Why Would Anyone Be a Truck Driver?
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Driving a big rig for a living is a difficult, thankless, and dangerous occupation. The hours are long and typically involve dealing with traffic jams, road construction, focused law enforcement, tight schedules, and dangerously bad drivers on a daily basis. People are either intimidated by, or annoyed by the huge rigs on the road and often intentionally cut them off or give the drivers "the finger" as they go by.
According to OSHA statistics truck driving is the single most dangerous occupation in the country. More truck drivers are killed on the job every year than workers in any other job field. Drivers are killed in the obvious accidents involving traffic wrecks and work-related accidents as well as the less obvious such as being murdered in rest areas and truckstop parking lots. Hundreds of truck drivers are murdered on the job every year.
So why would anyone want to do this job? For some, it's the money. Trucking does pay reasonably well and many people without an advanced education or who live in areas without good paying job opportunities turn to trucking as a way of making a decent living for themselves and their families. Sadly, a good many of these drivers are unhappy and hate trucking. They feel trapped in something they don't really like doing.
For some it sounded like fun. They got into trucking without really knowing what it's all about. The largest percentage of these don't last long once they find out what trucking is really like. According to national statistics, of the thousands of people graduating from truck driving schools every year less than ten percent are still driving after a year.
For some others they drive a truck because it's something they always wanted to do and they really enjoy it. Many have retired from some other field, or like myself simply left another field to go out and drive trucks. A surprising number of truck drivers out there today are well educated, many with advanced degrees. I personally know of one retired attorney and one retired neurosurgeon who are currently driving trucks. Not all truckers are ignorant uneducated hicks.
I enjoy what I do. I think it's one of the best occupations in the country. There is a certain freedom to driving a rig that is hard to find in any other field. As long as my load gets picked up and delivered on time my time is my own. I get up when I want, go to bed when I want, and pretty much do as I please in between. There is no-one telling me when to take my lunch break, when I can go to the restroom, or when I can stop and take a nap if I feel like it. And I can dress as I please within the confines of decency laws.
There are an amazing number of laws and regulations one has to know and follow. An entire book full of them. It's the driver's job to know them all if he/she wants to stay out of trouble. Even the slightest error can be cause for a significant fine. Log books are a good example of this. They must be filled out in a specific manner. Spelling errors can be cause for a fine. In the case of an accident happening, a 15 minute time entry error on the log can mean the difference between being charged in the accident or not, regardless who was actually at fault. That one happens every day. The car driver was obviously at fault, but because of a log book problem the trucker is charged. *sigh*
Another reason many of us love trucking is because it's important. The trucking industry keeps the economy of this country moving. Every single product from clothing to food, automobiles to building materials, electronics to gasoline, beer to mail, gets moved by trucks. The raw materials are trucked to the factories. Finished products are trucked from the factories to the retail point. Most products are trucked numerous times in various stages of production. Without trucking this economy would grind to a halt and people would be homeless, naked, walking, and starving. If you have it a truck brought it.
There are hundreds of reasons why a person would not want to drive trucks for a living and very few why they would. But to me, those very few are why I do.
Besides, it beats getting a job.
According to OSHA statistics truck driving is the single most dangerous occupation in the country. More truck drivers are killed on the job every year than workers in any other job field. Drivers are killed in the obvious accidents involving traffic wrecks and work-related accidents as well as the less obvious such as being murdered in rest areas and truckstop parking lots. Hundreds of truck drivers are murdered on the job every year.
So why would anyone want to do this job? For some, it's the money. Trucking does pay reasonably well and many people without an advanced education or who live in areas without good paying job opportunities turn to trucking as a way of making a decent living for themselves and their families. Sadly, a good many of these drivers are unhappy and hate trucking. They feel trapped in something they don't really like doing.
For some it sounded like fun. They got into trucking without really knowing what it's all about. The largest percentage of these don't last long once they find out what trucking is really like. According to national statistics, of the thousands of people graduating from truck driving schools every year less than ten percent are still driving after a year.
For some others they drive a truck because it's something they always wanted to do and they really enjoy it. Many have retired from some other field, or like myself simply left another field to go out and drive trucks. A surprising number of truck drivers out there today are well educated, many with advanced degrees. I personally know of one retired attorney and one retired neurosurgeon who are currently driving trucks. Not all truckers are ignorant uneducated hicks.
I enjoy what I do. I think it's one of the best occupations in the country. There is a certain freedom to driving a rig that is hard to find in any other field. As long as my load gets picked up and delivered on time my time is my own. I get up when I want, go to bed when I want, and pretty much do as I please in between. There is no-one telling me when to take my lunch break, when I can go to the restroom, or when I can stop and take a nap if I feel like it. And I can dress as I please within the confines of decency laws.
There are an amazing number of laws and regulations one has to know and follow. An entire book full of them. It's the driver's job to know them all if he/she wants to stay out of trouble. Even the slightest error can be cause for a significant fine. Log books are a good example of this. They must be filled out in a specific manner. Spelling errors can be cause for a fine. In the case of an accident happening, a 15 minute time entry error on the log can mean the difference between being charged in the accident or not, regardless who was actually at fault. That one happens every day. The car driver was obviously at fault, but because of a log book problem the trucker is charged. *sigh*
Another reason many of us love trucking is because it's important. The trucking industry keeps the economy of this country moving. Every single product from clothing to food, automobiles to building materials, electronics to gasoline, beer to mail, gets moved by trucks. The raw materials are trucked to the factories. Finished products are trucked from the factories to the retail point. Most products are trucked numerous times in various stages of production. Without trucking this economy would grind to a halt and people would be homeless, naked, walking, and starving. If you have it a truck brought it.
There are hundreds of reasons why a person would not want to drive trucks for a living and very few why they would. But to me, those very few are why I do.
Besides, it beats getting a job.
