Depends on what you want to accomplish, where you live, how much you still need to make.

Typically starting out you need to have at least one year of driving to get a local driving job. Most put in their time with an OTR outfit, this means that you will be gone alot. Driving whether you are local or otr is hard demanding work. Time spent alone, odd hours, weather, always in public facilities for nature calls and showers. Until you have spent a winter in the cold, driving in the ice and snow, living in a truck, you don't know how miserable it can be.

You will never have the kind of benefits of vacation, holidays that you have now. If you cherish these bennies don't quit.

As a trainer for many years I have had several guys on the truck just like you, less than half make it. Despite what everyone belives trucking is more than just riding around all day and having a girlfriend in every town. I can't stress it enough how hard and demanding the job of a truck driver is.

Personally, from what you have said I WOULD NOT make the change. If you want to see the country some. Buy you a travel trailer and take the wife and grandkids along and use some of that vacation and holiday time off that you have, I promise you will be better off. Everyday that you spend on the road away from your loved ones is a day that you can never get back.

Yes I think that you are nuts, certified. But this is only my opinion, I am sure there are others that will tell you to follow your dreams. Just remember that your familiy will pay the cost of you being gone all of the time following your dream.

 

I think you should try retirement when the time comes and if you get bored with retirement like a lot of people do then try out trucking!!!

 

You're not nuts for thinking it but if you actually did it then you might be, and you might wish you hadn't.

Jobs in trucking are just that, jobs. Its not glamorous. Most of them are low paying and involve very long hours. The washout rate is over 100%. Thousands of people before you thought it was their dream job and didnt make it a year.

There are some good jobs but it may take you years to not only qualify, but to fgure out what you like and then find it.

But if you will get a pension big enough to live on from your old job, then I guess you will have nothing to lose. If you dont like it you can just quit and enjoy your retirement.

Read as much as you can on these boards.

If you still have to do it then maybe look into Roehl's 7 on 7 off program. Less money but you still "get your fix".

I agree with Kips 100%. However, there are exceptions to every rule. How do you like your odds? Good luck with your desicion.

 

I'll give you some more things to think about.

Driving is a job that can suck at times just like any other job. You will still have to do things you dont want to do. You still have a boss. Your requests for hometime will be denied or you will get home 12 hours later than you were supposed to. This will piss off your wife cause you didnt make it back in time. Nothing ever goes the way its supposed to. Its definately NOT freedom of the road.

Someone still has to mow the grass, shovel the snow, fix the car, take care of the house etc. Your wife may get resentful of your being gone.

I did it and it was fun for a while but it wears off fast. I now have a good local job (which is very hard to find) that I tolerate. My cousin has been at it a year and has come to the same conclusion. He will be looking for a local job.

I would suggest you wait till the very end of your working years. That way if you hate it you can quit after a year. If you like it you can keep driving not because you have to but because you want to.

 

well he said he is retiring from his current job, so he must not need that job or the income that goes with it. he wants to try trucking because he has that itch to try it, it would appear that pay, and paid holidays are not an issue. i would think that if he does not like it he will be out nothing, he can quit driving and still be retired from his current job. but he need to realize that we can not tell him if he will like it or not, no matter what is said in this thread there is only one person that will tell him if he likes it or not, well maybe two if you count his wifes opinion. there actually are people out there that are perfectly happy driving otr, contrary to CFM and his prized pupil mackman.

 

Here is a thought - if you are talking about retiring from your company (assuming they have a retirement system) - you might consider retiring and then work out an agreement that they pay you as a contractor? Maybe your current company also includes health insurance as part of their retirement plan? If you retired and turned around and and became a contractor (with your company) - the total may exceed your current salary? You can then invest in a 401, etc. - just a thought.

 

Thanks for all of the thoughts, keep them coming, I will read all!