hello :) another newbie with questions :)
#11
04-30-2009, 08:28 PM
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Somewhere between Rochester NY and Gaults' Gulch
Posts: 2,698
well i can spin this a diffrent way to get the point of why im looking to change careers.
has anyone in this industry have this done to you? you been with an outfit for 9 years. you have been loyal, can count on one hand in the 9 years how many days you have called in sick, worked sick with the flu, colds, actual diagnosed walking pnemonia, ect. Made good numbers in sales your entire career (i wouldnt have lasted this long if i sucked at this job), missed countless family gatherings to cover a shift because it was a mandatory weekend (they call them blackouts here). sacraficed seeing your kids grow up. work in all kinds of stores way out of your normal driving perimeter and not get reimbersed for anything. was told to cover shifts on your days off (sometimes in stores way far from home) so other employees can attend parties, and concerts, and stuff like that, not sell anything thus working for free. then when something comes up and you need a day off am told there is no one to cover so you have to cancel. Get stabbed in the back by your co workers on customers (basicaly they stealing your commission) so you lose even more money. then you get rewarded for all this by them cuting your pay almost in half over a 2 year period, your hours get increased making it impossible to pick a second job up to make ends meet. Be countlessly denied transfering to a location closer to home stating there is no room (but other training classes go through and thoes rookies are put in the stores close to your home) have your health insurance rates increase due to cut backs, 401k matching taken away, and the constant threat of being fired due to the inability to make there infated sales quotas in this economy. oh yeah i forgot, i complained that i wanted to change divisions because under the new pay scale id make more money at a comprable store in the other division as i was making now. so they put me in the division.......................in the second slowest store in the company. thus im making less then i was before. then try to spin it off as them doing me a favor for alowing me to work here. At the latest meeting (which i wasnt paid to go to but was forced to burn my gas and work a 10 hr shift afterwards) the head guy makes a crack saying they can do this new pay system (i.e paycut) because there isnt anything else out there right now. Im sure you would be sick of the BS and be looking for a diffrent job as well. the pay is beign adressed, we have a savings that can take care of the diffrence for the first 6 months or so till im making decent money on the road. once the mortgage is fixed I wont have to make as much to cover the bills. so money aside and time from the family which will suck yeah i am really considering this. I havnt made up my mind completley and wont till the house thing is finalized (now a few months out acording to the guy i talked too), in the mean time ill do some more looking into all the companies i guess. If this career isnt something that pay will increase with experiance then someone tell me that because form what i can see if i stick to my guns in a few years time ill make decent money. I cant do this job much longer, i need out  Ok I'm off my soapbox and wish you well in whatever you do. 
#12
04-30-2009, 08:44 PM
Look, I am not trying to tell you not to drive a truck, if thats what you want to do by all means do it. What I am trying to convey to you is this, getting into truck driving to make a better life for you and your family is not a good idea. You will essentially remove yourself from your families life, take a big cut in pay, and can't be a parent to your kids or a husband to your wife. Being a good husband and father is not just bringing home the bacon, so to speak, it is being there for them, when they need you. You cannot possibly be there for them if you are in a truck 2000 miles away. I learned this the hard way, and I am trying to help you so you don't have to do the same.
If you are wanting to drive a truck just to drive a truck, then that is a different story. But if you are using OTR to say you want to provide a better life for you and your family, sorry, OTR and family do not go together. If you really want to provide fo ryour family and be separated from them, find a job locally, and then go to school at night to get an education. You will have accomplished the same, you can make the same money as driving OTR and still be away from them at night while in school. It will allow you to work the same amount of hours for the same pay. But in this case you will actually be doing something for them, getting an education so you can make better money down the road, thereby being able to provide for them and not having to leave for weeks at a time to do it. I really wish you the best, and if your dream is to drive a truck, get it out of your system now while you are young. Then you can come back and really concentrate on what is important to you, or should be, your wife and children. Please believe me, you are doing your family no favors by going OTR, no matter how noble the intentions are.
#13
04-30-2009, 09:24 PM
He described working for a large OTR company to a T. But yet still wants to jump out of the frying pan into the fire. Why oh why, would someone who dislikes that type of work environment, want to do the same thing away from the comforts of home? I wish he could realize what he described in his post is a blueprint for the OTR driver.
#14
05-01-2009, 02:22 AM
THIS IS A BAD CHOICE!!! this is the wrong time to get into driving and you are doing it for all the wrong reasons. Get a second job to make the ends meet. you have no idea what it is like to leave your house for three weeks and never get home. you leave for work and your gone. no hey honey can you get some milk. etc. your basically leaving your wife to raise your kids alone. you won't even be in the same state if something happens. as for the money if your lucky you will make 36,000 your first year. also your expenses will stay the same at home but you will paying more to support yourself on the road. You can count on being without pay for a least a month with school and another week waiting for a trainer to take you (if your lucky its only a week) The fail rate in this business is very high. there where ten guys in my class. only 2 made it threw training and only one made it past a year.
__________________
work harder, millions on welfare are counting on you !
#15
05-01-2009, 02:23 AM
Look, I am not trying to tell you not to drive a truck, if thats what you want to do by all means do it. What I am trying to convey to you is this, getting into truck driving to make a better life for you and your family is not a good idea. You will essentially remove yourself from your families life, take a big cut in pay, and can't be a parent to your kids or a husband to your wife. Being a good husband and father is not just bringing home the bacon, so to speak, it is being there for them, when they need you. You cannot possibly be there for them if you are in a truck 2000 miles away. I learned this the hard way, and I am trying to help you so you don't have to do the same.
If you are wanting to drive a truck just to drive a truck, then that is a different story. But if you are using OTR to say you want to provide a better life for you and your family, sorry, OTR and family do not go together. If you really want to provide fo ryour family and be separated from them, find a job locally, and then go to school at night to get an education. You will have accomplished the same, you can make the same money as driving OTR and still be away from them at night while in school. It will allow you to work the same amount of hours for the same pay. But in this case you will actually be doing something for them, getting an education so you can make better money down the road, thereby being able to provide for them and not having to leave for weeks at a time to do it. I really wish you the best, and if your dream is to drive a truck, get it out of your system now while you are young. Then you can come back and really concentrate on what is important to you, or should be, your wife and children. Please believe me, you are doing your family no favors by going OTR, no matter how noble the intentions are.
__________________
work harder, millions on welfare are counting on you !
#16
05-01-2009, 02:52 AM
Rather then tell this young man why he shouldn't drive a truck we should welcome him with open arms. Please come on in and have a glass of Koolaid. We have orange and grape.
__________________
Don't trust anybody. Especially that guy in the mirror.
#17
05-01-2009, 04:58 AM
It is possible to make 36k first year, but as most everyone said, it will be damn tough. From my time with Swift, I still have a lot of friends and a few insiders with them, most of them are sitting, getting lucky to get 2000 miles a week. Swift starts you Solo at .26cpm. Your first couple of paychecks probably won't be more then $300 each after going solo. If you do go with Swift, try to get into a regional dedicated run if possible, but that probably won't happen. There are other companies out there that pay much better and hire newbs, but you would have to get your CDL first. If you are bent on doing it, then do that refinancing, and take a couple grand to get your CDL from a good reputable school local to you, that way you can do the schooling while still working. Swift's school is 3 to 6 weeks, and you do NOT make any money during that time. Consider this, Swift's schooling is $4200, now you don't pay any of that upfront, they deduct a certain amount every week, and after the first year, they pay you back in incraments once a week. BUT, let's say you take that $4000 and go to a local school, where you can still work while doing the school. How much money are you making for that period of time you do your schooling, versus the 0 you make while at Swift school. Not to mention you can find a good school for less then $4000.
If I where in your shoes, I would stay put. Gonig OTR is going to be tough on your family, and you will have to work your arse off PLUS have some good luck on your side to even meet the low end of your expectations.
__________________
My Trucking Blog: http://matcattruckin.blogspot.com/ Website I am making for drivers: http://www.4thedriver.com As I sit looking all around, Confusion and uncertainty is all I found. The answers are there, But I do not know where. Optimistic and hopeful dreams, Are all I have so it seems. The future I do not know, So all I can do is take it slow. But I do know it will work out, So I wait and watch without a doubt.
#18
05-01-2009, 05:58 AM
I'm on pace to make 36K for my first year, But i work 6 days straight and 2 days off, i know most drivers will say "i wouldn't turn my key for that much" but i'm working towards something better... i have a future in the business and if it's being away from home six days straight just to get to it then it is what it is..
I will say this much i don't have no kids to watch grow up so it's not that hard out here for me plus my job is local/regional so i know this area clear as day, but i do miss hanging out with my friends, i do miss the late night booty calls from my skeezers, i do miss playing my xbox360, and i'm def. going to miss coaching little football, but i am making more money then two of my friends combine and not to mention my savings account is looking better by the week!! Being in a moving fiberglass box all day is what you make out of it, there will be lots of times where you want to just say f-it and ask your self what did you get into.. But if you want to start off at the bottom of the totem poll and work your way up then hey go for it.. but remember you got babies and old lady to support on the other end.. The ball's in your court hand!!
#19
05-01-2009, 06:19 AM
I'm on pace to make 36K for my first year, But i work 6 days straight and 2 days off, i know most drivers will say "i wouldn't turn my key for that much" but i'm working towards something better... i have a future in the business and if it's being away from home six days straight just to get to it then it is what it is..
I will say this much i don't have no kids to watch grow up so it's not that hard out here for me plus my job is local/regional so i know this area clear as day, but i do miss hanging out with my friends, i do miss the late night booty calls from my skeezers, i do miss playing my xbox360, and i'm def. going to miss coaching little football, but i am making more money then two of my friends combine and not to mention my savings account is looking better by the week!! Being in a moving fiberglass box all day is what you make out of it, there will be lots of times where you want to just say f-it and ask your self what did you get into.. But if you want to start off at the bottom of the totem poll and work your way up then hey go for it.. but remember you got babies and old lady to support on the other end.. The ball's in your court hand!! If he could get a gig like yours, then yes he would be much better off and it would be close to an ideal job. But SNI is not hiring new drivers and the liklihood of him getting on as a student and getting a regional job are slim to none. I did my training with a dedicated driver and it is a whole different ball game than running OTR. During training we were home each night, when I got out and on my own home became a place that was a thing of the past. Freight is a bit more stable for a dedicated driver than an OTR driver, once you get out and deliver, you just have to hope that there is a load waiting for you. Now that frieght is slow the chances of waiting for your next load is much more of a possibility. So there you wait in the summer heat and you aint getting paid to sit and wait for frieght. Now you are idleing away your bonus, sweating your ***** off and still not getting paid, not a good way for a man with a family to support.
#20
05-01-2009, 03:05 PM
Do you run out of Fontana?
If he could get a gig like yours, then yes he would be much better off and it would be close to an ideal job. But SNI is not hiring new drivers and the liklihood of him getting on as a student and getting a regional job are slim to none. I did my training with a dedicated driver and it is a whole different ball game than running OTR. During training we were home each night, when I got out and on my own home became a place that was a thing of the past. Freight is a bit more stable for a dedicated driver than an OTR driver, once you get out and deliver, you just have to hope that there is a load waiting for you. Now that frieght is slow the chances of waiting for your next load is much more of a possibility. So there you wait in the summer heat and you aint getting paid to sit and wait for frieght. Now you are idleing away your bonus, sweating your ***** off and still not getting paid, not a good way for a man with a family to support. |
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