Truck Driving is a Thankless Job
While there is no question that being a trucker in today's world is a thankless job, I have to ask how many jobs give thanks in this thankless world. I dare say there aren't many jobs out there known for their rewarding qualities outside of the employee's passion for the work. Sure, if you're a musician or actor (successfully), the perks and thanks come at you like the wind, but that's where you need to be if you want some respect in a circle of people beyond, say, yourself.
During my time as a driver (I drove this fine US of A from 2004 to 2007, until I began piloting a desk and becoming known by drivers as The Travel Agent') I don't think I've been treated that badly by the people daily encountered since the days of boot camp. It's quite fair to say drivers, and when I say drivers, I mean drivers of big rigs, dump trucks, sand trucks, garbage trucks, buses, and anything else requiring some sort of CDL, are looked upon as unskilled, dirty labor. However, those that know the business and what it takes to be a driver, know a lot better. The average Joe doesn't understand that things are different on the road for the common motorist as opposed to the professional driver. They just think you sit and steer; they do not understand what you went through to earn that seat behind the wheel.
Even if they did have a better idea, would they really care? I doubt it, since the only time a fireman, police officer, or paramedic is thanked is after the fire is out, the guns are cooling down, or the patient's condition has been upgraded to stable. What about the guy working the counter at the convenience store? How about that nice lady who talks to you before you see the dentist? You can see where I'm going with this; most people who are in a working class' position are not in a position where thanks are among the job compensation package.
Since we can fairly establish that most jobs are thankless jobs, let's get down to the meat of it, which is the pay. Ah, now we're getting somewhere.Is it not fair to say that out of the majority of working-class positions, the position of truck driver ranks among the higher percentages in terms of pay? I think it does, and for that, I am thankful. Let me put it this way: Before I stepped into the transportation industry, I worked in the tourism industry. I've been known for writing articles on Disney World and other Central Florida tourism destinations because I worked the industry for almost a dozen years, and I still have regular contact with numerous people in that industry, as friends, and a spouse (that's regular contact for you!) and I have for you some insight.Do you want to know the most thankless job on this small planet?Answer: The Theme Park Custodian.
I'm not going to get into the reasons for this within this article, but suffice it to say that the truck driver, while being treated horribly by most of the people encountered daily (Do you want to know how they treat each other? Listen to the CB for an hour or two. Oh, manthat's harsh) often approaches his accountant during tax time with an annual income somewhere in the high thirties (low average) to perhaps somewhere in the mid-forties (a common average) to well into the fifties, providing that driver knew the ropes and the tricks of the trade. The point being is that these folks, while looked down upon by many in the working sector, more often than not make more money than most of those looking down at them.Are those dock workers talking smack about the driver? Well, maybe they should complain about the fact that the driver, whom they dislike, makes such a disproportionately higher amount of money than they do. The stuffed shirt managing those dockworkers could only hope his salary equates that of the driver everyone wants to blame for the world's woes. How about that DOT officer pulling over the driver because of this or that? I'll bet he wishes he had that driver's income, too. Not the job, but the income.
This is common in the trucking business, since most of us in the know about the industry understand that the turnover is beyond merely high. In fact, the turnover rate, depending on how you look at it, can exceed one hundred percent. This is largely to blame on the fact that the job is not just so thankless, but comes with a lot of unnecessary BS. As I understand it, the biggest draw to the business (outside of the romantic notion of seeing the beauty of the country) is the potential for good income. The thing is, this is the truth, as it is for many positions. Look at a military career, for example. One must tolerate a lot of difficulty over the years, but if one does this, then that military career can soon afford some rewarding times.
This is also true of the trucking industry. I say nevermind the crap that the world's various dimwits want to tread on the trucker's life; take a look at your day once that day ends and gauge how it went from there. If you're like me, you found peace and pleasant solitude out there on the open road, and you're enjoying what is likely the trucker's most faithful companion: the satellite radio.
If you're a trucker, you can finally find an appreciation for the country's space program and realize NASA does have a place in this world, because satellite radio is the greatest invention for the road warrior since the plug-in crock pot.Further, I have seen numerous beautiful sights while driving, and I've seen places and people in the fine country I otherwise never would have seen. I've enjoyed several short-term friendships with some great folks while sitting near the buffet in the truck stop diner. I've enjoyed a lot of laughs about what happened through the course of the day, and found that the brunt of the jokes is often those who give no thanks to what the driver does in his day.Finally, I've found myself in a career field where there's been more thankfulness than in most of the career fields I've enjoyed in my working life. Sure, there aren't many thanks, and I know they'll be fewer and farther between in the coming months and years, where this is an industry that once relied on inexpensive energy supplies (yeesh), but I've noticed two great thanks that drivers can count on.
1. If you're a good driver, a safe and reliable driver, then you will always have a job. I've often been quoted as saying, "If you don't have a degree on your office wall, you'll be well off if you have a CDL in your pocket."
2. This job offers so much diversity as a position. There are dedicated contracts out there offering a driver great reliability and, get this, a reasonably stable position offering some idea of how your week will go, week after week, almost like a regular job. The OTR position will always be there for those who want it. There are regional positions for those who want to stay close to home. There are local jobs. In fact, there are more jobs available for the CDL holder than I could efficiently list in this article.
While this isn't one of the awesome thanks' of the industry, I have noticed there is a tendency for more upward growth in the transportation industry than many other industries who tend to keep frontline workers on that plateau and then recruit leadership positions from the college graduates. It appears to me that the transportation industry recognizes that you want at least some employees with where the rubber meets the road' experience at the decision-making roundtable. This is a remarkable plus, since so many industries are finding their leadership, even at the entry level, is out of touch with the frontline employees and, sadly, possess precious few with the job skills to perform the same jobs as their subordinates. Now, could somebody tell me how you have an endless string of managers and supervisors overseeing work that they just don't know how to do? The answer is simple: That's exactly how most companies do business. My experience is that the transportation industry is not among them.How about this for a nice, little perk: In most industries, the employee, at least from an accounting perspective, is seen as pure liability. Most companies want to get as much out of the employee in as few hours as possible, if they work an hourly position, or if they're salaried, they want to work them all day, everyday. But of you're a truck driver, that equipment is making its company money by rolling out the miles, so it stands to reason that in most trucking companies, they want you to keep working. The more you work, the more money you, and your company, makes. Find that relationship in any other industry, folks.
Sure, the people at virtually every receiver and shipper see the driver as a nuisance, perhaps even a necessary evil, and as someone they have every right to treat horribly, but more often than not, these people are working dead-end, thankless jobs, too. The nice thing for the trucker is that once the wagon is filled (or emptied) and the paperwork is signed, it's back out onto the road, where there's some peace and quiet, no brain-damaged supervisor looking over one's shoulder, and satellite radio.
