This article focuses on reasons to not enter the trucking industry as a truck driver.
Thirty seven years ago when I entered the trucking industry the traffic was minimal compared to today’s traffic. Even then when one traveled on the Eastern seaboard from Boston to Virginia the traffic was very heavy with trucks lined up one after the other moving in unison sort of like a moving road block. More traffic lanes have been added to accommodate the additional trucks and cars, but much more needs to be done for an even flow with more roads, pass through toll booths, expanded receiving and shipping hours for the drivers at their destinations and really important is many more rest facilities and truck stops for the truck drivers.
The trucking industry is not set up well for the truck driver in that special interests along with cities, citizens, traffic laws, the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act) and last but not least are the shippers and receivers at many facilities.
Any person entering the trucking industry is in for a shock of reality rather than the romantic and money making view paraded before them in advertising and slick truck driver recruiters. They promise you great equipment, plenty of miles, great home time, non-forced dispatch, great benefits, personal dispatchers, “you are captain of the ship, you decide when to run and when to shut down”, and finally, “we want you to run ‘legal’, because we don’t tolerate those that run illegal”.
Many trucking companies offer truck driver training that cost a bundle, but you won’t have to pay anything if you will sign a contract to drive for them for a specified amount of time.
All of those things are powerful tools to one that is looking to enter the trucking industry trying to earn a decent income and with today’s economy more and more are giving those advertisements more consideration. What I want you to do as an individual is look more closely to see if that is what you really want to do for the rest of your working years, because once you make the choice you are in an entirely different environment with a different outlook and a lot of responsibility on your hands and it is difficult to move back into the general workforce for many reasons.
You will be the proud possessor of a shippers product destined to be received intact and in perfect condition while negotiating the highways fraught with peril for the truck driver. You will be responsible for your trucking company and their equipment and then you must not only avoid accidents, but must avoid speeding tickets, Department of Transportation personnel and weight scales. Then your life is henceforth decided by rules the Rules of Service guidelines for “On Duty Time and Driving Time” by entering such in a log book.
The ATA (American Trucking Association) is a group of trucking industry executives that work the halls of congress looking out for themselves rather than the driver.
In coming articles I will discuss each of those problems in more detail. Happy motoring.
Rod
Tags: OTR Trucking, Trucking, Trucking Industry, Trucking School, Trucks
