- In order to become a trucker, your driving record has to be near-spotless. 1-2 parking/speeding tickets at the most. Absolutely no DUIs. They will go over your driving record with a fine-tooth comb and toothbrush, and any discrepancies on your application is an automatic turndown (so don't lie on your application). Millennials have piss-poor driving records.
- Driving a tractor-trailer is challenging. The mandatory chain laws in Colorado and California. The turns. Hours of service. City laws where trucks can't go or laws against Compression braking (that squealing noise trucks make when braking). I've seen former military people whine and get frustrated at learning how to drive a rig. You've got to have patience yet at the same time, you've got to be aggressive.
- The shippers and receivers. Drivers get jerked around when unloading or picking up. The shipper doesn't have the Bill of Lading filled out correctly, for example. Or the product isn't ready. Or the driver needs to make a delivery appointment and has to wait to unload, thereby missing his backhaul load from another shipper. Or the shipper closes right when the driver gets there.
- Hazmat, tanker-endorsed, TWIC cards required. A lot of my loads require these drivers. The trucking company doesn't pay for this, and the drivers sure as Hell aren't going to pay it out of their money. So capacity tightens up and these loads don't move.
- The fuel. The fuel absolutely kills the driver's paychecks.
- NYC Borough congestion charges, CA emissions charges, etc. More charges that drivers have to deal with.
But yeah, if you can deal with the above there is good money in the trucking industry.
**I work in logistics for a major trucking company.**
No, you’re a paid liar,..... lying to truck drivers over the phone all day.
JUST KIDDING!! Most of the logistics folks I’ve worked with have been very professional.
(I had one dispatcher that just couldn’t be honest. But he was that way off the job too.)
They passed through the town quickly, and were once again traveling in darkness. They rolled along behind a long red string of eastbound tail lights, while in the opposite lanes, a long white string of westbound headlights flowed towards them, an endless parade of trucks in both directions.
Jonathan said, “There’s a lot of traffic out here.”
“Oh yeah. Truckers pick up and deliver during the day, then the freight moves between the cities at night.”
“It looks like it’s just one big machine. The highway, the trucks in motion.”
“And right now, we’re a part of that machine.” Mark turned and smiled.
Jonathan said, “I wouldn’t mind making this drive in the daytime, when I can see what’s around us.”
“It’s the clouds. On a clear night the sky is plastered with stars, and during a full moon, you can see for miles, every rock, every bush. But when the monsoon clouds move in, it’s like driving in a tunnel.”
“Monsoon?”
“The summer storms, up from Mexico. Look.” He pointed towards the southeast. A cloud flashed bright for an instant on the far horizon.
* * *
From Collateral Crimes
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997539518