Do you enjoy driving and road trips? Have you ever daydreamed about life on the road? Truckers get to experience all kinds of great scenery driving shipments across state lines. Despite some of these perks, trucking is not for everyone. What is the job really like? Read on to hear about the perks and downfalls of life as a trucker.
Perks
Independence
Some people love long drives– alone. This is exactly what you can get from trucking. Trucking offers opportunities for independence and solitude. If you like to listen to music and just spend time alone while on the road, trucking may sound very appealing to you. In most cases, when trucking, you can stop when you need to as long as the shipment gets to the dock in time. This means you can be extremely independent and take as many meal breaks or bathroom breaks as you see fit– and you won’t have to tailor your trip to your passengers needs because it is just you board.
Traveling the country
Truckers get to see many well known sites and discover hidden gems along the way to their destination. While many people find traveling difficult due to their office jobs, truckers get paid to travel as they work! When planning their route, they can plan it so they can take their rest stop at places they want to see or visit. Truckers get to see so many wonderful parts of the country all while on the job.
Job security
Another perk of trucking is the job security. Truckers are in need and the need to transport expensive freight from one place to another is not going away anytime soon. The American Trucking Association estimated that the 2021 driver shortage was at 80,000 drivers. The trucking industry contributes hundreds to millions of dollars to the economy every year. As a trucker, there is good job security because of the shortage of drivers and need for the position.
Good pay
Trucking also has good pay and some companies offer benefits to their drivers. The pay increases as drivers get more experienced as well. On top of the good pay, you do not need to go to college and rack up debt from college tuition first. All that is required of truckers is a Commercial Drivers License (CDL). You will not need to pay for any formal education and can instead start your career early and begin making money.
Downfalls
Responsibility
While the independence of the solo trip may seem enticing to some, the weight of the responsibility may seem heavy to others. Truckers sometimes have a truck with a freight worth half a million dollars and it is their sole responsibility to get it from point A to point B in time. This is a large responsibility that is all in one person’s hands.
TIme away from home
Although truckers get to travel the country for work, this also means they are not home often. When they are working, they may be states away from their family, friends, and loved ones. This can be difficult especially for people with close relationships back home. For parents with young children, it may feel difficult to not be able to just come home from the office at the end of the day and see your kids.
Long hours
Have you ever had a long day at work and just couldn’t wait to go home? Maybe you’ve been on an extended trip and couldn’t wait to crawl into your bed once you got home. Truck drivers work long hours and often sleep in the sleeper cab of their truck. In this way, they are always “in office” and do not experience much of a change in scenery at the end of the work day. The long hours on the road can be exhausting and require a lot of sitting which can get tiresome as well.
Stress
Being a trucker can be very stressful work. Not only is it their sole responsibility to get a huge shipment worth a lot of money from one place to another on time, but there are other stress-inducing factors in place. Truckers may run into areas that are not very equipped for huge trucks and they will have to try and navigate where they are going with that large load. They will have to sit in rush hour traffic at times. All of this they will need to do while ensuring they get to their destination on time.
While trucking isn’t for everyone, it sure has some great perks! Texas Elite Logistics prides ourselves in our truckers, their commitment to their work, and their passion for trucking. Do you need a logistics team to transport your freight? Contact us today.
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