Well most of the money coming in will go for bills due to having a normal job in retail for the last year and half.

If it does not work out there are other companies you know. Before my husband ended up in retail he was a Site Operations Manager and the guy he had hired for the Quality Control Manager told us all his horror stories about trucking (sarcasm)

Let's see he said he is happier than pig in slop. Making more money less stress. And this company is out of Spokane and my husband can get on with them.

Also most drivers seem to think that 2,500 miles a week is reasonable. So I am sorry if you are able to get that maybe you should switch companies.

Goin Fer It's Wife

 

I promise I want it to work out just like you have planned. It just seems you are counting the chickens before they hatch.

Like I said, after 3 months solo I think you both will have a better idea of the bottom line. I loved to hear that it is going just like you hoped it would.

 

Well if it is not going the way we feel it should be we will make a change to make it that way. We have read much of this forum and done our research.

At first Watkins Shepards was suppose to finance school for my husband a week into they called and said they would not. We dealt with it. We had to hustle to find other financing but we rolled with the punches. We look at it as a blessing at this point.

I have read the horror stories about the CDL Mills, that one did not happen to us.

I have read the horror stories about orientation and some of the dumps that the new recruits are put in. That one did not happen.

I have read some of the horror stories about bad trainers. So far my husband is fine with his. So that one does not seem to be happening.

After doing much research on the matter I do not feel that 2,500 miles per a week is really that outrageous of an expectation. And I will put how many miles my husband drove this week on Wednesday night or Thursday morning in the May Trucking thread and that will be with a day layover and a few days of just being new.

Thank you for your well wishes and I believe it will all work out one way or another. As long as my husband keeps his driving record clean.

Goin Fer It's Wife

 

Check your PMs welle036, sent you one.

 

Just make sure you go in to aviation with a good set of facts. If anyone is telling you that you will be able to consistantly make more money in the pointy end of a jet than you will with trucking, they are LYING! Take it from me who has flown everything from cargo out of Asia to ViP's from Nantucket, there is a bleak future in the flying part of aviation. The prospect of working harder than you would in the worst trucking job for a Max of $30K in the commuters or fractional industry may seem Ok when you are in your 20's, but it soon wears off when you see everyone around you having things that you don't. Like a wife, house, life, etc.

If you do a search, there are several ex-airline pilots working on the roads. Most probably miss the good schedules and pay if they are from the old times, but none of them miss the bs and uncertainty of what aviation is today. And tomorrow will be worse! Just like foreign trucks and drivers are coming to the roads here today, foreign airlines and pilots will be flying you from NY to LA very soon, thanks to our traitorous Congress and White House.

Trucking is a good way to bank some money if you do it right. Once you squirrel away 30K cash, take a good look and see if you want to throw it away for "training" that will only qualify you to start at the bottom of the pecking order every time you change companies or every time your company goes out of business and you have to change jobs. Unlike every other occupation (notice that I don't say profession), seldomly are you compensated for your experience when you start a new job in aviation. At least with driving, employers will aknowledge your experience and compensate when you change jobs to a certain extent. Put that 30K away and then take another year and put away another 30K and then take a look at where you want to go. You will have more options than 98% of the other people in this country as to what to do next.

I don't want to discourage you, but I want to make sure that you've heard, like Paul Harvey says, the rest of the story. Good luck.

 

My very first airplane was a 1957 (PA22) Tri-Pacer 150!! (or, as my CFI called them "TryCrappers"!!) The Colt was a 2 seat trainer, the Tri-Pacer was a 2+2!! I paid $2400 for it, (bought it at a divorce/bankruptcy sale; still not sure I actually bought it; more like I STOLE it, except that it was all done legally!!) flew it for about 6 months, then had the fuselage and wings recovered with Stitts, which is almost as good as Ceconite, but far more forgiving, and much easier to work with. We received an STC for a Lycoming 160 hp engine + a prop o/h, and an STC for Auto-gas. and put in a King nav/com and Mode C txpndr.

Remember when we bitched about Avgas running $1.02/gallon at the airparks?? :shock: :lol:

Man those were the days!! 8)

Man, I do miss that little bird!! Thinking of looking for another one, but I don't want to do the restoration thing again!! Sure wish that I'd kept it; now, a Tri-pacer in decent condition is running +/- $25,000!!

 

I just got rid of my plane. I was sick of going 122mph and no place fast. I
rent a Cessna RG182 now. My plane was a 1962 Piper Cherokee 160. Paid
$12k and probably spent $30k over the past 15 years on maint and enhancements.

 

$30K for main.and upgrades over a 15 yr. period isn't bad at all. When it comes to smashing bugs, the Cherokee 160 is a good little bird, although the 180 is more preferable down here in Texas.

I now drive a Mooney Ovation; nice bird, but it's for business purposes; you know, places you gotta' be, people you gotta' see!! While it's an efficient time piece, it's not designed for joyriding.

Seriously Steven, I now find myself really missing "low and slow", and being "right on schedule", meaning that time doesn't matter in the least!!
I never dremt that I'd miss that, (I couldn't WAIT to get a "go-fast" bird) but now, I really do!!

I've heard that the 182 RG is a nice flying plane; I've flown 182's, and at one time had plans to buy one, (came within an Ace of it, but it turned out that it had some unpaid liens on it that turned up in the title search) but I've never flown, or even flown in a 182 RG!!

 

I find this very interesting, as I am in a similar situation, but on the reactionary-end versus the proactive end. I am just finishing a collegiate aviation program where I'll have my ratings up to Instrument-rated Commercial Multi-Engine, and a bachelors degree... trained int he 172, and the Seminole for multi. But it's also left me with about $65K in student loans.

I could live a menial existence by getting my CFI and instructing and having a second job, and pay off the loan over 20 years, or I could drive otr for a few years, pay off the loans, save some money, and then evaluate what I want to pursue. And honestly, after four years of a collegiate flight training environment, I feel a little burnt out and would welcome a change for a bit. I am considering TMC, Millis, and a few others.

Just wanted to add some encouragement that you're not the only one considering driving as a stepping stone if you can enjoy and appreciate it as a way of life for a few years. One bit of advice, if you already have your license, make the effort to rent a plane and fly a few times a month. Keep the skills and the passion alive. BOL.

 

Do remember that you all are going to have one hell of a difficult time staying current if you take up driving; not only from am economic standpoint, but from a time standpoint as well.