Contemplating A Career Change

i dont have kids..if i did.. i wouldnt be here. think long and hard. this is not a romantic "saving the universe, dad is a military guy keeping the country safe"... this is a "dad is hauling food, tires, Nike sneakers while he eats alone and misses our life" job.

Very well said!

I was told by a Roehl recruiter that inexperienced drivers aren't eligible to apply for the HomeTime Plus fleet which offers 7/7, 7/4, and 7/3 options

My daughter turns 12 tomorrow. I got into this five years ago.

I spent the first two years doing OTR “48 states” and home twice monthly. During that time my company got me home for Son’s wedding, Wife’s surgery and other major events. I drove for Schneider National, dry van.

Three years ago I came to a southeast regional company/job. I get home weekly, often multiple times a week. My current company has gotten me home for my Daughter’s dance recitals and even for the Daddy/Daughter rehearsals each week. I guess I have it better than I sometimes think.

My relationship with my family has grown stronger in the past five years.

Time away was a little easier for me because I spent ten years in the Navy, much of it on ships.

When you make your decision, whatever that may be, stand tall and proud. Celebrate whatever the next chapter brings.

I hope this helps.

Steve, first thank you for your service in the Navy. One thing I look back on that I wish I would have done early on is served our country.

I appreciate your insight as well. Sounds like you have yourself a great gig. That’s awesome. Getting someone similar would be a blessing. I can imagine the first couple of years will be tough. I try and remind myself that things work themselves out over time. We have moved several times, (WI to CO) (CO to WI), changed jobs, and you look back and say that wasn’t too bad.

My daughter turns 12 tomorrow. I got into this five years ago.

I spent the first two years doing OTR “48 states” and home twice monthly. During that time my company got me home for Son’s wedding, Wife’s surgery and other major events. I drove for Schneider National, dry van.

Three years ago I came to a southeast regional company/job. I get home weekly, often multiple times a week. My current company has gotten me home for my Daughter’s dance recitals and even for the Daddy/Daughter rehearsals each week. I guess I have it better than I sometimes think.

My relationship with my family has grown stronger in the past five years.

Time away was a little easier for me because I spent ten years in the Navy, much of it on ships.

When you make your decision, whatever that may be, stand tall and proud. Celebrate whatever the next chapter brings.

I hope this helps.

Delco Dave - Have you started with a company training program? Your situation sounds so similar to mine. I truly didn’t realize how involved this is when looking at different training programs and companies. Mind boggling. At least it gives me a reason to use my brain while working.

No SRJ, I have not started yet, just been studying for permit and learning as much as possible about this career. I’m in the process of shutting down my landscape business now, my wife is having a medical procedure done in a few weeks so I won’t be applying until mid February, hoping to get to training around St. Patty’s day

One difference in our situations is I have been working 10-14 hr days, 6 days a week pretty much my entire life. I haven’t been around much and missed tons of family/kids stuff already. Trucking wont get me more time at home but it will provide better pay in a year or 2, cheaper health insurance, a retirement plan and far less wear on my body.

I may look into a local job in a few years but unless you find a real sweet gig, hrs are gonna be about the same. You’ll just sleep at home instead of truck

I might be able to shed a little bit a light on this subject for ya.

back in 2003 , I started my career into truck driving , mind you , I had 3 small boys (ages 4 , 3 and 8 months). I lasted only 2 years as a OTR driver with 2 different companies (Werner the JB Hunt) before I hung the OTR up and started as a delivery driver for Lowes. Also during this time , social media was not as good as it was , the internet while was solid it was not strong like now a days. Heck, if I recall , Werner was the only company at that time running elogs.

Fast forward to today , with FB and FB messenger , you can set up "face time" with your family, this if you plan it good , you can have a few hours during your 10 hour break to "see and talk" to your family. Also, with a internet app, you can set up that tracks your movement in real time called: Goggle Map APRS , all your loved ones have to do once you set it up is to go on the app and in REAL time they can find you via a call sign you set up and see if your moving or not. This might be something fun for the youngsters to do as a game. "Find where Daddy is" type game.

Now that my kids are way older (20 , 18 and 16) , I have decided to head back out on the open road and become a driver once again. Do yourself a HUGE favor , if you ever elect to stop driving completely , DO NOT EVER surrender your CDL for a standard license because if you do , then for the most part you will have to start back over at square one.

Hopefully, this sheds some light on your thought process in this matter.

Best Wishes !!!

I wanted to thank you all for your responses. I truly appreciate it. I continue to read posts from the past that members have posted regarding similar situations.

Aaron M. started a post a couple of years back titled “OTR as a family man”. Very informative information throughout that post. I haven’t been able to locate any follow up on his journey and would love to learn how his two years have progressed.

Thank you all again. SRJ.

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