Thinking about making a job change

[Tobin S.]

I'm a trucker and for the past three years I've worked for an auto parts hauler. It's a good job by trucking standards. Home every day with the weekends off, decent benefits, and 50k a year with the potential to make more. It's route work. Basically, I do the same thing every day: 415 miles, 7 stops. The only thing that's really undesirable about it (aside from what I will say in a minute) is that I have to unload the truck- no forklift. But that actually helps keep me in shape.

The problem with it for me is that it doesn't entail a whole lot of freedom. The company is a large multi-national deal and they do have many other fleets that you can work in. The one I work in only has about 25 drivers. They do have an owner/operator fleet, but I haven't been able to get a whole lot of information about it. I would really like to own a rig again and run irregular routes. There is nothing holding me here, no SO or children. So I decided to start asking my co-workers about the owner/operator fleet. I haven't talked to management about it, yet, and I don't think I will unless I have to.

I ran across one of our drivers at a fuel stop and asked him if he knew anything about the owner/operator fleet. He said he didn't and, "Don't worry about that other stuff. Your home is here." Hmmmmm. I'm not sure why he said that. Seems kind of strange.

Yes, home is nice. But right now the plains, coasts, and mountains are calling my name.

[Quantess]

1. This is GD material.

Not Lounge material.

[Tobin S.]

2. Really? My vanity posts are now a matter of political importance?

I must be moving up in the world.

[Quantess]

3. Talk of mullet hairdos? nope. Talk of cats and dogs? Nope.

Links to youtube videos from the 1980s? Nope.

So...Your thread doesn't belong here.

[Tobin S.]

5. Ahhhh. Well the lounge will just have to bear with me.

I'm too chicken to post in GD. :scared: ;)

I do think some of my Stories from the Road essays might work well in GD and I have posted a few of them there, but I generally stay out of that forum unless I'm just reading. There are some good posters there, but the forum is just too contentious for me.

[auntAgonist]

8. You're movin' up Tobin

LOL

I wonder who died and left him/her the decider of what goes where.


:)

aA
kesha

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. Judgmental. Self-righteous. Authoritarian.

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Those are all traits that most of us associate with right-wingers.
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Wait a minute. Where am I?
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Oh... I'm really sorry. I thought this was GD.
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This is so embarrassing.
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Please forgive me.
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But... as long as I'm already here... I know the call of more autonomy
is very strong. How's your industry now for owner/operators? Would you be burning
bridges back to your old position? Are there enough regular openings in the route
work end that you would have some sort of safety net to fall back on should it
not work out? Are things like medical benefits crucial right now?
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Sounds like no significant other-directed responsibilities. If not now... when?
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Having said that, I also know the allure of the safe and familiar.
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Do it. Or don't. There is no "try".
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Geez, it MUST be late. I think I'm channeling Yoda.
.

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[Tobin S.]

6. It depends on the type of freight you haul, usually

If you haul food of any kind it is generally thought to be one of the safer areas of trucking. But there are pitfalls associated with it that you don't have to worry about with other forms of freight.

The best thing I can do to assure myself some sort of safety net as far as independent trucking goes is a good cash reserve. It usually isn't too hard for an experienced trucker to find work, even in the current market. It might not be a good job, but I wouldn't starve if my business didn't work out.

I can get "good" health insurance for about $130 a month, but it won't cover a pre-existing condition that I have. But I think I can make enough money to offset to cost of treatment.

As for familiar, I've spent most of the last 10 years doing local work. I was an owner/operator for a couple of years not long after I go into trucking, but I was crazy as hell back then. Things look very different to me now days.

[elleng]

9. Rail cargo has been down;

YOU can view the transition. Check up on freight loadings regularly, and GO where you think there may be movement.

:fistbump:

[david13]

7. If you can fall back onto an hourly wage with benefits (on the payrol) of a good

company, if you need to, ok.
It sounds like you can afford to give this a try, and that you have a safety net available (return to wages) if you need to.
So maybe the thing to do is do it.
Either way, good luck.
dc