Can I do it?

I officially became a truck driver 9 1/2 years ago. The reason why initially was simple. I needed money and a good friend said that I could make a lot of it driving truck. At the time I was 33 and considered myself a very good driver, little did I know.

In the intervening years I have driven many different makes and models, pulled mostly dry van and reefer trailers and have been able to provide a decent paycheck for the family. I have traveled through 48 of the 50 states and have seen sights that struck me with awe at their beauty and brought nightmares to me from their terror.

I am very proud of what I do and who I am. Not everyone who decides that they are going to drive truck for a living is able to do it. Driving a truck is difficult, and most people who enter school will not be driving truck 1 year after entering school. I can only speak from my experience and what I have seen, but in talking with a lot of other divers who train the averages to seem to bear out. About ½ of the people that start driving school finish and get a CDL (the license that allows you to drive a tractor/trailer). After getting your CDL you drive with a trainer for a period of time, and only 2/3 of those that start training qualify to drive solo. Of those that do only about 2/3 are still driving for the same company after a year.

The reason that the year with the same company is significant is that with the company that I drive for if you leave before 1 year you have to pay for the schooling that you took. I do not know what the current rate is, but when I signed up it was $1500.

Having been a trainer, (I quit counting at 50 students) I have helped a lot of people get started in trucking and have had students that ranged from a 21 year old headstrong young man that thought that he knew everything about trucking to a 68 year old grandmother that had a very tough time learning how to shift. I swear if I had a dollar for every time I had to say “watch the tach” I could retire to a nice little 20 room mansion in the Bahamas!

So, let's get into some of the realities of learning to drive and driving truck. I will tell you that if you are of average intelligence and physical coordination you can be taught the mechanics of driving and shifting. It is a fairly simple process to get in a truck and make it go forward down the interstate, It is 10 times harder to back up than it is to go forward, and the laws and regulations that you have to follow are enough to make an accountant start tearing at his hair and run home crying to his mama!

The single biggest challenge and reward to the job is the lifestyle. To be a successful over the road driver you need to be out on the road for 3 to 4 weeks at a time. To be honest I have seen more marriages ripped apart by trucking than those that have survived it. Every once in a blue moon a marriage will thrive. I am extremely blessed to say that I have one of those marriages.

The job itself can tear your body apart, my back is probably never going to be the same after an incident unloading a trailer a few years ago. You sit behind the wheel of a truck that bounces down the road for 8 to 11 hours a day, you get next to no exercise. It is hard to eat healthy things on the road. Most of what is available at truck stops these days is fast food, and time pressures do not allow a lot of time for lunch. Diabetes and obesity are rampant in our industry.

The stress levels of the job can be massive at times. You are responsible for sometimes extremely expensive loads that have a delivery schedule that you need to do everything within reason to meet. We are paid to be on time and while there are exceptions (I cannot control the weather or if the state shuts down a roadway) the shippers and receivers do not want to hear excuses. Traffic in and around the larger cities can be hellish, and winter in the northern states can slap you upside the head whenever she feels that you are becoming complacent.

Driving is a lonely job. A little less so now since the ever present cell phone, but still lonely. You are alone in the cab rolling down the interstate at 65 mph for hours and hours at a time. Most drivers have a CB radio, but if you rode down the road with me it is on, but turned all the way down 80 to 90 percent of the time. The terrible language and idiots are thick on the CB. I call my wife several times a day, and from time to time talk with others on the phone, but there is only so much to say.

So after reading all of that why would anyone in their right mind want to drive a truck for a living? Well to be quite frank I believe that the rewards far outweigh all of the challanges.

The freedom that you get from driving is amazing. Some companies are cracking down on this a bit, but I happen to drive for one of the better ones. For the most part I set my own schedule. I can be home when I want and leave when I want. My schedule on the road is flexible as well. I usually start driving when I feel like it is time to start driving and stop when I feel like it is time to stop. Keep in mind here that there are deadlines that I have to meet, and I average 8 to 11 hours driving a day.

Another benefit to driving is that I have first hand knowledge of most of the lower 48 states. I have seen some of the most beautiful things that there is to see in our country from the drivers seat of my truck. I cannot describe the beauty of descending into North Carolina on I 77 in the fall, the fantastic vistas of I 70 in Western Colorado, or the amazing view from the summit as you descend on I 15 from the north at night and Las Vegas, NV slowly emerges below you and expands showing you shimmering lights that fill the night. Stopping for the night at a parking area in Wyoming 20 miles from the nearest town, getting out of the truck and looking up to see a sky so filled with stars that it is as if God himself is sending you a reminder that he made all of this.

There is a pride in doing a job and doing it well. I like to think that I am a good driver and I truly do learn new things every day. Also there is a “brotherhood” among drivers. I put that in quotes because there are a lot more ladies driving now, yet when you are at a truck stop eating dinner, you can sit at the counter and feel like you are at home with the people there. Some of the conversations there are a bit over the top and the bragging and story telling are a bit much at times, but there is a feeling that you are among your own. This is true no matter where you are in the country.

So can you do it? Yes, you probably can. Learning to drive is not easy and as I stated earlier there are a lot of challenges that face our industry, but I have trained enough people to know that most people that can stick to the training can learn to drive. Should you do it? That is a question I will leave up to you.

I will part with this, almost every driver that has been at it for more than a few years will tell you that they find they are unable to do anything else for a career. I tried myself. Last year at Christmastime I tried leaving trucking and drove a taxicab for 6 months. The job was fun, and although the pay was not as good as I would have liked I was good at it. I would be lying to you if I told you that the open road was not calling to me on a weekly if not daily basis during that time.

Perhaps these lines from Ronnie Milsap's song “Prisoner of the Highway” sums it up the best. “I got a wife living back in Tennessee, and she tries to understand the way I feel. I could give my hands to another line of work, but my heart would always be behind the wheel”

Until next time, stay safe and enjoy the ride!