?'s For The Family Drivers Out There

Hello everyone. First and foremost, thank you to the creator of this site and thank you to all of you who contribute to it. I have been poking around here for a couple months and finally decided to register and jump in on the action.

Just a very brief overview of myself: I’m 44, married, 2 children (11 & 13) and worked primarily in sales my entire professional life. Within the last few years, I got into a service job on light machinery because I was simply tired of talking people into things they didn’t necessarily want. I was just tired of the sales game. That said, my current position is seasonal so every winter I get laid off and collect unemployment. Well, this off-season, I decided to go get my CDL-A. I went though a local college for the training program, finished at the top of the class and now here I sit. I have a good friend that will hire me in his road construction company as a trailer dump driver so I never gave the dozens of recruiters from various trucking companies that came through our school a second thought. An OTR job just didn’t seem to fit into my plan. That was until the last recruiter, he has sparked my curiosity.

My question for the members of this forum is this: How in the world do you make this profession work with a family? I’m specifically talking about kids and their extra curricular activities. As I said I have two children and my wife and I already play zone defense with all their activities. Between school and school functions, hockey, volleyball, baseball and softball, we are CONSTANTLY running. If I’m gone for a week(s) at a time, I can tell you right now that my wife couldn’t handle all the running on her own. Do you guys have nannies? Are there other family members that help you out or something? I’m almost at the point of asking my Mother (who’s retired) if she wants to move in and spend time with her Grand Kids (code for I need you to get them to practice 3 nights a week! LOL). This is obviously a tremendous commitment and I’d like to peruse this company a little further but I don’t want to waste anyone’s time either. I have been thinking about this for a week now and I can’t wrap my head around it. I figured I would turn to you all that are already out there. Perhaps you can help me straighten this out.

Thank you for your time in reading this.

- Jeff

We hired a nanny for the days my wife is working and a few family members help out also. But we have eight kids, so a nanny is mostly a convenience.

There are many companies that have routes, that can have you home daily, or even a few times every week. USX, Werner, Swift, Schneider and Averitt have daily accounts, and the you also have your LTL companies, Old Dominion, R & L, YRC, and other ones.

It also never hurts to have your mom as backup, either.

Hillzy, the real truth is that when one spouse is an Over the Road driver, the other one has to make a lot of sacrifices because of it - and an even harsher truth is that many truck drivers end up divorced. I have a family, but my kids are mostly grown now. It takes one fine woman to handle everything while you are gone, and that is just what it takes - I think the over the road lifestyle is harder on the one left at home than it is on the one out there on the road. I salute all the trucker's wives, they are a fine bunch of ladies!

All that being said, there are a lot of folks who manage it, but it takes a good deal of commitment from the parents and the kids. Perhaps you can open a discussion with your family so that everyone realizes that all of you will have to make some changes for this to work. If it isn't worth it for everyone, then it isn't worth it for you to force it upon them. Good luck, and I wish every success to you in this endeavor.

Hillzy I wish I could tell you it would be easy, but it's not easy at all on the family. My wife married me as a trucker, but she has had to make tone of sacerfices. She runs the house will I am gone.. As for the kid she feels like she is a single mom because I am not there to help her out. I get home 2 times a week's for 10 to 15 hours. My mom, dad and mother in law come help her out, we have friends that will watch the kid. So she can get a brake, or get other stuff done. One of the biggest complaints I here from SO is being alone. There is a shirt out there that says "the only thing tougher then a trucker, is a truckers wife" what excited you about what the one recruter said?. Also your kids are at the age were most company's will let them on the truck with you. Good luck man, but it ain't easy.

WOW. Thank you all for the replies! It’s refreshing to have so many peers chime in on something so impactful for myself yet trivial for most.

TankDaddy – When I thought about the nanny idea I could only chuckle and think “nannies are for rich people and I’m not rich”. I’m happy to see I wouldn’t be alone in this thought. It’s certainly a viable option at this point.

Danielsahn – I appreciate the info on the other companies but I’m pretty set on where I’d like to go if I do end up making the jump. I can’t even tell you how many recruiters I’ve heard in the last month. If I’m going to do a daily route, I’m just going with my buddies company in construction.

Old School – I agree with your comments whole heartedly. My family is without a doubt my number one concern. We have had several discussions about this already. If my Children have to make sacrifices in their activities for this career, I simply won’t do it. In reality, the only thing I need to keep that consistent is help getting them to and from their commitments each week. By the way, I love some of the posts and pics from you throughout this forum. The more I read from you the more exciting it becomes.

Murderspolywog – The rider program is a question I asked every recruiter and yes, it seems like an option for pretty much everyone I’ve talked with. When the kids have a free week (which is few and far between), you bet your ace they will be on the road with me. I look at that as a “college commitment plan” LOL. All the recruiters had comparable attributes such as weekly or bi-weekly home time, newer equipment, solid training programs, and even the pay scales were all very close so I’m really splitting hairs here. Without giving away the company just yet, the recruiter that got me going has several benefits that interest me. One in particular is the 401 with a 10% match dollar for dollar. Health insurance was very reasonable with low premiums and deductibles. He was the only recruiter, out of over 20, that truly made me feel as if hard work is the largest determining factor in making more money.

Bottom line is I can really see myself making a decent living doing something I already enjoy doing……driving. There’s just a lot going around in my household as I’m sure there is in others. I’m just curious to read how you all get it done.

Thank for you the comments thus far and keep em coming please.

- Jeff

Hey Hillzy. I just finished school and will be going to orientation on Tuesday to go back on the road. After 8 years in the nursing field I am sick of it. Changing careers at my age (58) is kinda scary but I have always thought it more important to do a job you like and want to do than pay. I drove trucks years ago but my experience was too old and I had to return to school for a refresher course. A five day refresher at one of the Billy Bob schools was going to cost me 1200. The local community college was 1476 for the full six weeks so I chose the six week option. Good thing because it was about week 4 before I was comfortable with shifting. People say that driving a truck is like riding a bicycle, you never forget it. I found this not to be true. Two things: don't wait to long about going to work because most companies want you fresh out of school. If you wait six months or so you may have to do a "refresher course" and you will be back at square one. Also, be careful with the health insurance. Most of them are peddling health insurance that pays nothing until you meet your deductible. You wind up paying for all of your doctor visits, labs, x-rays etc until your deductible is met. This can be debilitating financially, especially if you have children. Best of luck to ya!!