Hope I Didn't Shoot Myself In The Foot...

Thanks for all the good advice everyone..I will definitely keep in touch with my recruiter..

I got a taste of that unpredictability myself a few days ago when, on a whim, I put in an application to Swift, expecting it'd be a few weeks before I heard from them, if I heard from them at all. FOUR HOURS LATER, a recruiter contacted me. Holy smokes, drivers must be in demand! :)

Houkie, as hard as it is to believe, Driver turnover is 100% across the board, in trucking. Theres alot of factors that make it what it is. So the recruiters will never be out of a job. Keep lookin' and planning. And we'll help you all we can...

Seriously? 100%? That's insane. I knew it was high, but didn't realize it was that high!

And we'll help you all we can...

This is why I love this site. :)

Yes, driver turn-over is incredibly high. Wheels are not the only things that roll at trucking companies, there's a lot of heads that roll also. There is so precious little reliable information out there on the industry that a lot of people jump right in not really understanding that they are not just getting a job, but they are completely changing their lifestyle, and that change not only effects them but also their spouses, their children, their friends, their management of their household affairs, their extended family, their pets... I could go on and on.

Getting into trucking can be a really wonderful thing, but it is a game changer no matter how you look at it. It pays to research, and get yourself prepared for it ahead of time as best you can. There can be some really big negatives to it depending on your situation. But let me hasten to say it can also be a really cool job if you're cut out for it, and if you and your family can manage the metamorphosis that takes place in a truck drivers life.

I recently was talking to a trucking company that did not refer to their driver trainers as "driver trainers", but rather they called them "lifestyle trainers". I thought to myself, these guys really get it, and they want their drivers to get it also. It makes it so much easier to make the transition once you understand the realities of the world of truck driving.

One thing that people must remember. The actual number for the turn over rate in trucking is roughly 130%. That sounds high but you have to remember that about 120% of that is drivers not leaving trucking but going to another company. Even though they stay within the industry if they quit or get fired ad go to another company that is counted in that 130%. So the actual number of people leaving the trucking industry and never returning is around 10% or so.....maybe lower.