Is Becoming a Trucker Right for Me?

by Dave
(Huntsville, AL)

First of all, hello. I'm new here, but I've been lurking for a little while.

I know that no one can tell me 100% yes or no, but I was hoping I could get some opinions from as many as possible based on what I tell you about myself.

I've been thinking very seriously about getting into trucking for a couple of weeks now. I've been reading tons of forum posts and articles, and I've watched dozens of videos about being a truck driver on YouTube and other places.

I've read about all the pros and cons and I'm thinking more and more that this might be something I'd enjoy doing, despite the "cons", many of which aren't even "cons" to me at all really.

I'll tell you a little about myself and my situation. I'm 34 years old, never married, no kids, not even a girlfriend at the moment, so I have no attachments here at home. The last few years have sucked.

I was an insurance agent for 9 years, sold cars for a couple years. Basically I've been in sales most of my adult life and hated it with a passion. I hate dressing up and I really don't like working with other people or trying to sell things to people. I also always hated having to go to an office every day.

I lost my last steady job selling cars when the market crashed and I've pretty much been out of work for a couple years now. I've done some computer work on the side to make a little money here and there but for the most part, I've lost everything the last two years, my home, my car, I have no money to speak of and I ended up having to move back in with my parents.

So, I'm at a point where I absolutely have "nothing to lose" as they say, which is why I've been considering trucking as a career. I figure, if nothing else I can do it for a year or two to get back on my feet and if I hate it, then I can find something else to do.

Reasons I think it would be a good move for me:

1. Not making a lot of money right away wouldn't make any difference to me. I haven't had a steady paycheck in 2 years so anything is better than what I have now. I literally have like $9 to my name right now.

2. I've only been in one accident and it was a very minor one 13 years ago. I had a few tickets when I was younger as well, but they are all at least 12 years old. I have no criminal record of any kind.

3. I am and always have been a "loner". Not that I can't get along with others, I definitely can, I can fake it with the best of them. I played sports in high school, have had a pretty active social life when I wanted to over the years, but I've always preferred to be left alone a majority of the time.

I've always worked best when someone says, "this is what we need you to do by this time" and then leaves me the hell alone and lets me do it.

4. Being away from home for long periods wouldn't bother me, in fact, as much as I love them to death, after living with my parents for the last year, I will more than welcome long periods out on my own. As I said before, no wife, no gf, no kids and only one really good friend that still lives near me that I ever hang out with anyway.

5. I am a very laid back person. Things that I have no control over, just don't bother me. I have a very "whatever" kind of attitude towards things when they go wrong. I very very rarely lose my temper.

6. I'm a pretty intelligent guy and have always been a quick learner, so I don't think the learning part would be a problem for me. I've never failed a test of any kind in my life. SAT and ACT scores were in the top 2% in the nation, I always passed state insurance exams the first time I took them, blah blah blah. Bottom line, I'm a smart guy and not trying to brag or anything, but I'm not ashamed of the fact that I'm intelligent.

7. I'm in decent shape. Not the kind of shape I was in high school when I played football and baseball year round, but I'm about 5' 9", 175 lbs, still pretty athletic build, so I don't think the job would be physically taxing on me.

8. I like to drive and really would love to travel, and yes I know that I'm not really going to have much time to go sightseeing, but it would be awesome to me to just see anything outside of the south. I've lived in Alabama since I was 7 and have never been west of Mississippi, never been further north than Indiana and never been further east than eastern Kentucky.

That's about all I can think of right now. Sorry if my post was a little long, but if any of you can give me your opinions I would love to hear them. Thanks ahead of time to anyone who replies.