Thinking Of Going Into Trucking

Hey guys and ladies I just wanted to get y’all’s opinion on going into the industry of trucking A good amount of my family has done it or is doing it still I’m doing a lot of research and thinking I just want something different than what I’m in right now I’m not married and I don’t have kids and I’m 25 I just wanted y’all’s thoughts and opinions

Hello Cory, and welcome to our forum!

Hey let me tell you, doing research into Trucking is just about one of the most futile exercises you'll ever engage yourself in. There is sooo much misinformation on the internet about trucking that it just makes you want to tear your hair out. You are going to find a lot of people whining and complaining about how bad this company or that company is to work for, and then you are going to find people claiming that trucking is noting more than modern day "Plantation Style Slavery" jobs disguised as a legitimate job for the fools that are willing to do it.

Here's the deal...

Trucking is not an easy job to break into. For many people it is next to impossible. There is a high failure rate, and the very people who failed at it are the ones who are out there raising their voices in disdain of something that they fell very short at accomplishing. Now why would anyone want to take advice about a career from the people who failed at the career? Yet, that is what a lot of people do when they embark on a trucking career. It is a painful way to make a start, and it increases the number of trucking failures exponentially.

Trucking is a very rewarding career for many people, and you will find a very diverse group of professionals right here in our forum who work for many of the companies that are slandered and mislabeled as "evil empires" all over the Internet. Trucking is very much a career that needs an independent type of person who can handle themselves well in challenging situations. It takes a great deal of Commitiment, and a strong resolve to see things through.

Continued...

We spend a lot of time here helping folks make a start at trucking. We do this with a passion because it is a career that has been very rewarding to us. It is a unique career with pleasures and liberties that are not afforded in most other careers. We have some great resources here that you should avail yourself of. One of which is what we affectionately call our "starter kit." It is just some great information that will help you both understand some things about the career, and will give you information needed to make those initial steps like obtaining your learner's permit. Take a look at the following links in our "starter kit." You will learn a great deal by just reading these things.

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Many of the folks in here will tell you that they absolutely love this career, and I think those are the type of people that you want to get advice from. People who are successful at this can really help you understand how to both enjoy and excel at this stuff, while those people who are miserable at it will primarily just help you to find fault with it.

Please, hang around with us awhile and join in our conversations. You will find that you can learn so much by participating in the discussions, and you will also come to recognize those people in who are passionately successful and helpful in here.

Have you ever considered the Paid CDL Training Programs as a way to get your start in trucking? I think they are a great way to get started without having to lay out a lot of your own personal savings to get started. One of the things we highly recommend to people who are just getting started in this career is that they make a commitment to stick with their first employer for one full year. That first year is really critical in your development as a new driver, and there are so many new things to learn during that time. Many people find themselves struggling with this stuff and they immediately lay the blame on their company, and then start looking for "greener pastures." That is a convenient way to avoid taking the personal responsibility needed to produce a record of performance that will set you up for success out here. This business is completely performance based, that is why we get paid by the mile - we get paid for what we accomplish. These company sponsored training programs all require some commitment from the driver and that is one of the things that makes them successful. They commit to paying your way, training you, and assisting you in any way they can to help you survive that critical first year. You commit to hanging in there until you can get yourself established as a Top Tier Driver.

I mentioned about the vast resources we have here and it seems that you are a little curious if this life on the road might suit you or not. Here is a great podcast that you should listen to. It just may help you understand whether you have what it takes to Enjoy Life On The Road.

Good Luck Cory, and please hang around in here with us for a little bit. It will be time well spent in your pursuit of This Thing We Call Trucking.

I wish I would have started trucking before my family came along. I love this job. Without obligations you could live in your truck and save a very good nest egg if you manage your money well. It's not a job for everybody of course, giving it a shot isn't a terrible thing to do either, you dont have to keep trucking if the lifestyle doesn't fit you. The experience is different for everybody as well so you could get an opinion from everybody on the forum and still not experience anything we went through. In the end it's up to you, it's an opportunity, for better or worse. Just be smart, cautious, and careful if you do decide to get behind the wheel. Good luck out there. :)