Highly Considering Trucking But Not Sure

Topic 10345 | Page 1

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Brian C.'s Comment
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Hi everybody! I'm new here and it looks like the place to ask some questions. I want to make a career change but I want to make sure trucking will be a good fit. I understand no job is perfect and there will be good days and bad days. I'm 50 and in good shape. Are people this age able to perform the work required on the job? I don't want to get overweight on the road. How would I eat healthy while driving? If driving solo will I be able to drive mostly days? I've never been much of a night person, preferring to rise early in the morning. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Errol V.'s Comment
member avatar

Hey Brian, welcome to Trucking Truth. First question on your mind: I'm 64, started driving in January, not 100% in health (maybe 90%), and having the time of my life.

Next: check out these resources: Truck Driver's Career Guide and Brett's Book to learn about the trucking life.

If you decide to make a go of it, get started on your CDL test here: High Road Training Program.

You asked about day/night driving. Trucking is not only 24 hours a day, it's 7 days a week, 12 months a year - operating non stop. (Not do fast - you'll get enough break time for yourself!)

"Work" on the job? Some types of driving require dock work, or trying down flatbeds, but most driving you'll start with is just hooking and unhooking trailers.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Brian C.'s Comment
member avatar

Hey Brian, welcome to Trucking Truth. First question on your mind: I'm 64, started driving in January, not 100% in health (maybe 90%), and having the time of my life.

Next: check out these resources: Truck Driver's Career Guide and Brett's Book to learn about the trucking life.

If you decide to make a go of it, get started on your CDL test here: High Road Training Program.

You asked about day/night driving. Trucking is not only 24 hours a day, it's 7 days a week, 12 months a year - operating non stop. (Not do fast - you'll get enough break time for yourself!)

"Work" on the job? Some types of driving require dock work, or trying down flatbeds, but most driving you'll start with is just hooking and unhooking trailers.

Thanks for replying. I understand the business is 24/7 job. I would much prefer driving during day to early evening. Just never got used to 3rd shift work when I've tried it. Guess my question is are their companies where the majority of driving is done early morning and daytime? I get there may be times you're driving longer to get somewhere on time.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Brett Aquila's Comment
member avatar

Over the road and regional driving jobs almost always have very erratic schedules. Sometimes you'll drive all night and sleep all day, sometimes it's the other way around. Most of the time you're just going day to day doing whatever it takes to get the job done on time. You also have a lot of factors that are beyond your control - traffic, weather, schedule changes, breakdowns, etc. So no matter what your plans are you can expect they'll almost certainly change.

Truckers learn pretty quickly to pretty much fall asleep and get up at a moment's notice. When they tell you at the dock it's going to be a few hours most drivers are catching a nap within 20 minutes. Then of course as soon as you fall asleep someone is knocking on your door telling you to move or that it's your turn at the dock. After a while I got to where I could fall asleep or wake up like flipping a switch. To this day I'm still like that. I can go from wide away to sound asleep in a few minutes and I'm up and running at full speed within 5 minutes of waking up. My schedule is almost random.

Now there are a lot of local jobs that are mostly daytime driving. Of course in the winter you only get about a dozen hours of daylight so there's almost certainly going to be some night driving involved. But the schedules for local driving are more consistent than those of OTR or regional drivers.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

Over The Road:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Errol V.'s Comment
member avatar

Brian, here's an observation: truck stop parking starts to get packed in the evening and by 9 pm usually you can hardly squeeze another semi in. They're all gone before noon the next day.

You do have some appointments but you can manage your own driving time so you are more comfortable. Hope this helps.

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