Profile For Brad S.

Good luck to you. I'm a miserable state employee in Maryland living for the weekend. Sounded like you were describing my office. I hope this works out for you,

Yeah, that's what I worry about is him going nuts if he's in there that long. That's a good idea about the rescue, I'll consider that option as well. thanks.

Hi, I've been lurking on here for close to a year now and continue to consider making a career change from social work to the trucking industry. I have a dog, and unfortunately do not have anyone that could watch him while I'd be in training. Has anyone boarded their pet at a kennel for several months while off in training? Has anyone here done this or heard of others having to do so? If so, how'd it go? I'm assuming I'd be looking at boarding him at least 2 months if I went to school locally at the community college and then off to a company for the driver training, or 3 months or longer if I did all of my training through a company. I figure I'm looking at over 1000 for the boarding easily. If he was an old dog or in poor health, I'd probably just hang on until he went on to glory, but he's only 9, and if I make this change, I wouldn't want to wait potentially another 4-5 years. I've had him at a kennel for 2 weeks in the past and everything seemed to be okay.

Thanks for the input, appreciate it.

Hi folks, continue to lurk on here and research the industry while I ponder a career change. Regardless of what I ultimately decide, I've really enjoyed this sight and reading about this industry. I currently live in the Washington D.C. area. From what I am understanding, refrigerated truckers tend to get some of the longest runs. Is it realistic to think that I'd get a chance to see the west coast as an otr refrigerated trucker, even if infrequently, from this area? Or are coast to coast runs generally run by teams these days? I am single, and if I did this, staying out 4-5 weeks at a time, if that increases my chances of getting out west, would not be an issue.

Thanks for the replies. It seems everyone can get the sleep they generally require, which was one thing I wondered about. For me I know I would worry about not being able to drive safely if I could only get 5 hours a night or day on a regular basis. I'd need more, even if it was broken up.

Hi everyone, I was just wondering how much sleep to you typically get each day when running OTR? I'd imagine it could vary quite a bit, but wondered what might be typical to expect for an over the road driver.

I hadn't been on here for a few days. Thanks for the input everyone.

Are there better states than others to be a truck driver in terms of getting good miles? I saw a video on youtube recently with a truck driver talking about living near good running lanes being important so you can get good miles right away instead of taking several days to work into the company's good running areas when first heading out and then conversely losing out on good miles if you have to be taken out of good running lanes to get back home. I was wondering if you had the flexibility to move anywhere, what location would you want to live in and be a trucker, in terms of having the best chance to get good miles? or does it matter?

Thanks for sharing the information. I can see that leaving a dog in the truck for a few hours in hot summer weather would induce paranoia in the owner as you'd be worried about the apu or idle shutting off unexpectedly while gone. I'd guess generally if a dog was left alone for awhile it would be during cooler weather or at night.

So if you are a pet owner and considering a career in truck driving it sounds like it's best to go with a company that has APU's? or can you idle the truck while gone for awhile if you don't have an APU?

I was just curious, what do you truckers with dogs do with them while you are showering and eating? Is it okay to leave them in the truck and let them yap while the truck driver parked next to you is trying to sleep? Can you idle the truck or turn a fan on while your out for awhile and it's hot out? and what about your 34 hour reset days, have you ever tried to go see a movie or any other activity for a few hours while the dog is in the truck? Just curious. Thanks for any replies.

Hi, I am in the very early stages of looking at making a change to a truck driving career. I really have no idea how serious I am about it at this point, but can say I have enjoyed reading the stories and blogs on this website quite a bit. I never realized there was such a varied group of people in the trucking industry and it has been really interesting reading about your experiences. I'm a 43 y/o social worker right now. I can see from reading the forums that the first year can be difficult from a salary standpoint for OTR drivers. I am single and could withstand a few rough years financially while I gained experience. I was wondering how much the pay could potentially increase by the 5 year mark. I'm sure there could be greatly varying experiences with this and would love to get some input from the OTR veterans about how they were doing around the 5 year mark compared to when they started. Thanks.