Trucker Vs. Computer Programmer? Two Jobs Lined Up.

My brief stint in IT I saw people who had a job they shouldn't have been able to get, people who should have had a much better position than they did, managers and department heads who couldn't hook up a printer, but were given company homes and cars.

Ah yes....American Corporate Management....about the saddest state of affairs imaginable....unless you're one of those clowns that can barely tie your own shoes but you're making 6 or 7 figures. They're politicians most of em. They know how to take credit for the good work of others and find scapegoats when it all comes unglued. Do that enough times and those who don't know any better will think you're awesome.

Trucking and programming, two of my passions. After about 8 years as a programmer, then another few in retail management, I'm driving a truck. My biggest regret is that I didn't get into trucking twenty years ago!

Don't get me wrong, I loved being paid to write programs and see ing them used by companies whose employees jobs were using my programs, but outsourcing and such made it so the bids on jobs had too little margin.

I started a new thread Truck driving for the ex-IT pro as per the earlier suggestion.

Trucking and programming, two of my passions. After about 8 years as a programmer, then another few in retail management, I'm driving a truck. My biggest regret is that I didn't get into trucking twenty years ago!

Don't get me wrong, I loved being paid to write programs and see ing them used by companies whose employees jobs were using my programs, but outsourcing and such made it so the bids on jobs had too little margin.

ButtonUp your story has a lot of similarities to what I am experiencing. I would like to ask those on this forum who have advice or experiences that they can pass on to give me more data to make my decision.

Specifically, I would like to possibly have a drive along to see what it involved. I live near Chicago and Indianapolis, so meeting up with someone, even in a truck stop to just chat would be a real help.

. . . . a growing industry. There is a critical shortage of drivers so I would expect salaries to climb..

Some things that just make one go 'hummm' . . . the reason there's a 'shortage of drivers' IS shortage of pay!!

It's kinda like 'self-driving' cars. The more time, effort and money we put into it THE LESS a family orientated, freedom loving person will get out of it!!

Specifically, I would like to possibly have a drive along to see what it involved. I live near Chicago and Indianapolis, so meeting up with someone, even in a truck stop to just chat would be a real help.

I have a few people I know who do various types of trucking, and have talked with them, but I wanted to talk to some people that I didn't know.

I went to a truck stop and walking around the parking lot, just looking at all the trucks, kind of fishing you might say. Sure enough, I got a bite and a trucker asked me what I was doing. I told him I was just looking at the trucks and should be starting school soon. We talked a couple mins and then I told him if he would sit down and answer some questions and give me a few bits of wisdom, I would happily buy his dinner. Got a whole lot of knowledge for under $10 and when we were done eating and talking, he gave me his number and said to text him any time I had a question or needed advice on something.

Plenty of friendly people out there who would be willing to talk to you, and even be happy for a bit of company and a free piece of pie. Just put yourself in a position to meet them. I plan on doing this a couple more times in these last weeks before school is set to start.

. . . . a growing industry. There is a critical shortage of drivers so I would expect salaries to climb..

Some things that just make one go 'hummm' . . . the reason there's a 'shortage of drivers' IS shortage of pay!!

It's kinda like 'self-driving' cars. The more time, effort and money we put into it THE LESS a family orientated, freedom loving person will get out of it!!

When you say shortage of pay, what does that mean exactly? When I look at glass door, I see an average of $43,464/year. That is pre-tax average of $835/week. It sounds like you get there pretty quickly (within a year or 2 from my reading) Is that accurate?

Plenty of friendly people out there who would be willing to talk to you, and even be happy for a bit of company and a free piece of pie. Just put yourself in a position to meet them. I plan on doing this a couple more times in these last weeks before school is set to start.

That is a great idea. Thanks!

. . . . a growing industry. There is a critical shortage of drivers so I would expect salaries to climb..

Some things that just make one go 'hummm' . . . the reason there's a 'shortage of drivers' IS shortage of pay!!

It's kinda like 'self-driving' cars. The more time, effort and money we put into it THE LESS a family orientated, freedom loving person will get out of it!!

When you say shortage of pay, what does that mean exactly? When I look at glass door, I see an average of $43,464/year. That is pre-tax average of $835/week. It sounds like you get there pretty quickly (within a year or 2 from my reading) Is that accurate?

That is pretty accurate as far as salary go and it is pretty decent money. But when you factor in all the extra stuff we do and all the risk we take some people don't think we are paid enough. I half agree with them but at the same time I feel like it is a great opportunity for people like me who don't have any kind of degree and don't like the so called normal jobs. I love what I do and I'm going to do it for a long time

I've been meaning to post my annual message, but keep forgetting. I wanted to chime in on the pay, though.

In training, I made nothing until I got my cdl , then got 25 a day until I got assigned to a trainer. I can't remember exactly how much it was at first but I remember i was bringing in about 400 a week for a few weeks until I went to the next phase of training, where I got 12 cents a mile for a few weeks, which wasn't bad, I'd bring home between 400 and 700 depending.

After I went solo I made 35k My first year and about 40 my second. Been about 44k a year after that. Would have been more this year but I've taken a lot more days off than usual.

I am in my mid 40's and have been fixing computers as a hobbyist and for pay since I was in my early teens.

16 JAN 2015 was my last day at work for NCR as a phone support agent. They moved my job to Serbia.

There will always be trucking jobs, and where you live isn't terribly important.