Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Well, it's been a long time since I posted here, although I did lurk around a lot lol. And during that time I have worked for Prime Inc, and then K&B transportation.

And now a little over a year ago I managed to hire on with the USPS as a local TTO (Tractor Trailer Operator). From what I have heard at truck stops I apparently won the lottery, being only 23 at the time and having only 2 years experience. I am paid by the hour ($20.60 starting $31.00 max-8 years) I get a pension and all the other gov bennies along with gov holidays and the awesome ability to tell the DOT to kiss my ass and flip the bird to weigh stations. And I am home every day and have WEEKENDS WOOOOOOOO!

Now, I kinda like it here, but the thing is I never really wanted to make this a career. I want to go to university and get a mechanical engineering/computer engineering dual major. I have had this goal for a very long time.

I am just hesitant to leave because ... yah, I made it in trucking. I have one of the best jobs you can get as a trucker (subjective I know) but at the same time I don't find it engaging ... this job bores me to tears ( until it doesn't, bad weather, idiot 4 wheelers ect)

Just looking for some other opinions really, should I stay on or should I try for college? Because I don't think I will be able to get back in with the USPS if I leave.

I don't find it engaging ... this job bores me to tears

I can't speak from a driver's perspective, but I can speak from the perspective of a 52 year old male, who left the Army at 23 to go to the University of California with dreams of an "engaging" career that pays well and wouldn't "bore me to tears."

After over 20 years of the corporate world I'm pretty much burnt out with my "engaging" career. And I see a lot of the same burn out with others, including civil engineers who I've seen literally work themselves to death. I understand that trucking has the stressful learning curve during the first year and the continuing job stress mentioned by the professional drivers on this forum. So I don't expect trucking to be easy. But right now, I would relish an non-engaging trucking job that "bored me to tears."

That being said, I have certain "engaging" intellectual pursuits that I hope to continue after I get through my first year of trucking and things become more "manageable."

I'm sure that this movie is before your time, but I would recommend "Monty Python and the Meaning of Life." If you like satire, Monty Python does satire very well and the Meaning of Life takes a very irreverent look at all the ways people try to find happiness in this world. Happiness through job satisfaction being one of the more common errant paths.

Spoiler alert regarding the movie:

The end of the movie contains this quote:

Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations

The point being that the meaning of life is probably a lot less complicated than most people try to make it.

Good luck to you.

I have accumulated four degrees so far and don't use any of them.

If I were your age, I'd think long and hard on what you want to do long term.