Is a tractor trailer driver a good career choice?

Answer 1

Short answer: Yes, it is, if you're the right kind of person for it. Long answer: Well, it depends.


Tractor-trailer driving is, as far as I'm concerned, the most important job in the world. No other job can be done without the assistance of a tractor-trailer driver. Name the job. The things needed to do it came in a tractor-trailer. The American Trucking Association sells decals for the back of your trailer that say, "Without Trucks, America Stops." That's very true.


There are four kinds of people in this world: drivers who are in the correct field; people who should be driving but aren't; people who tried driving and found it wasn't for them (this kind comes in two varieties: people who don't drive anymore, and those who drive but hate every second of it); and people who shouldn't ever consider it. A quick way to tell if it's for you: Find an 8x10 room--this is about the size of the cab on an International tractor--and sit in it for eleven hours. You can take your laptop in if you want, that's okay. But don't open the door and don't talk to anyone--either in person, through computer messaging, or on the phone. If you cannot be completely alone for half a day, you shouldn't drive truck. This is why there are so many people who use their Class A CDLs to drive Toyota Corollas to their office jobs: they couldn't stand being alone all the time. And unless you do something like locking yourself away from society for a few days, you won't know. You won't find out in school--you spend your day with three or four other people in the cab. You won't find out on your training period--you've got another driver in there with you. If you run team--two licensed drivers in the cab who alternate driving and sleeping so the truck doesn't stop rolling until it gets to final--it's a little better but your teammate is asleep most of the time you're driving, so you still don't have anyone to talk to. Some people carry an unlicensed passenger, and for them that helps a lot.


Pros of driving:
It pays a living wage.
Your boss generally leaves you alone.
You see things you never dreamed of.
It's very rewarding work.


Cons of driving:
The isolation.
Too many communities see "fining truckers for minor safety violations" as a real good way to raise city funds.
Traffic, and crazy drivers.


Things that may be a discriminator include drugs. Obviously you can't do illegal drugs, but there are a lot of legal ones--the kind that might make you unsafe to drive--you can't take either. Look at Tylenol 3--tylenol with codeine. Very common stuff, but if you are a CDL holder and you're prescribed it you are out of service until three days after you take your last dose. If you drive when you're out of service, you have to be fired. I'm not even sure you can drive your CAR when you're on that stuff. Oh, and our DUI threshold is half what yours is: whereas you are legally drunk at 0.08, we are legally drunk at 0.04.


Being a driver doesn't have to take away your humanity. You can still do most of the things you liked to do before you got your CDL--obviously if shoving heroin was one of the things you liked to do you can't do that, but I know guys who carry Golf clubs and Guitars, drivers who go dancing, lots of computer users and photographers...if you're a drummer you should change to electronic drums so you don't make the other drivers at the truck stop mad you woke them up when you practiced, but you could drum. You can work out. If your company has a pet policy or it's your truck you can carry your dog or cat with you--every truck stop sells pet food, but don't get it there because it's extremely expensive.


So! If you can be by yourself all the time, driving's a good career choice. If you need people around you all the time, pick a different field.