Detour: A View From the Cab: Part 3

The trucking industry sheds a bright spotlight on the fact that there are often ethical conflicts between making money, and doing the right thing. A description on a trucker’s website paints the trucking industry as: “…basically a slave industry with truckers working on the average of over 70 hours per week, many of [whom] are not paid while sitting in shipper’s parking lots for, sometimes, 8 hours or more (a whole workday for average Americans!) Truckers are not paid overtime as others.”


I probably wouldn’t go so far as to call it a “slave industry”. Any driver is perfectly free to quit at any time, but the trucking industry certainly, in my estimation, lags behind in affording the basic amenities for drivers enjoyed by the majority of the American work force. Trucking, certainly, is an industry in which you have to stand up for yourself, or you’ll have footprints all over your face.

On a few occasions, I have been asked to offer an insight by people who are considering a career in trucking. The following is the advice I would give to any prospective new truck driver:

* Trucking is a lifestyle more than it is a job. If you are not prepared to make a MAJOR lifestyle change, save your CDL school money and forget about it.

* Research the companies. Check them out online, talk to experienced drivers, and do not be afraid to ask questions. Interview the company. Yes, you heard me right. Prepare a list of questions for a company that you are considering and do not be shy about asking them. Any recruiter worth his salt will be glad to indulge you. If he isn’t… run like the wind. Join a trucker’s forum to get straight answers and to separate the wheat from the chaff. However, be wary of excessive negative reports of a company from a handful of sources. Disgruntled drivers who were fired or denied employment often write negative reviews about their former employers as a tactic of revenge. Do your homework! A recruiter isn’t going to tell you that the company he is recruiting for has a 130% turnover rate among drivers. Research the companies!

* Your first trucking job will probably not be with a blue chip company. The genuinely good companies only hire experienced drivers and few of them use recruiters… they don’t need to. All but the most fortunate have to pay their dues before they have a fighting chance to get hired by a really good company that will treat them with respect.

* Even the “good” startup companies are going to treat you like a piece of meat. They care about the freight being delivered… period. Your home time, your quality of life, and your job satisfaction are purely secondary concerns. Be prepared for it.

* If you are thinking of becoming an owner/operator, educate yourself as to what this entails. I’ve seen plenty of new owner/operators who were desperate to sell their truck after 6 months. I’d recommend that anyone start out as a company driver to ensure that trucking is actually what he or she wants to do for a living. I cannot stress it enough… Educate yourself!

* Even with this being said, trucking can still be what you make of it. It affords a freedom and autonomy that most other jobs cannot come close to. Trucking can be a rewarding career, but it doesn’t come without major sacrifices. If you aren’t prepared to make those sacrifices, don’t waste your time and money.



Right, wrong, or moot, this is just my humble view from the cab.