all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?

all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?
Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:25:19 PM

is the pay decent enough to cover a mortgage after 1 years experience?  are the benefits half way decent?  i want an OTR position for all the benefits listed on ALL truck companies home pages: great pay, benefits, ability so see the country(i understand it will be from the view of my truck), great team and family atmosphere company.  I understand no company is perfect and all offer varying degrees of those promises.  I am mostly concerned with working on my own(hopefully with a decent dispatcher), and getting paid enough to cover my mortgage and other home bills.  As a truck driver what do you enjoy most about your OTR job?

RE:all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?
Posted: Sun Sep 2, 2007 10:19:27 AM

i've been out here for 14 years. our industry is getting worse by the day. a lot of drivers think that we are making great $ out here when in fact we are making less now then drivers in the 70's and mid 80's where. i've averaged $1.53 a mile for every mile i've run this year. most drivers only make $0.83 - $0.87 a mile. Depending on what type of trucking you get into yes you can survive but remember we have slow times as well as good times. alot of these companies will promise you the world and alot of  $ per mile but then they will cut your miles so you think your making $ but you really aren't. if you do go o/o remember you dont pocket everything that your truck makes. you need to take and put $ aside for repairs and taxes, breakdowns. so you make the decision for that on your own. but you need to check companies out before you jump into something.

RE:all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 12:37:41 PM

Diesel is in my Blood and though I've tried to get out of this Business or Trade, I've not been successful, therefore I remain a Trucker.
There are other things i would rather be doing like Carpentry or Heavy Equipment Operation yet I don't want to nor can I start at the "bottom and pay my dues" again.
This Business or Trade is to ME like being in a Gang where it is rather difficult to change ones perspectives.
When I'm sitting still, I wanna be driving and sometimes when driving, I wanna be sitting still.
It is all related.
-------------
What I enjoy most is the travelling especially out to the South West as I am based in North Carolina.
I enjoy some Truckstops yet everyone has their own ideas of which ones are good and not good.
I'm currently at Petro in Ocala, FloriDUH, I-75 X368.
I enjoy driving through some Cities where other Cities aren't any fun what-so-ever.
I enjoy the scenery of the Southwest more so than of the South and I will not anymore go into the Northeast FOR ANY REASON.

The pay is low as stated in the other posting because after this industry was deregulated, the BROKErs apparently decided to cut the pay to Truckers and pocket a lot of it. --Look at C.H. Robinson for confirmation--

A LOT OF COMPANIES will promise anything that sounds good merely to get a seat warmer which is YOU and ME.
They'll promise all kinds of miles yet the bigger the company is, the more trucks they have and the more loads they need, therefore a lot of drivers end up getting the short end of the stick or get the short cruddy runs because the "special drivers"--the ones that will go ANYWHERE and not complain about anything, ever-- get covered first.
The whiners get what they get when they are given it, otherwise they'll sit.

There are some good companies out there however I don't know beyond the small company I am working at.
PTL in Murray, Kentucky isn't a bad place to "get your feet wet".
Stay away from JB Hunt, Stevens Transport, FFE, Wiley Sanders, Navajo, Swift aka MS Carriers, and Werner as these places will pay ya low, low pay until after at least 1 year if ya last that long. These are of MY observation and reflect NOT upon others' points of views.

I'm a company driver and my Cents Per Mile (or SENSE Per Mile) isn't what I would like yet it is better than other companies plus there are bennies like I'm just 3 miles from the office and I can stay out as long as I want and at home as long as I want, plus I deal with the company Owners constantly instead of some flunky, never driven before dispatcher.

There are ups and downs of EVERYTHING so ones choices are ones own.

I hope the BEst of WELLness 2-u-n-urs-n ALL adventures!!

RE:all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:42:06 PM

It was a real delight to see that there is other drivers that feel the same way I do about trucking, often thought of it as a hate love relationship. I've quit trucking three times, and after about 3 or 4 months (the longest being a year and a half) I get the road itch, love whats over the next hill, hate the dot nonsense and the hassle with the traffic an industry regulations. Don't get me wrong I know there is no way to keep any sanity in the trucking industry without some regulations, it's just, there are  new ones every year, and if it keeps up the pace, you'll just about have to be rich to drive or the next thing you know someone is selling regulatory insurance.

I drove for PTL for a little over a year, back before everybody had a quilcom system. it was one of those companies that you quit for almost a dime more a mile, and still had a warm spot in my heart for them, If nothing goes wrong will be going back sometime this next month, I love automatic transmissions, what can I say, ant the money.

Just left Schneider in february, hope you guys that are talking about considering schnieder, watch you idle and over speed percentages, and learn to say yes. You'll be ok. If not can't promise you anything but hard days ahead.

One last note on PTL, been out here almost twenty five years, and every company I've worked for, the good ones too, had their bad apples in every inch of the company including in the part behind the stering wheel. Keep your eyes open and ask a lot of question of any company you're consider, and in the end let the decision be yours. turn your radio (CB) on and listen to the trucker talk, listen to what a company driver complains about, if they don't complain in large numbers about the same thing, chances are, they aren't a bad company to work for, if you never hear a lot about pay, then they get good miles, just keep the ears tuned into what you need, what good usually you never have to ask a question, but do it anyway and maybe, just maybe you'll come out of this and I with someone to talk to on the CB. Thanks have a lot of fun driving a big rig. The Windwalker

RE:all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:21:27 PM

There is money to be made, don't let everybody get you down. It is hard to be gone from home, but when it all boils down, the most important thing is to make sure that you can pay your bills. See, my modo is to sacrifice myself to make sure that my kids end up doing something other than trucking, LOL!

I found a website that help bring humor back into the job:  http://www.cafepress.com/truckerjunkshop 

Keep in mind that there are a lot of drivers that will complain about everything. The ones that are happy, don't have time to hang out reading trucker message boards. LOL!

RE:all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?
Posted: Mon Apr 7, 2008 5:38:19 PM

i have trucked for over 30 years.......you will make out of it what you put in...

RE:all i see are complaints. is this industry(OTR) worth getting into?
Posted: Sun Mar 6, 2011 6:56:33 PM

I have the same question. I always wanted to drive a semi, apparently I had it in my blood before even trying it....or maybe I'm full of sh*t. I'm single, no kids, no wife/girlfriend and planning to keep it that way. I wouldn't mind being gone fore weeks at a time. So, here's  a relative question. If you break down on the road do you have to know how to fix your truck?  If I'm not mechanically inclined? And how is the equipment these days. Manual or automatic? How to get along with the dispatched in order to have a steady stream of loads? What's a good company to get into right after CDL school and how to carry yourself in order to make a good impression? What do you think the future of trucking is? Currently I work in healthcare, I'm greatful that I work under the roof and not freezing or starving because work is too busy. Believe it or not but we have our own "DOT" that came up with some really strange and ridiculously impossible to execute rules this year. The reason I want to switch to trucking is because I always wanted to do it, would love to work by myself and not have to pull someone else's weight. If all works out I'm hoping to drive for ever but again I don't know that until I try. I'm a hard worker, always go the extra mile. I admit I'm a little bitter and a little blunt, have a little bit of cocky attitude, and don't have the greatest "people" skills. I'm not the greatest person to get along with but I always get my work done and on time.