I'm currently a Sheriff's Deputy in NC and barely getting by. Making a mere 27K a year with 3 years under my belt and the local agency has not had a raise in 10 years and doesn't appear to be going up anywhere in the near future. I have a wife in school to be a 2nd grade teacher but has another 1.5 years to finish. Right now we are barely making it , if any surprises come up we will be f#$%&d. Also have our first child due next month. I see and talk to so many people in my area who drive locally making almost 40k a year driving grain trucks and are only 21 years old. Don't really care for the whole police thing anymore, nowhere near what people think it is. Just can't see the point in risking my life everyday for no money. I'm a type 1 Diabetic on an insulin pump but its carefully monitored. Just looking for any insight, words of advice, or comments from you guys in the business. I have a Community College program right down the street from my house. We have talked about with her being a teacher that we could use our summers to take big deliveries across country as a family(once the child got older of course) and see different places. But after reading several post on here I see how much of a concern trucking is for a "Family Man". Anyways, thanks for and advice.
~Nick

 

If you can't get a local gig right out of driving school (which you probably won't), will your wife be ok taking care of a newborn while you're on the road for 2-4 weeks at a time, with you only being home for 34hrs (maybe 2 full days, if you're lucky)? Will you be able to make ends meet any better when you're making $28,000 your first couple of years (keep in mind that you're going to be buying every meal you eat, which normally runs me about $75-100 per week)? Will you be ok with only seeing your child 3-4 days per month, watching them grow up in photo's?

It would be a *LOT* different if your child was older. My son-in-law asked me about driving trucks. I told him, "Once your son is older than 10-12 years old, sure. Until then, keep your ass at home and raise him."

 

Well the idea is like I have read. Talk to the local companies and see if they will hire me when I get certified before I even get into the school. Prestige Farms being one of the biggest local companies. Founder actually lives here.

 

I see a lot of "if's" here, and I really hate to tell you but... Now is really not a good time for you to get into trucking, it's your life not the trucking part! Just like being a LEO trucking isn't quite like most people think. A pregnetwife and then a newborn and you away at the min. for 4-6 weeks for some training then hopeing you get and keep a local position??? Give it a lot of thought before pulling the trigger, can you transfer to another dept? Move up the ladder? Pick up OT? Part time gig? Right now you likely have good benifit package alot of trucking co. have somewhere between none and some.That IS a biggie with kids!

 

let's keep a reality check...

You will risk your life much more every day as a trucker.
Also, in construction and farming and MANY other jobs, in which you will be physically exhausted at the end of every day, maybe with scrapes, cut's and bruises, or torn muscles. You will witness people being killed or hurt real bad right in front of you, and it could have been you.

Everything you do will no longer qualify you as a hero, and you will actually have to work and sweat to make money, and watch your body break down over the years, just like the hardened steel you work with.