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Look at it this way. As long as goods need to be moved around the country, there will be a strong demand for trucking. Sure, there's talk about self-driving cars/trucks that will make truckers obsolete, but that kind of talk has been going on for decades. My high school history teacher said that when he was a kid, they thought we would be flying around with jetpacks and self-flying personal aircraft by now. That obviously hasn't happened.
Also, trucking isn't something that can be outsourced to China.
You cannot get a CDL to go over the road until you are 21 years old.
Driving a truck is not a bed of roses, it involves a lot more than sitting behind the wheel of that truck and moving it down the highway.
I suggest you find something else to do, being a driver is a tough life and you really have no time for friends or family because you are gone a lot. You miss birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc.
You cannot get a CDL to go over the road until you are 21 years old.
Driving a truck is not a bed of roses, it involves a lot more than sitting behind the wheel of that truck and moving it down the highway.
I suggest you find something else to do, being a driver is a tough life and you really have no time for friends or family because you are gone a lot. You miss birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc.
Find something else.
There's a saying that trucking is a lifestyle and not just a job. You really need a certain personality for it.
If you are single, aren't close to your family or don't have a family, and get a thrill out of being on the road all the time, you might love it. If you ever decide to settle down, you can get a local driving job where you are home at night and on the weekends.
There's a saying that trucking is a lifestyle and not just a job. You really need a certain personality for it.
If you are single, aren't close to your family or don't have family, and get a thrill out of being on the road all the time, you might love it. If you ever decide to settle down, you can get a local driving job where you are home at night and on the weekends.
I know the saying and the lifestyle quite well. I own 3 trucks and one of my drivers is my husband.
Truck driving jobs will be around for a very long time to come, as long as there is an economy to ship goods around. There is talk of trucks that can drive themselves, but that will never happen any time within the next 30 years at least. The technology is not even close, and even if it was, government agencies would require decades of testing before it became widespread.
There are few careers in the USA that you know will always be around, as long as there is an economy: police officers and other emergency workers, doctors, nurses, cooks, skilled trade workers, and of course truck drivers. Most other jobs can be outsourced or replaced by technology.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CSD610
You cannot get a CDL to go over the road until you are 21 years old.
Driving a truck is not a bed of roses, it involves a lot more than sitting behind the wheel of that truck and moving it down the highway.
I suggest you find something else to do, being a driver is a tough life and you really have no time for friends or family because you are gone a lot. You miss birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc.
Find something else.
There are some truck drivers that actually have somewhat regular hours. I know a guy who only drives in a 100 mile radius, so he's home for dinner every night. But yes, for most it's a pretty rough life. Maybe not the best career choice if you want to be a family man someday. It might seem like it would be a cool job to have when you're younger and single, but if you decide to change careers when you're older, you might find yourself wishing you hadn't invested so many years truck driving. Changing careers is tough - you have to start completely over at the bottom rung of entry level positions, and you're often older than the rest of those applying for those entry level positions.
Truck driving jobs will be around for a very long time to come, as long as there is an economy to ship goods around. There is talk of trucks that can drive themselves, but that will never happen any time within the next 30 years at least. The technology is not even close, and even if it was, government agencies would require decades of testing before it became widespread.
There are few careers in the USA that you know will always be around, as long as there is an economy: police officers and other emergency workers, doctors, nurses, cooks, skilled trade workers, and of course truck drivers. Most other jobs can be outsourced or replaced by technology.
There are some truck drivers that actually have somewhat regular hours. I know a guy who only drives in a 100 mile radius, so he's home for dinner every night. But yes, for most it's a pretty rough life. Maybe not the best career choice if you want to be a family man someday.
While it is not going to happen in the near term there is a very good chance that self driving vehicles will become common on our roadways. Google cars are already driving themselves with good reliability. The Army is already developing self driving supply trucks. It is only a matter of time before the mundane job of driving from point a to point b will be automated.
While it is not going to happen in the near term there is a very good chance that self driving vehicles will become common on our roadways. Google cars are already driving themselves with good reliability. The Army is already developing self driving supply trucks. It is only a matter of time before the mundane job of driving from point a to point b will be automated.
Don't count on a job for life.
I agree it's only a matter of time, but in the next 30 or 40 years? Pretty unlikely, especially considering how slow government bureaucracy is to approve things like that. The autonomous trucks would have to be able to react to a million different situations that human truck drivers deal with, and with a near perfect safety record. And by that time, plenty of other jobs might be replaced by technology as well. I don't know if I'd really plan a career choice based on what could happen 40 years in the future. He could be retired by then.
I agree it's only a matter of time, but in the next 30 or 40 years? Pretty unlikely, especially considering how slow government bureaucracy is to approve things like that. The autonomous trucks would have to be able to react to a million different situations that human truck drivers deal with, and with a near perfect safety record. And by that time, plenty of other jobs might be replaced by technology as well. I don't know if I'd really plan a career choice based on what could happen 40 years in the future. He could be retired by then.
Thirty to forty years? I give it ten years tops. Think of what life was like back in 1974 or 1984 compared to today. In 84 the 1200 buad modem was top of the line, portable telephones were the size of a shoe box and most desktop PC's didn't even have a hard drive.
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