Pondering Truck Driving Career

I am a 40 year old male who is thinking about leaving my job as a Finance Manager to start a new career in truck driving. I have had it with Corporate America and want to try something new. I am fully aware that this will be a life altering change for me, my wife and two children. I have been doing a lot of research and have nearly selected a private training program. If I ultimately decide this is a career for me I would probably try to land a regional or local gig first. OTR is something I would consider, but only after my children have grown up and leave the nest (4-5 years). There is an orientation session before classes start in September. Any advice on what questions I should ask at the orientation and what are some other things I should be consider along the way? I am cautiously optimistic this might be the right opportunity for me since there is such a need for good truckers. Thanks in advance!

Hey Mike, I started at 43 (last year) and honestly can not see myself doing anything else. Like you, I grew tired of the rat race and a go nowhere government job, so I took the plunge and do not regret one minute. As for the info you seek, just click through all the links at this site and your questions will be answered.

Happy reading and I hope you decide to join the industry, we could use some more good ones.

Welcome Mike B. Glad to have you here. I know your concern for the family but let me tell you this then ask a question. First off trucking is not going anywhere. It will be around long after we are gone and that even goes for but but since I am never going to die I guess trucking will be around forever.

Now the question. While I know you are fed up with office life and you mentioned a time period for your kids leaving is there a reason, besides corporate life sucks, that you might not be able to hold out a little longer and let the kids leave the house then be free to pursue any trucking job you would like then? 5 years is not much and I know how important the younger years are. Since trucking is the way it is you will miss out on a lot of their last teenage years being gone a lot. Of course this would be ideal but hey I understand if you can't.

We have a list around here somewhere with the questions you are talking about. Maybe someone can track down a link to that post for you.

Welcome aboard Mike!

For starters, I have to agree with Guyjax that holding out a few more years might be the prudent choice. For one, your first year you're only going to make about $35,000 and the second year maybe $40,000-$42,000 or so. That's not much to support a family on.

The other big problem is what happens if trucking doesn't work out? Maybe you'll hate it. Maybe your family will hate it. Maybe you'll get in a couple of fender benders right off the bat and have trouble landing a new job. Maybe some sort of health condition comes up that keeps you from driving. If something didn't work out, would you be able to jump back into your current industry and land a job that pays the bills? It's one thing to be completely broke and out of a job. It's quite another to leave a perfectly good salary at the chance of a new career which likely will not pay any better than where you're at. It's a bit risky with the kids still at home.

Between leaving the family, the meager wages in the beginning, and the inherent risk of changing careers while supporting a family I'm not sure it's the right move at the right time.

Read through our Truck Driver's Career Guide thoroughly and follow all of the links you come across. That will give you a ton of information about the industry and what it takes to get your career off to a great start. It will help you learn how to choose a school, how to choose a company, and what life on the road is all about. The information will definitely help you make a decision one way or another. It will also lead you to some lists of questions to ask at orientation.

I am a 40 year old male who is thinking about leaving my job as a Finance Manager to start a new career in truck driving. I have had it with Corporate America and want to try something new. I am fully aware that this will be a life altering change for me, my wife and two children. I have been doing a lot of research and have nearly selected a private training program. If I ultimately decide this is a career for me I would probably try to land a regional or local gig first. OTR is something I would consider, but only after my children have grown up and leave the nest (4-5 years). There is an orientation session before classes start in September. Any advice on what questions I should ask at the orientation and what are some other things I should be consider along the way? I am cautiously optimistic this might be the right opportunity for me since there is such a need for good truckers. Thanks in advance!

Thanks Rolling Thunder. I have my orientation for the driving school tomorrow and that will also provide some additional insight. Drive safe and keep trucking! :) Hope you continue to enjoy it.

Mike

Welcome aboard Mike!

For starters, I have to agree with Guyjax that holding out a few more years might be the prudent choice. For one, your first year you're only going to make about $35,000 and the second year maybe $40,000-$42,000 or so. That's not much to support a family on.

The other big problem is what happens if trucking doesn't work out? Maybe you'll hate it. Maybe your family will hate it. Maybe you'll get in a couple of fender benders right off the bat and have trouble landing a new job. Maybe some sort of health condition comes up that keeps you from driving. If something didn't work out, would you be able to jump back into your current industry and land a job that pays the bills? It's one thing to be completely broke and out of a job. It's quite another to leave a perfectly good salary at the chance of a new career which likely will not pay any better than where you're at. It's a bit risky with the kids still at home.

Between leaving the family, the meager wages in the beginning, and the inherent risk of changing careers while supporting a family I'm not sure it's the right move at the right time.

Read through our Truck Driver's Career Guide thoroughly and follow all of the links you come across. That will give you a ton of information about the industry and what it takes to get your career off to a great start. It will help you learn how to choose a school, how to choose a company, and what life on the road is all about. The information will definitely help you make a decision one way or another. It will also lead you to some lists of questions to ask at orientation.

Thanks Brett. I bought you book online and that has been very helpful. My spouse has a good job and that allows me a little flexibility when it comes to the starting wages. What do you think about the local and regional gigs? Won't those allow me to be home nightly and or weekly? Is the pay much less then OTR?

I am a 40 year old male who is thinking about leaving my job as a Finance Manager to start a new career in truck driving. I have had it with Corporate America and want to try something new. I am fully aware that this will be a life altering change for me, my wife and two children. I have been doing a lot of research and have nearly selected a private training program. If I ultimately decide this is a career for me I would probably try to land a regional or local gig first. OTR is something I would consider, but only after my children have grown up and leave the nest (4-5 years). There is an orientation session before classes start in September. Any advice on what questions I should ask at the orientation and what are some other things I should be consider along the way? I am cautiously optimistic this might be the right opportunity for me since there is such a need for good truckers. Thanks in advance!

Hey Mike, I started at 43 (last year) and honestly can not see myself doing anything else. Like you, I grew tired of the rat race and a go nowhere government job, so I took the plunge and do not regret one minute. As for the info you seek, just click through all the links at this site and your questions will be answered.

Happy reading and I hope you decide to join the industry, we could use some more good ones.

Thanks Rolling Thunder. I have my orientation for the driving school tomorrow and that will also provide some additional insight. Drive safe and keep trucking! :) Hope you continue to enjoy it.

Welcome Mike B. Glad to have you here. I know your concern for the family but let me tell you this then ask a question. First off trucking is not going anywhere. It will be around long after we are gone and that even goes for but but since I am never going to die I guess trucking will be around forever.

Now the question. While I know you are fed up with office life and you mentioned a time period for your kids leaving is there a reason, besides corporate life sucks, that you might not be able to hold out a little longer and let the kids leave the house then be free to pursue any trucking job you would like then? 5 years is not much and I know how important the younger years are. Since trucking is the way it is you will miss out on a lot of their last teenage years being gone a lot. Of course this would be ideal but hey I understand if you can't.

We have a list around here somewhere with the questions you are talking about. Maybe someone can track down a link to that post for you.

Guy, thank you for the insight. I have read that there are home nightly (local) and home weekly (regional) gigs? Is that not true? Is the pay way less than OTR? There is just so much out there. My uncle drove trucks for many years so I have been reaching out to him for advice also. He mentioned that some jobs offer you the option to be a 'Lumper' which will provide a driver with additional income. I mentioned to Brett that my spouse has a pretty good job so I don't need to make a killing right off the bat to start this potential journey.