow and be profitable. That said, the more digging I do the more I see that the margins in this industry suck and all of the good gravy is soaked up by established trucking companies (and for good reason).

The cool thing about all of this is even if I do not stop what I am doing to go to driving school, my wife will be able to turn this opportunity into a good career. She will start driving soon (likely around January or February) once she is completely healed up. All of this is of course predicated on her enjoying the lifestyle. I won't leave my job unless this is for sure a good path for us. I've even planned to spend vacation riding with her to make sure all of this is a good idea for us.

I am reading through "Becoming a Truck Driver" and so far it is very interesting. We have been lucky in finding a veteran driver (one of my wife's instructors) that has given it to us pretty straight. As for her friend...you bring up an interesting point about people exaggerating their success. For years I worked in the casinos as a dealer, and it is like that; the gambler will tell you about all of the money they win...but never the losses lol. I still think her friend wants us to succeed, but I'm skeptical (especially after your responses and other things I have read today) about the profitability of it all.

Lots to think about...back to researching.

Also, I can't stop planning lol. But I plan that all of my plans will change =)

Awesome, thanks for the advice! I will take a look at the links you gave me.

I'm well aware that most of these plans I have will not happen right off. That being said, I try to look forward several years as I make plans. Most of the jobs I have ever had taught me to do this. I don't think I will be able to start out kicking ass, but I like to plan for success and to mitigate failure =)

Your point about being an O/O is a very good one and I will have to consider that for sure. We've never had a job in trucking, but we have on a few occasions embraced a nomadic lifestyle and we enjoyed it...alot.

My wife and I are looking to start our trucking careers in 2018. She got her CDL early this year and was poised to start, but a health issue caused us to put everything on hold for a while. However, she is almost healed as chomping at the bit to get out there working. She and I have a few advantages in transitioning to this career path, but I wanted to post here to make sure I am not missing anything.

Advantages: We do not have any kids nor do we want any We have paid off all debt but one student loan I still have We will have no need for a "home base" Been happily married 17 years We have worked other jobs together in close proximity and enjoyed it We have always lived well below our means My best friend is a semi mechanic and he loves doing side work for me

The Goal: We love to adventure, we love to travel and above all we love meeting new people. We would love to find a career that would allow us to travel, see the world around us and keep us together during these experiences. Our romanticized goal would be to work about 9 months out of the year so that we could take the time to hike the various parks around the country. Basically we are looking for a career that will fuel our adventures and allow us the freedom to satisfy our wanderlust to roam.

The plan: I am currently working in IT running an IT department for a factory. I have a great job, but working a normal 9 to 5 is boring to me. IT has been good to me, however I am getting bored with it and would like a change. Eventually, she and I would like to own our own truck(s) and run a business. It would not be the first time we have been self employed; the times before have all ended well and have been good experiences.

She has a friend that she met during class that has offered to take my wife on the road and show her the ropes. I think they would eventually run as a team until we are ready for me to leave work and take my CDL classes. Her friend is also her own authority and books her own traffic. So the chance to learn the business is there for her...and it seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up. She really wants to help my wife and I succeed.

So our plan is to have my wife run with her friend to learn from her while we save the money to buy a truck. We have started saving towards this goal already...but once she starts working the bulk of her pay would go towards this goal. She and I both dislike credit and would rather suck it up for a while to pay cash for something. And then of course, once she owns her truck we can save some cash to cover me leaving my job to go to training.

Questions: Buy new or used? The reason I would consider used is the fact that I have a pocket mechanic that would happily make sure I am getting a good deal. He is also excited about getting paid to keep my truck running lol. On buying a used truck, we could almost pay cash for one now. The main thing we would need to save for is a decent chunk of cash to cover anything that happens to the truck/us. Operating capitol...

Work for a company or try to do our own thing? I have no issues with working for a company to keep us on the road, however would they be OK with us taking 3 weeks off to go for a long thru hike. I understand that we would not be getting paid of course. Are trucking companies accommodating about this? The entire point of this endeavor is to have the freedom to explore this park or that park.

Is there better money trucking in less populated/remote areas? We love being in rural areas. Mountains, deserts, etc... We have even talked about doing jobs in other countries if there is a reasonable expectation of safety (no truck driving in active war zones...damn it).

Last question Are there jobs out there that pay more than normal trucking. Like for instance; logging, running oil, agriculture or whatever.

Thanks for reading this far and any insight you may provide. I looked through the forums some and found several threads about husband wife teams. However, my wife and I seem to have a fairly unique situation set up. We have worked really hard for a few years to get to this point so we can make big changes to our lives; mainly just by crushing our debts. I'm feeling pretty good about our plan, I was just making sure there was not something major I have missed being an uninitiated noob =)