Veteran Truckers Opinion Wanted!

Hey guys, just wanted to get the opinion of some of the veterans drivers with kids. I'm 34 years old, I have 3 daughters, ages 15, 11, and 9. I'm just now starting my trucking career after 7 year stint in the Army. It's been hard since I been home finding good work to support my kids. All the jobs around here are low paying, it's hard to survive. Plus I don't have a college education to get the good job, or the experience in manufacturing or plastic extrusion or etc to get good local jobs, that's why I decided to get into trucking, plus trucking has been in my blood and family since I was born. Now I have been used to being away from my kids while being in Army, I was maybe home 3 months out of the year, so being gone for me isn't the issue. My question is, is it ok to be away from my kids 3-5 weeks at a time, if I'm doing it for them and to provide for them? Is it honorable thing to do? It's what I have to do to make sure my kids have what they need in life, and to this point I haven't been able to get them everything in life or take them on big trips, but they have the necessities. But I want to give them more, being in Army don't pay much, but I was able to provide the basics. But I'd like to give them more, that's why I deciding to get into trucking, to make that extra money. Only thing is, making that extra money to give them good things in life will require me to be gone 3-5 weeks at a time, at least in the beginning. But is that the right thing to do? Is it selfish of me? Does it make me a good parent to want to give them more, or is it bad that I'm going to be gone so much? I will definitely miss them while I'm gone, and they will definitely miss me, but I just hope they understand that what I'm doing, I am doing for them. I just wanted to get some of the vets opinions that have kids and are going through same thing. Also they have a good mom, and she takes good care of them also.

Jarod, part of the answer is in your own ethics. Our society has parents in the whole range - from daily talks to dads who just show up once in a while. I assume Mom will be at home taking care of 'em while you're on the road.

You can call daily, use Skype, Google hangouts, etc. to video as often as you can. (You may be required to use WiFi to make video calls.)

Your babies are old enough to receive post cards. (Yes, they are almost obsolete, but they are from daddy!). Bring home little gew-gaws from where you've been when you finally get to the house.

I believe the important thing is to continue to be a vital part of their lives, though mostly from far away.

Im an experienced father and can tell you from helping( 50/50 custody ) raise my two boys that between 12yrs- 17rs old was when mine started to rebel like crasy and had i not been there things could of been worse then they were.. that might not be your situation or maybe girls are different age wise but somthing to consider

One thing I do know is you can't get that time back.

Is it worth it to YOU? The kids won't understand either way until they are older and on their own.

No wrong and no right answer.

.02

Hey Jarod,

I have 4 kids, 2 are grown and the other 2 are a 13 yr old girl and 12 yr old boy. I divorced the younger ones' mom in 2009. They lived near me in TN until 2013 when their mother moved with them to Colorado. That is also when I started this career.

I will not lie, it kills me to be away from them, especially my little girl, BUT, I fly them home twice a year and everytime I am near them I make it a point to see them. I also talk to them on the phone about every other day. They are doing just fine for now and when we are together it is as if we were never apart.

You are faced with a difficult decision no doubt. Just make sure you include them in your day to day and they should be fine.

By the way, have you thought about a regional gig? Some companies will hire you fresh out of school for this (mine did).

Hey Jarod,

I have 4 kids, 2 are grown and the other 2 are a 13 yr old girl and 12 yr old boy. I divorced the younger ones' mom in 2009. They lived near me in TN until 2013 when their mother moved with them to Colorado. That is also when I started this career.

I will not lie, it kills me to be away from them, especially my little girl, BUT, I fly them home twice a year and everytime I am near them I make it a point to see them. I also talk to them on the phone about every other day. They are doing just fine for now and when we are together it is as if we were never apart.

You are faced with a difficult decision no doubt. Just make sure you include them in your day to day and they should be fine.

By the way, have you thought about a regional gig? Some companies will hire you fresh out of school for this (mine did).

I would definitely call them everyday, or video chat with them everyday. I just got to make sure they know im doing this for them. And your right it wont be easy on any of us, but I have to do what I need to do to provide a good life for them, and this is my best chance. Im going to make it work. And I thought about Regional but Id like to earn more money then I think Regional pays. Im not for sure if Swift have Regional opportunities for school grads or not.

Wow Jared, you're asking some pretty tough questions that the only person that give give you the right answer for is yourself. I don't think you're going to get a clear opinion one way or another from the gamete of responses you're gonna get. These are soul searching questions my friend. And I think a good answer to your questions are actually questions themselves. Do YOU think it's an honorable thing to do to enter an occupation that may have you gone 3 to 5 weeks at a time? Also very importantly what does your spouse think? What do your kids think? Asking total strangers, I don't feel is where you're going to get the best feedback. But hey, if you are just looking for a general consensus then I think you're asking the right crowd. If you ask these same questions in like a Teachers forum you'll get some complete different opinions.

You've already sacrificed alot of your sanity by serving your country. And thank you for your service bud!! IMHO that in of itself was a truly heroic thing to do. You have my undying appreciation for serving. So clearly you have the moral fortitude to make more sacrifices by taking a job that will have you away from home some more.

Now I'll end with this: You live pretty far from a major city so your chances of local work will be harder to come by than anyone living in a large city. But hopefully not impossible. My first advice is to see what is available to do that will get you home more often. I know nothing of that area so can't be of much help there. If you're going to look for an OTR company to get licensed with than you're looking at about a 12 month commitment with afterwards. I don't get money or brownie points for recruiting for Prime but I do know for a fact that Prime runs a dedicated Wal-mart route just a little over 60 miles from you in Olney, IL. That would get you home nightly if you wanted an hour commute every day. I don't know for sure though how close you have to live to the DC to do this. But it's an option to look at when seeking a company to work for. I just mention this as a possibility in the many have in finding an OTR company. Good luck in your endeavors!

OK just to cover my butt, I may be able to get money from Prime for recruiting if you qualify and employ with them and you give a recruiter my name and/or truck number. But I didn't provide that info so I'm still pretty safe in saying I don't get paid for it.