What Attracted Us to a Truck Driving Career (Is Gone!)
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Just some clarification as to why many of us became truck drivers years ago.
- Profitable. The pay was good.
- Freedom. The freedom of the job was particularly attractive to many.
- Flexible Schedule.
- The Trucks. A pretty common reason many folks become truck drivers. A fascination for machinery and mastering the machine!
- Overall a Good Job - Could take a vacation, save $, earned enough $ to live well.
- No Micromanaging.
These are but a few of the reasons to become a truck driver. Many of these things sadly are now gone.
Truck driving can still be a good job/career but it takes some serious planning, thought and deliberation to make it work for you!
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I and many other drivers really enjoy the videos that you make. You bring up a lot of good points about all the negative aspects of truck driving these days. The only way for us to drive large Trucking carriers is to band together and demand Fair wages for our work. You have a large following with your channel so your voice would be heard by many. Could you please put some thought into organizing a forum something similar for drivers to join that is associated with their company so that they can talk about the lies and deceit and unfair practices of those companies and demand that the companies stop with this rigmarole. It could be like a modern-day Union. Perhaps even a nap for our smartphones would be a good idea. Let's make Trucking great again.
Hi. Your timing is great. I'm currently in the midst of creating some a group. Just getting the finer details nailed down and it should be ready to go very soon. It's something I'm planning to launch and the details of how to best service the group can be tweaked as we move along. Now, back to the drawing board.:) Catherine
I am on board with this group. I love this career and want to see fair wages. I am so tired of adding up true miles driven against what they are paying and by the time settlement comes out I am 500 miles short a week. That’s 3/4 a days pay. Stuff like this can’t be legal. I am a lease purchase driver (I know bad idea)! But I am tired of being ripped of as company driver or lease purchase driver. Zip code to sip code shouldn’t be legal. Do they pay a factory for only 3/4 of the hours he worked? No! Did he have to buy welding rods to do the welding? No. Why take a 1/4 of my pay make me pay fuel and maintenance and now I have to the govt another 30 %. Come on this has to be illegal for me to bring home 1/3 of the earnings
There's no driver shortage, only a pay shortage. Nobody wants to live in a truck for peanuts.
Still holding my own
1.I work alone,...nobody likes me.
2.My old pre emission cabover.
3.My authority.
4.Don't take the load if I don't want it.
5.Paid off equipment....I stay home as long as I like.
Smart.
Why do I want to become a trucker? Because dad was a trucker and enjoyed his job and drove truck even though he had stage four liver cancer for the last two years of his life he a stubborn determined man that only wanted to do what he loved and enjoyed. Dad passed away may 31st 2019
AmericanHillbilly , May your Daddy Rest In Peace. ✨💖✨
👍 my dad was the same way determined may they R.I.P.
@ American Hillbilly
RIP .........
RIP
RIP your Dad who fought to the end for what he loved and enjoyed to do is a true professional trucker. God bless you and your family.
For the good old American way - for the money, for the glory, and for the fun. But mostly for the money
R.I.P. Bandit
Kevin Lesch awesome
Government overregulation and the mega carriers are what destroyed trucking.
The 1970s: High wages, cheap fuel prices, and some of the best music the world's ever heard. And not a damn Colombia or Cascadia in sight. Happy days.
I drive a kenworth.... A t880. It's no better then a cascadia lol. Junky paccar mx13 yuk. I pull milk tanker local sometimes gross 107k, and I get to deal with this turd
@@andrewdonohue1853 Other than the emissions junk on the mx13 I've found them to be great reliable engines, not power house's by any means but long term they'll last just as long as the old 60 series detroits and cat NZ's. I pull hopper bottom b-trains up here in Canada grossing just shy of 140,000lb's day in and day out on road off road and the fleet of mx13 powered trucks my company runs have the least amount of down time and best fuel economy, in fact only the units with high idle hours have had any emissions problems.
I wish the truck I bought didn't have the cummins ISX15 in it but instead the less powerful but more reliable and durable mx13.
What about the OPEC oil embargo and the fact that American automakers Held on to large displacement engines that couldn’t pass emissions without being horribly de rated with an iron grip
Watching my uncle and his friends haul produces, and chicken back in the 80s and late 90s. I grew up a poor biracial kid in Sw Va. I got in a lot of fights in school. Fought against both sides. My mom sent me up to DC to live with my aunt and uncle. One day he asks me if i want to ride to keep him awake while on the way up to Hunts Point. After that every summer I went with him on the road as his personal assistant as he used to say until I went college. That man changed my life. So when I started driving he told me there was no future for me in trucking, things had changed that fast( now this is when the whole stack train thing just started) rates went in the toilet. Brokers became sketchy, asking if we had GPS tracking. I learned phone my etiquette from talking to Brokers and customers all day and how to b.s. my way in and out of anything. I came in on the last of those good ol' days. Brought my first truck and was leased on to transcontinental refrigerated lines for 4 years, made hella good money. One day I come into the office(back when you could walk up to the dispatcher's desk) and seen a bunch of prime shirts and jackets walking around. That's the moment I remember when trucking for a living was done for me. I miss that man everyday! R.I.P Holeman (Clinton Md) Also I had seen more lot lizards, clalklines, and crackheads than a 11yrs should have seen at the time.
Makes me wish I weren't getting into it these days. Sounds nice back then.
I was always scared to death of those behemoths as a kid. Too big.
Cut to 2008, I'm 34 years old, living in Colorado (right-to-work) with no job skills and no education. I'd always worked in factories. So, the economy is taking a major dump and I can't hold down a job no matter how hard I try. I was always a temp, so I was always the first out the door when the company purse strings got tightened. On my final job out there, before I accepted defeat and came back home to Indiana, I had a 10 minute conversation with a driver that I was helping to unload. That man, and that conversation, changed my life, forever.
I told him I had no felonies, no family to support, a good driving record and a desperate need to do something else.
By the time he left, I knew what I was going to do, and I've been doing it ever since.
Now, I've got 10 years, and over 1 million miles under my belt, and a brand new spare tire on my ass, but I'm not starving to death, living in my van in a Walmart parking lot anymore. LOL!
I never even knew his name. If I could, I would thank him a million times over.
You got into the industry after/during so many changes. You didnt see it firsthand before to dwell on what has happened. I gave up over the road and I'm in a log truck on the west coast. I net around $1,600 every two weeks. That's around 60 hours a week. If they really run me I see $2,000 two week net checks. I make as much now as i did otr and I'm home... not rubbing it in anyone's face. I question why the hell I was otr for 7 years?
I have spent 30 yrs in Policing and i can say that I've seen the best and worst of the industry. I was always so impressed when i dealt with a professional driver and his truck, that I knew when I had the chance I would want to try it. I retired 2 yrs ago, got my CDL and haven't looked back. I sure wish I had the chance to run like you were able to back in the day. Great story Dave.
I remember riding with my dad back in the early 2000’s running coast to coast. I was just a young boy back then but it was awesome. He ended up retiring in 2009. He drove for almost 30 years and I was there for about half of them. I’d say he’s my reason for becoming a trucker.
I left trucking for the same reasons. Got tired of driving a Tupperware 2000 and driving 160,000 miles a year for low wages.
I became a trucker for the freedom, money, and joy it brings. I know you can't do that as a company driver, but I am working my way to have enough experience to be truly independent and purchase an older 60s-80s KW cabover. This is my personal goal and part of me still can't believe I left the factory behind to do what I love. Thanks for the videos!
I wish you the best of luck, assuming the government doesn't do something to eventually outlaw trucks any older than 10 years in the name of a "clean environment."
Lol I like classic trucks....but I enjoy my modern features like cruise, steering wheel controls, Bluetooth, power windows, etc
Damn, what happend to the good ol' days???? This needs to returned to the industry & become a great industry, again. Lets go!!!!!!
It will never go back - the manufacturers and warehouses will stop it from happening
@@bekind8484 they won't stop anything if they have no workers.
Hated high school so dropped out in 1987 i was 17 and did what I thought was awesome. Not anymore. I keep telling all little kids to stay in school and get an education and avoid doing this to old for anything else. God Bless You All.
My first load was salt from Watkins Glen, NY back to NJ. I asked my dispatcher/boss which way they wanted me to run. He told me he didn't care as long as the load was at the delivery point at 6AM the next day.
The last trucking job paid just about minimum wage all said and done. Didn’t even cover my bills. Gone for weeks. Shitty truck. Crappy dispatch calling me all hours. After 30 years of this has just gotten so much worse. Parked the truck and walked away from it. Done. Got a decent inside job, better pay, home everyday.
Here's a joke for the mega carrier drivers.
What's the difference between a large pizza and a truck driver?
A large pizza can feed a family of 4.
Snidely Whiplash I guess you haven’t seen a large pizza lately
Snidely Whiplash : 🤣
Snidely Whiplash a large pizza feeds one. Me
I chose living in a truck over living in a cell ✌️
John Mccain it’s basically the same thing.
Exactly! The industry needs to improve as a whole though.
Love that, basically we are ALL living in a prison. Some go to factory jobs etc. and pay for their prison cell, an apartment or house. IF, one thinks they own their house, look at your property TAXES. We're slaves to the system.
I always appreciate your videos. Thank you! I am a company driver - I’d love to have my own truck, but have heard too many horror stories. I’ve been working for a company that is so ‘nickel & dimey’ I’ve got to let them go. I’m going back to the West Coast to drive a dairy tanker - at least cows need to be milked every day, which feels like some job security. Thanks again for your wisdom. 😁
@Lynn Jacob....Thanks and hope you find a better local situation. i drove years' ago and was glad to leave otr.
Hey Lynn. Glad you like the videos. There's still great money in being a company driver if you dig around and look for the right job. They really do exist!
Prime is like that. I heard the company guys are forced onto certain routes, and they'd get called and yelled at by their dispatcher if they went off of that. They're really running that company like what I hear Swift is like, but with a cute little schooling program. I was smart because I went lease... Just kidding. Probably ran the same way as a company guy: Face first, into the ground. My dispatcher at Prime was a nutcase. When he wasn't going on about me to his buddies at the water cooler, he'd be calling me when I'm 8 hours into sleeping making sure I get up on time or because the trailer sensor went off when I took an exit ramp.
Back when I started trucking in 1979, everyone was happy and could make a decent living on $1.00 mile.
Why I became a trucker, well I always loved the big truck when I was a kid, the smell of diesel fuel, the sounds of the engines, the Jake brakes, air horns, the CB radios, the chrome, the lights, the children doing the arm pump, watching movies like Smokey and the Bandit, Convoy, Duel, Maximum Overdrive, traveling from place to place, doing what I love and getting paid to do it, having an office with a view, my friends will say oh look at that Vette I say yeah look at that Pete.... i really think Trucking is as American as baseball and apple pie.... great video bro.
Omg you made 4x what loads pay today and the cost of operating was a 10th of today's.. I wish I was living in those days... I missed the good ole days
No kidding. I wish so too. It's all f***ed now. Ain't worth a sh*t. Truly embarrassing to be out there. Problem is, nothing much else pays these days... not a lot of good jobs left.
That’s why the industry is the way it is the drivers don’t stick together and take care of each other these younger guys can’t even change a light bulb without road service
What people don't realize is that we're the robots now
Have to agree buddy! Quit 6 years ago, tired of the BS and no cash, local haul is no better. Your right it WAS an excellent career 25 plus years ago. Good travels to you all that continue to do it for us.
Dude knocked on the door for 30 minutes? He must have sold Kirby vacuums door to door before his dispatcher job!!!
I’m a driver I’m only 28 but grew up around truckin. My dad talks about all the old days just like you described and loved listening to all the other old hands or “mentors” I like to call them cause they can really teach you somethin if you listen. So YES trucking gets in your blood!
David Miller I'm 27, and I never knew trucking was what i wanted to do. I spent two years working as a correctional officer and got fired two years ago. Quickly went into trucking and now wouldn't want to do anything else. I don't like to deal with people so trucking is perfect for me
Today, we drivers are running full tilt at all times just to manage the loads that are on our shoulders.
Did you see that man get into his truck with 3 easy steps? Peter damn sure built a superior product. You can slip and fall your way into and out of that Freightliner all day.
You'd think other truck manufacturers could take a hint.
I was born to drive.
After my youth was spent in construction. I turned to truck driver. It was at the end of the hayday.
Company drivers had underpowered cab overs and the rest had large cars. Most of the old mom and pop companies were bringing on second generation management.
They were only in to for the money and drove the entire industry into the ground to maximize there stature and profits.
I became a trucker cause I wanted the office with the best view. To be frank.
The most important what is really gone, professionalism. Our industry regulates and control people who have never been driving 18th wheeler. Yes you don’t need high iq to drive truck but still it requires high expectation being professional truck driver. Thats what really make me sad.
Well, bring it back!! Police your own, set an example. 👍👍💯
@@backwoodsp.n.w yeah right.
Armando Salgado ohh yeah industry of a lot of dambazzes behind 18 wheelers. You are right.
No money = no professionalism. Plain and simple.
superturboawesome well you have choose wrong profession.
I remember those tricked out rigs with all their chrome, and elaborate paint jobs. [waxing nostalgic]
In 1974 I made more than$45,000, with deregulation by 2001 I was working nearly double the hours local in Chicago for about $21,000. I can only thank all of the woman since Elizabeth Dole for the mothering In the name of safety that they have done In the name of safety to make this job so bad, and with the revolving door of NEW drivers, so dangerous
The reason why I wanted to become a truck driver is that there was a trucker that lived on the same street that I lived on when I was a boy!! I remember his truck well; it was a beige Kenworth cabover and us boys (and even ssf one of the girls) were so impressed with his truck!! He also took me for a ride on my birthday and that is when I said to myself "I want to be a truck driver for my career choice"!! Yes many tried to discourage me from it but after I left the Army that is what I wanted to do and I have been successful at it!!
I do agree about the reasons why nobody wants to do it anymore and you hit the nail on the head with the hammer!! There is NO more fun in the industry!! I drove in Europe as well and I remember the times when we could ask for a run from Germany to Italy or France to Italy and then back north to the UK but when they let the Eastern European nations into the EU that completely ruined the trucking industry in Europe!! It also destroyed the pay and put as numerous west European companies out of business or in some cases they canned the Western European drivers and had Eastern European drivers pulling a German trailer as an example!!
I have seen what destroyed the industry here in North America and that is the Mega Carriers; that is CRST, CR England and others!! Thank you so much for posting this video and I will share it if that is ok!!
Yes, I must agree with you. The huge carriers have ruined this industry. And yes, share it!
@@SmartTrucking Thank you, I will!! I also like the way you have exposed these mega carriers such as US Express and the others!! The things that those Motherfu##ers do to truckers and other people is criminal!!
What a coincidence...eastern Europeans have ruined trucking here too. I was an O/O running containers and we were asked to take a pay cut on one customer. I refused as did others. "Danny" a Romanian with a plastic volvo said sure. Pull 4 or 5 a day and make 150 to 200 dollars is good money. I explained to him at the time ( mid 90's) that 200 a day is not good money for running local. We all wanted 3 to 400. He said in Romania he only made 100 a week or something and we told him he wasnt in Romania. Even the new guys who get told 30 to 40 grand is better than 10 dollars an hour in a factory are to blame. Settling is settling. Yes you have to work somewhere and I dont make what I want but I wont work as an owner OP for 150 a day. Sheesh.
I think we still have lots of freedom compared to other type of jobs as long as you stay away from big trucking companies.
We have to be a little bit more smarter than before.
We are of about the same age and you hit the nail right on the head, the 70s for me were the good old days! Lol
I was a kid watching "Movin' On" and decided that was the life for me. 😎👍
You pretty much saved me from wasting my time and money last year in getting into training. Trucking like being a pilot....no money
"We were not treated like crap back then, because we just wouldn't put up with it. " Amen Dave, you just hit the nail in the head with these words.
As usual Dave, you pretty well nailed it. Those were the good old days! The hay day of trucking. Sad thing about it is most of the younger drivers will never get to know what real trucking was about. If they did, they would turn in their keys tomorrow and refuse to drive until some major changes were made. I run an older truck. As I like to say, a mighty fine 1999 379! I'm leased on to a GOOD smaller company. I still get to run paper with my pre 2000 model and no speed limiters, no dash cams and still have most all of the freedoms of the old days. We cant make time like we used too because of the hard assed insurance companies and the fmcsa score bullshit. Still if you hunt and find that niche, that's where its at!!!! The money will probably never be what it was in the day but there's still good money in some of the niches. My son and I both make more money than my daughter who is a lawyer. It's sad what the government and the mega carriers have done to the industry though for sure. Another thing thats coming up short these days is just the lack of common courtesy among drivers. Man we used to have each others backs no matter what! A lot of the pride is gone also. Anyway keep on keeping on! I enjoy your channel! I'm 64 years old, still making pretty damn good money and still having enough fun I dont plan on quitting as long as I can get a health card and keep my old school ways! So for me its "Keep on truckin" !!!!
Dan Tweedy I'm 27 and will never know what trucking was like back in the day, but one thing I do know is that it sure as hell pays me a lot better than most traditional jobs. I own a 2007 frieghtliner and it's muh baby lol. As long as it runs,i get to eat well.
The companies these days are pathetic. Headlights that are so dull that you can barely see 3 feet in front of your truck. Safety manager (who never ever drove a truck ) says "I am well aware of the lights in the Volvo's". Apparently, the Volvos are known for this. The trucks were like 3 years old compared to my car which is 20 years old. The headlights on my car were a trillion times better.
This safety guy fails to understand that better lights make you driver safer and causes less fatigue.
The equipment of years ago definitely helped get people in trucking. People would much rather see a Peterbilt or Kenworth over Volvos and Freightliners.
I just recently decided to stop driving a truck. I will have to be hard up before I drive another truck.
I'm right there with ya. It was something I pondered for quite a while, but the headache just wasn't worth it to me anymore.
Roll in to Bakersfield....ahhh, the good ol' days have Bruce's!! And the Weed Patch on the north side the street was even better.
Left Lane Chicken Trains and Rooster Cruiser's were awesome. Miss those days.
Don't even get me started on Fontana...Cherry St anyone? :)
I remember the good old days. Now i,m glad i retired. Here in europe traffic jams are the worst . these are everyday happenings. Sometimes it,s unbelievable. In the Netherlands were i live we had 500.000 cars in 1966. nowadays arround 7 million. Imagine that in a such a small country. I loved being a truck driver back then. The money was good but was never my motivation. I always worked for a small company (8 trucks), everbody knew each other and their familys. Yeah, the freedom was particurlarly attractive, for sure. I like music and remember listing all day long to the radio and playing cassette tapes. Music back then was great either so i guess i was very lucky. I also loved shifting gears. That was real trucking, now it,s all atomatic.
"It was always a road show those days" now that got me!
Salute to those golden days truckers and especially to you Dave..
Man, you just made the old days sound great. I’m just happy to have gotten to experience a few of years of the paper comic books days.
I loved trucking back in the day. now I hate it. The fun the freedom and good pay are gone. I still have 7 years to go and then I can call it quits. I have fond memories of the past.
Average pay of a company driver over-the-road driver in 1979 before the deregulation $44,900 a year 2019 51388 year so that little bit of jump in 40 years the average over-the-road driver now if it kept up with inflation should be making about 90,000 a year
Steve Morelli should be, but it is not in any blue color job
Dave I am a third generation trucker, O/O. I miss the good ole' days too. I got into it not because of that third generation thing but because I didn't want to hang, tape and finish sheet rock (drywall) any more. I did that for 4 years before I got my chauffeurs license, at 18, know as a CDL today. I miss the freedom we once had. And as far as someone telling where to go and stop and such, well they can just kiss my............mud flap. 10-Rodger that!? Thank you again for your video Dave. Be safe out there. God bless.
Hi Dave, the reason you are occasionally still trucking is because of your beautyfull Peterbilt 379... I know i would do the same....
I became a truck driver because it's part of the family... And i started on a broken old MAN truck... Which never broke down on me.
But that was a truck that communicated with you as driver... and eventho it was just a 245hp engine.... It had enough power too accelerate faster than 400HP engined trucks...
Now i drive a 'Scania' (SCAM-IA) Sardine Can made of Plastic... weak engine no torque quite the drinker...
Modern trucks arent fun anymore it's all computerized and nothing oldskool as it should be.
Thanks for the video!
Greetz from The Netherlands,
Bjorn
Remember one of our retired customers " Trucker Buddy Wayne " always said trucking went down hill after the mid 1970's . Before then a feller could go out , buy a new truck & trailer and make a pretty good living hauling .
the money and freedom, it may have been better before but it sure beats working in a hot factory all day counting the hours till i get to go home. time really flies by when i'm in the big seat, though being away from home really stinks in the end i think its worth it for me, being able to support my family and have the freedom is really what i want in a job.
Just like many others, my father was a huge influence. Back in the early to mid 90’s, every summer and winter break from school, I rode that passenger seat in that long nose Pete, from coast to coast. My fondest memories are hanging out at the TA in Ontario, CA with other drivers, just hanging out during a layover, waiting to bring onions back to Hunts Point. Now I drive truck, have had my class A for 11 years, but stick to running finished animal feeds and ingredients locally here in central PA.
Technology made trucking a lot easier. However, it also took all the fun out of it.
After 31 years I saw the changes & left the industry.
Yapp , I started 30ish years ago it was such an adrenaline rush back then, Now it's moreorless just a paycheck,
Speaking the truth!! I got my cdl in 2012 drove less then 2 years before I realized I could make more and be home doing almost anything else.
Like everything today! Super control, plastic trucks, like our plastic cars today.
LOL - suffer in the bunk until the dispatcher takes a hike. Not at all unlike those of us who are dairy farmers hiding in the silo until the salesman who just drove in decides there is no one home and takes off down the road to find his next victim. Love the history aspect of your videos, Dave, keep up the great content.
Keith-
Freedom is long gone, we'll never see it again in the trucking industry. I've only been driving truck for 20 years but have seen some drastic changes.
What used to be "peak season" holiday rush for us running Amazon freight, is now year round "new normal"
Sad but true Sir , it was so cool as a kid going on a run with paw-paw and granny , felt like an adventure, like the old pioneers headed out west in a covered wagon.
Fast forward 30 years and I find myself limping down the road in a weak, plastic , governed, def burning, Volvo , full of electronic leashes, hand-cuffs and tattletales. .....kinda feels like i got cheated . I tell my son to keep that Firefighter dream alive, i dont want modern trucking crushing his spirit.
When I was a kid ( mid 80's) I wanted to be a truck drive. My wife knew I always wanted to drive so at 35 years young I started driving. It took me over 6 months to get use to the life style. Now after 4 years there is nothing I would rather do... Just need to find the right people to drive for now.
Everything you said was so true. I was a dump truck owner/Operator in 1969, twin stick, it had a 5 speed main with a 4 speed aux spicer, and by the seventies I was driving a Ford cab-over with a 238 Detroit and pulling a 40 ft. flat bed. I remember seeing all of the great Petes, KW's with big 400 Cats at that big Ontario truck stop in California and was so envious. After a year or so I graduated to a Jimmy Astro95 cabover with a 318 Detroit and thought I was styling, pulled a reefer for JB Hunt. Those were the "good ole days". The thing that bothers me the most is the quality of the drivers these days, I have been watching all of the utube videos of people running into each other in truck stops and cannot believe what I am seeing. I NEVER saw any of the bone head moves during my 3 years of OTR trucking that I see daily on these utube videos. Seems like truckers had more respect for each other then, and prided their-selves on their equipment AND driving skills. Seems like the new drivers are from a cookie cutter factory and just want to drive fast and not pay any attention to anyone else or bettering their driver skills.
My dad and my grandpa drove basically their whole life I used to ride with them when I was still in diapers and it’s been in my blood ever since
I drive concrete mixer,never did over the road.i worked in construction as a concrete guy,but was getting old and worn out.I had a friend who had a concrete plant,he told me if I got my permit he would teach me to drive.So I got my permit,and learned to drive on the country backroads in yearington Nevada.I eventually got my license and went to work for a big outfit in Carson city.Somehow I have fallen in love with trucking.I may not pull a trailer but do drive a truck that requires a lot of skill.I do make good money.I think one day I’ll go big rig,hauling trains,sand and gravel.I enjoy your videos,and learn a lot about the industry outside of what I do,plus your Canadian,which reminds me of my family!!Bless ya big!!!
Thanks for writing in Kevin! Always loved trucking through Nevada. It's a beautiful state and not packed with traffic, which makes the driving nice. Some of the best money these days is made by the guys not pulling trailers, although you should probably try it to see if you like it. Usually means less home time though. I know I loved almost every day of it for over 40 years now! Glad you're enjoying the videos! Dave
So its not a career worth investing any time in it seems.
Get you're cdl just to have it. otr is a joke trucking is a joke
You, Dave, are a life saver...your videos are highly accurate and much needed!
There is still a few decent outfits to work for with good pay and nice equipment but you are correct the industry has changed not for the better
I use to love driving now I hate it but have to support a family so I will keep on trucking..
My father drove a metro bus in Washington DC way back when, I followed his footsteps and started with driving a school bus, I loved it but my heart was in the automotive industry and spent 44 years doing that, I am starting as a new truck driver this month, I only hope it fits my need because if you think the trucking industry took a hit you should look into the automotive industry it’s a F’n joke !!
I just hope I am not making a big mistake, I don’t feel like I am and I hope I love it as much as my father loved his job.
Considering the legal and physical responsibilities of our job we should be making a lot more. I miss my 2000 W900L, pulled like a freight train, rode like a Cadillac and had to turning radius of a battleship. REAL TRUCKS DON'T HAVE DEF! keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down drivers.
Man you describing the lifestyle back then sounds amazing. I'm working on keeping the equipment part alive fixing up a 1990 379 with a mechanical CAT hopefully next year will have a stainless spread behind her
Why did I become a truck driver? Number one reason was the compensation. Number two was because I never achieved anything else in my life besides marriage and a family and I wanted to show my sons that with perseverance and sacrifice that they can also do something with their lives. I studied psychology in college I never got a degree because I worked slave labor full time, had a wife and two kids at the time, and was going to community college to try to better my family and myself financially. I enjoyed studying psychology and was kicking ass doing it but it became too much to do when I was never home. Now it's about the same but with less work. I'd like to explain the less work part: at my full-time job I was doing a five-man job by myself and still making the same pay as one man doing a one-man job. I work for this company for 9 years before they let me go and trust me they were just finding reasons to let people go. Not to say that I didn't have any problems with my five man one man job and there were other people who could do it and faster than me but I was going nowhere. I truly believe that God led me to this industry and I am where I'm supposed to be because I've never achieved anything before this. So I became a truck driver to make more money, to inspire my children, to be an example to show that other people can do it too because if I can do it then so can they, and for personal achievement. I think I have also add more respect as a truck driver then anything else I've ever done in my life. I say that last because it doesn't mean much but it means a little bit to me.
What a great yet friggin sad video. I was born in 85. I can remember as a kid the beautiful trucks running down the road and knew that someday that could be me,, running a sweet ass rig making good money and living by my own rules. Well, long story short, I got my license in February of 22'. Little different these days, but, I still see guys rolling in sweet rigs and trying to live the dream. Can't stop believing and trying man, otherwise it really will be gone
Every truck drivers in the US should be in ONE Union like they are in France.
Deregulation changed the game and made things for the worse but the Government ruined everything with all the stupid rules that they themselves wouldn’t follow if put same situation
as you sad, it wasnn´t all sunshine back then, but you got the point: you made good money AND worked with dignity and had your own schedule. these times are over, even if you drive in regional there is a schedule, it won´t get better. maybe with the driver shortage, but there is no real shortage anyway, just a shortage on cheap human material to use for this hellish job.
I got bamboozled getting onto trucking. My grandfather was a driver and he made good money and he was home just about every night, maybe at the most he'd stay gone a few days if he had to run to Buffalo. Back then working hard wasn't bad because the money was good. He had 3 kids and a wife and never had any financial problems. Now a days you run until you're half dead and lucky of the Bill's are paid and have enough to live off of until next paycheck. I wish someone would have slapped the crap out of me for wanting to get into trucking, I had no idea how bad it had gotten. It's certainly not something I want my kids to do when they get older. Best I cam hope for now is a heart attack from truckstop food so I wont have to drive anymore lol
$20k round trip 30 years ago. Really? Dang. That's awesome. I hear a $12k round trip these days is good. What the heck happened? The dollar was worth more then too. Wowza.
Thanks for the info.
What industry does pay like it used to? I was in the automotive repair industry for 30 years and the money is gone from it as well. Government regulations have raised the cost of doing business to the point that you’re not making money... you’re just going broke slowly.
And back in the day, truckers actually looked out for each other. Now, it's every driver for themselves.
Smart trucking has been my mentor since I became a otr driver. Took all his advice as a company driver and within 7 months became an owner operator (also taught me how to drive in the snow, mountains, & through sketchy neighborhoods) You gotta love his old school stories as well. Thanks for all your accurate (dope) content brother!!!
Forklift operators make about the same now...
u still see old-school trucking in Mexico the mexican truckers still have that trucker culture that's badass to see over there, u see alot of new plastic trucks too but the trucking culture is still there
I drove over the Road for 36 years plus 4 years Local , I hand the keys the minate they put E logs
Still good for me. I’m a company driver, I make 55000$/year working 32.5hrs/week in Canada. I start at 2 PM until 9 PM, therefore I’m home everyday. 😊
I remember as a kid if you broke down a trucker would stop and help. Like every other job/career the top has taken all the money out of the workers pocket, then they put in theirs.
Smart trucker thank you for all your knowledge. Taking Chuck lessons in New York is hard because not in the truck every day you know sometimes I go two weeks without getting behind the wheel I can back and Park but shifting it's going to take time. Going to buy a tractor in a couple of years but I see those rates on the load board not enticing. I will be a Double Nickel by the time I but my tractor and that's what I want to do in my Twilight working days God bless you
In a broad sense you just described every blue collar industry
You did a better job than I could have expressing why I got in to trucking you also did a good job of telling why I finally completely retired I did have it a little better than a lot guys because I did primarily oversize and specialized freight but it is slowly going the way of general trucking I still miss it and every now then I have a friend that 80 % of his freight is oversize and do an over 16 wide load for him gets me away from the office idiots do have to deal with cops but of them that deal supersize are pretty decent. People he tells me that it is getting harder and harder for him to get drivers that are compent for this type of load he keeps trying to get to come to work full time and he is offering enough money to make me think about it and will put on as a company driver or lease doctors cleared me it is tempting. I am not shure I want full time any more my wife and I are having a lot of fun with the bus
Have a good day
THE GRUMPY BUS
The sad thing about the drive log mandate is that the trucker death and property damage stats are the same as before the law went into effect.
That, and the threat of automation always hanging overhead; but also they're almost begging people to go to truck school. You might be able to go for free with a first year commitment contract.
In my short experience, regional or local with a medium to small company is probably the best we can do outside of oil and frac for the time being.
Cheers.
That really bums me out because i have seriously considered driving a truck lately
I agree w/ your accessment. We also didn’t see huge billboards of some dirtbag law firm encouraging the public to sue Trking insurance co. They can’t figure out how to sugar coat this thankless, under paying job to the younger generation. It’s a whole new breed out here today & we didn’t wear flip flops,
I grew up always traveling with my dad and seeing the old Pete's and Kenworth always made me happy and getting the truckers to blow the horn so I got into it to drive the rigs and hopefully give some little kid the same feeling that I had all those years ago
You are 100% correct on all of this. I really feel as if we could get it all back by simply refusing to roll until we get to put some demands on the table. Unfortunately I really don’t know how to go about that. If we could figure it out and get the ball in our court we would have it made for sure.