Tons of trucking jobs ... that nobody wants

[lumberjack_jeff]

105. Trucking is a mixed bag and the longhaul lifestyle sucks.

My son and his three best friends are newbie truck drivers.

Friend #1 and 2) signed up with a teaching trucking company operating out of Utah. After two (four?) weeks of training, they put you on the road solo. These companies require you to work for them a year, if you quit before that time, you're on the hook for the cost of your training. Based on promises of recruiters, they decided to go "owner operator" in which you are leasing the truck from the company, pay for your own fuel and expenses and operate as a subcontractor. The both lost their asses and essentially worked for free for a 9 months and had to reimburse the company for their training expense. Both still drive trucks, one on a western regional route and the other for a septic pumping company. They got a CDL from the experience with the training company, but nothing more.
Friend #3) signed up with the same teaching trucking company, but ignored the recruiters and went the "company driver" route. He has worked there for a year, 4 weeks on the road and 4 days off (!) and does get a meager paycheck, but the company dings him for all manner of stupid bullshit. Last month during the heat wave in the south, the company withheld $360 from his paycheck for "excess idle" because he idled his truck too much in order to maintain an 80° cab temperature during his sleep time.
My son (22) worked for the same Utah company as a company driver, but within a few weeks of paying off his tuition, through referral, he went to work for the same company as friend #1) He's on the road now for a week or two at a time, on a regional route into Canada with frequent stops near home. The company is still exploitive (as is the rest of the industry) but he does at least now make a living wage. He had the benefit of the experience of friends #1 and #2 and so avoided many of the pitfalls.

He won't make $40,000 this year, but maybe next year.

Longhaul sucks in part because of mandated downtime. There are several DOT clocks running concurrently, X Hours of driving in Y period of time. Sometimes, the clocks align in such a way that you're stuck in Bumf*ck kansas for 36 hours.