When people think of becoming a truck driver they envision driving all day with the windows down, music blaring and seeing the glorious sites across the Nation however what most non truck drivers do not understand is the downside of being a truck driver
In this article on Truck Driver CDL101 we are going to look at the negative aspect of being a truck driver.
Truck Driver Realities: Relationships
When you are gone for days or weeks on end your personal relationships are put on the backburner. You are going to miss birthdays, anniversary and other family events. When you are home your thirty four hour reset is going to be filled with trying to catch up on sleep, doing the odds and ends around the home and getting ready for your next week on the road.
The divorce rate among truck drivers is sky high and the normal answer to why your partner is hitting the door is “You are never home”
Truck Driver Realities: A Ton Of Unpaid Work
Unless you are paid an hourly rate there are a number of aspects of working as a truck driver that you do not get paid for.
For the most part you are only making money when your truck is moving however there are a number of daily activities that you must perform as a truck driver that you do not get paid for.
From performing pre trip inspections, post trip inspections, fueling, stuck in traffic, loading and unloading your trailer and waiting on your next load. Yes some companies will pay a small amount for some of these tasks but they are a fraction of what you would earn if your truck was roaring down the highway
Truck Driver Realities: The Trucking Lifestyle
The trucking lifestyle of waking up in your truck, driving all day and going to sleep in your truck plus the time spent at truck stops tends to be referred to as the trucking lifestyle. Most long term OTR drivers will tell you its not a job but a lifestyle
The reality is a very high percentage of new drivers will fail to hit their first year anniversary as the trucking lifestyle is just too much to deal with. Yes the scenery may change however it tends to be the same thing day in and day out
If you can not adapt to the trucking lifestyle your trucking career may be over before it truly begins
Truck Driver Realities: Health
When the majority of your day is spent sitting down and driving down the road the impacts on your health is not great. Throw in truck stop food and lack of exercise you are creating an environment that encourages declining health.
Back injuries are commonplace in the trucking injuries as sitting all day while being bounced around in your seat wrecks havoc on your spine.
Obesity is also common for drivers rely on eating at truck stops which are not only expensive the food tends to be high in fat and calories.
A high percentage of older drivers do not retire from the trucking industry but are forced out as they no longer can pass the DOT medical.
Of course there is the mental health toll of spending a ton of hours alone and isolated
Truck Driver Realities: Dangerous Occupation
Truck driving is a dangerous occupation and every year drivers will lose their lives on the road.
Accidents among truck drivers continues to rise across North America, a large part has to do with new drivers who lack proper training, and a good percentage tends to be fatal. A collision between two CDL trucks is not a pleasant picture
Weather has also become more extreme and unpredictable over the last few years which has led to drivers losing control of their vehicle and ending up overturned in the ditch or colliding with another vehicle
Truck driving year in and year out is considered to be among the top ten of most dangerous occupations in North America
Truck Driver Realities: Being Micromanaged
When I started my career in truck driving back in 2015 I was given an older truck, maybe a 2011 Freightliner, that had no bells and whistles. The trailers at the time were just stock issue with no fancy tracking devices
Now the trucks, I slip seat through multiple trucks per week, have forward facing cameras and tracking devices built into the handheld devices I use for my electronic logs. The trailers all have tracking devices
Basically what I am getting at is the dispatchers at my company know where I am every single step of the way throughout my route.
If I am cut off in traffic then the forward facing camera will catch it and the safety department with be sent a video. Then I have to explain why I did not predict that the dumbass was going to cut me off to a guy who has never driven a truck in his life
When I was still driving OTR the dispatcher would want to know why my rest break at night was eleven hours and not the regulated ten even though all of my deliveries were on time
Some companies are using driver facing cameras which they claim only to use in critical events so they can determine what the driver was doing at the time of the incident. Then there is the new arrival of AI within the truck that is able to track the driver’s eye movements and determine when he/she is looking elsewhere
All of the CDL truck companies will jump on the safety bandwagon saying it will lead to safer conditions while the drivers become more and more frustrated
Truck Driver Realities: Safety Concerns
Now we have already covered the dangers of truck driving while on the road moving however there are other safety concerns that need to be addressed
Truck stops can be a dangerous place that have unsavory characters wandering around. I have been to truck stops that have security guards who are armed. Throw in a bunch of frustrated drivers with short tempers and you have a recipe for problems
There is always the danger of being robbed for your truck or the contents of your trailer. A trailer could be full of items whose combined total could be hundreds of thousands of dollars so being highjacked is a concern. Most companies will just tell you to hand over the keys for your life is worth more than the contents of the trailer plus it is concerned
There have been reports of trucks being broken into while the driver is asleep in his or her bunk. What some drivers will do is run their seatbelt through the door handle and snap it into place. While this may not stop someone from breaking in it will surely slow them down.
