Thinking of hauling/trucking job

[WIL84911]

At 50 years old... getting ready in case I get laid off from my office job. I plan to learn the ropes with a cousin who's hauling now as an independent. I'm going to partner with him until I get experience then eventually go solo with my own truck. What do you think? Am I being stupid or what?

[Mark Henry]

The real downside of trucking is it's hard on your back and hips, as an independent get the best seat money can buy.

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by WIL84911

I'm going to partner with him until I get experience then eventually go solo with my own truck. What do you think?

Does he know your eventual plans of going solo?

[WIL84911]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

Does he know your eventual plans of going solo?

Yes he does as he's the one that suggested it. Thanks Mark..

[afterburn 549]

OK Pay attn !
Serious JUST SAY NO !
Ok why? I have been in it all my life.....solo means your truck, your contracts, NOT LEASED to someone..If you do that you are their SLAVE they are the BROKER. You will do as they say for what ($) and when they say !
I Know 2 ways to make money at it and NOT just exist -
! - Work for Buster Brown or the like (UPS)
2 - OR -Yes owner operator . You haul stuff NO ONE ELSE Hauls Like High end crap...
Boats (Now there are none) explosives and ? you have to find a niche .
If you go into the general crap...all the sea gulls are setting at the dump too. The price is too low to do it.
There,, Now you know.
Go do what you have to do..........
Or go to a Truck stop and filter the drivers......most anymore are not smart enough to sign their name
Not like the old days of 30 years ago.THEY are GONE

[WIL84911]

So it sounds like there's not much money in it. OK gotcha. Thanks.

[FLYGEEZER]

Listen to what Afterburner is saying to you! If ya really gotta do it, drive for sombody else! Don't do the owner operator thing. I have lotsa family back in Wva. been trucking for years and its no way to make a living. The UPS thing would be the best choice if you really have to do it at all.

[WIL84911]

Thank you Ed and afterburn! I appreciate the responses.

[Rikao4]

listen to afterburn..
just because you have a CDL doesn't = job..
newbies need documented training...

Rika

[WIL84911]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

listen to afterburn..
just because you have a CDL doesn't = job..
newbies need documented training...

Rika

Of course. Had that in mind. Thanks.

[afterburn 549]

There even BIG companies that have gone.!
Ones that have been around for 50 years..They can not make it even on volume !
I would hate to see you get hurt.....Like said- Buster brown or the like...where you get paid for your time..
There are almost NO real O.O. any more.
Lots of these guys leased to someone think they are......But they have NO clue..
They are not paying for advertising (Big Chunk a change)
Not bidding the jobs, Just doing what some dispatcher tells them. They dont even know their CC number ! ..cause they never bought one ! (Authority) LOL
On Top of that Now there USHIP to deal with where every underhanded idiot with a pick up trk thinks he is making money........Notice there is a lot of new guys there all the time. Not old ones LOL
The trucking business is a JOKE !
Then you hear of "Back Hauls" Helll you cant even get a Forward one to pay ! and Most No one can tell you where the word" Back Haul" comes from !! Anymore..they just repeat it. So Stupid!
In the end you will have mortgaged your house , your car and everything..Like a gambler at the table..."the next one is going to pay"

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by WIL84911

At 50 years old... getting ready in case I get laid off from my office job. I plan to learn the ropes with a cousin who's hauling now as an independent. I'm going to partner with him until I get experience then eventually go solo with my own truck. What do you think? Am I being stupid or what?

Many years ago, being a professional over-the-road driver was a honorable professional. They were considered the Knights of the Road. Those days are long past. Most customers you pick up from will treat you like a second class citizen and many new startup companies find their truck being an 18 wheeled sweat shop.

If this is something that you decide to pursue regardless of the warnings here, please get ahold of me (pm). I'll help you get the legal DOT end of the business squared away. There are many bumps/hurdles to DOT safety compliance for a new company. Let me help you avoid some of them and answer your safety questions to get you started on the right foot.

angela

[afterburn 549]

How to Go BROKE DRIVE A TRK LOL
Just go to Reno.you have a better chance.and the pain will be over sooner and you can get well sooner LOL

[WIL84911]

Thank you thank you for all advice... I will definitely chew on them...

Actually I was wrong I meant to say my cousin is driving for his in-laws and eventually plan to go solo. So I might at least give that a try and fugga-about going solo.

[dan88911]

This is interesting. I am not planning on entering the field, however there was a story in the USA today about the demand for long haul drivers and few takers. Older drivers retiring and stuff income starting around 6k a year.
And younger guys dropping out for reasons like being on the road away from family and such.
Again thanks for sharing, Afterburn 549

[afterburn 549]

There might be a demand.
But there is No pay.!
And when you sign on as a "leased Owner operater." They govern when you get payed. Its Fight !
They pick the loads, you might have to bribe a dispatcher.....
They dictate the mileage - some times they use rail road miles which Is a LOT shorter then REAL miles !
Dont cover wait times
On and ON
I would run like Forest RUN..unles I had no other options and just wanted to survive..On the other hand There are companies that will put you through drive school and you have a Job at the end.And I f was a young Man and just wanted to drive cross the country for a year that might be OK......
But there IS NO future in driving and no $$$$$$$$$$$
Unless you smell out a Niche
Like High and wide loads

[id10t]

Get your CISSP certification and print money on a consulting basis.

https://www.isc2.org/cissp/default.aspx

Quick job search via google - http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/CISSP/

[URY914]

I looked into it a while back. Don't do it.

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by dan88911

This is interesting. I am not planning on entering the field, however there was a story in the USA today about the demand for long haul drivers and few takers. Older drivers retiring and stuff income starting around 6k a year.
And younger guys dropping out for reasons like being on the road away from family and such.
Again thanks for sharing, Afterburn 549

There are many reasons for the high demand for OTR drivers. You did cite some of them. There is more freight movement in this country than ever before (thus the driver shortage mentioned in USA Today) but it is coming at the expense of decent wages. The just-in-time delivery systems coupled with LTL (less than truck-load) freight mean multiple stops in each trip. Each stop requiring waiting time, counting what is loaded, often even loading it yourself. In general, you won't get paid for that. Maybe a little kicker, but not enough to be worth the effort and time delay. Many insurance companies will not allow a company to hire a driver who has less than a perfect (or near perfect) record. OTR drivers accumulate tickets. Anyone who spends that much time on the public highway will have a ticket (hopefully minor) or get involved in an accident - even if it isn't their fault. Then you get sifted down to worse companies. Companies with worse equipment, poorer dispatch skills, etc., that help you get MORE tickets or negative inspections. Did anyone tell you that all the inspections you have done are recorded and a company can access the last 3 years of your history? Not driving record, they'll do that too, but this is actually inspection records. Most people don't know about this little item.

I subcontracted to the Feds for four years doing a thing called "New Entrant Audits." These were for just-starting-up companies. Most of them last less than a year. Every week I did audits on people who had invested everything they owned to buy/lease a truck and nearly all of them lost everything. The savings, the old 401K, the house - all gone. Things got even WORSE when the economy tanked.

The truck driving schools parade out 60K per year driving jobs. You bet...but what they don't tell you is that it works out to around 70 to 80 hours of actual work per week. So really, you need to think of it as two 30K per year jobs where you are never home and too tired to do anything but lay on the couch when you do get there.

There is a shortage of professional drivers in this country. There is a limit to just how badly people can be treated, and how much of their own sweat equity/money they are willing to invest and lose before they walk away and never walk back. The shortage will continue until a complete re-think of freight transportation occurs. I would not count on this happening anytime soon.

If you are adamant about getting your feet wet, get your CDL and work as a slip-seat driver for an established company. You'll get a variety of exposure that will help you decide if this is what you to do, and how you want to do it, without a big personal financial investment. Get all the endorsements including both school bus and passenger. Tank, HM, and doubles/triples - all valuable but the HM will cost more with the background check.

With 3 years or so behind the wheel, and a clean record, you would be eligible for some of the Teamsters positions like UPS or WalMart. WalMart drivers are treated VERY well.
angela

[aigel]

While you have heard the business aspects of it, let me address some other ones:

- Having to drive day in day out for thousands of miles is torture. It will bore you stiff but you will not be able to fall asleep. Every time I take a long roadtrip and push a couple hours longer than I am comfortable, I have to think about the poor truckers and the pain they must go through.

- If you are 50, you need to think about moving , not sitting down more. Sitting for hours and hours on end will literally kill you. Add the food choices you have on the road ... Even an office job allows you to get up ever 45 minutes and cruise the hallway and stretch.

- Any family that would like to see you? Well, scratch that. And how about if they NEED to see you, because someone is ill - sorry, you are now 1000 miles away. If you don't have family, then re-adjust your lifestyle and don't worry about taking a ****ty job to support it!

Good Luck!

G