[8 GREAT REASONS TO CONSIDER A CAREER AS A TRUCK DRIVER]
Hi there, Rick with Smart Drive Test, talking to you today about eight reasons that you might want
to consider a career in trucking. The first reason: every truck driver, every
kid knows what that means - pull the air horn. There's nothing cooler when
you're a kid then pulln' the air horn. One time in the nineteen
nineties, I was driving back through Toledo, Ohio on Interstate seventy-five, heading
northbound, went past a school bus of kids, not one kid on that bus was doing this. It
was kinda of a disappointment. Drive up the interstate another ten miles or so I
drive past another school bus, look over every kid on that school buses is going
like this. I held that air horn down for a good three minutes. I tell ya, gives you a sort of a
real sense of pride about what you're doing as a truck driver. We'll be right
back to talk to the reasons why you might want to consider being a truck
driver.
[INTRO & MUSIC]
Hi there, Rick, welcome back. Talking to you today about reasons why you might want to consider
a career in trucking. We talked in the introduction, one of the reasons that you
might want to consider a career in trucking - it's cool. Every one of us who drive truck
grew up on Smokey and the Bandit, BJ & the Bear, and other related movies that
made trucking romantic, made it a great job. As I talked about as well
every kid knows the sound of an air horn and gets really chuffed when a driver
pulls that horn.
The second reason - number two. The only unemployed truck driver is a truck
driver that wants to be unemployed. There's always work as a truck driver
and I'll tell you my own story. I spent a lot of years in the early 2000 going to
university. All through that university career I drove bus, I drove truck. That
was what supported my university career. And today I'm still involved in the
industry I'm teaching other people how to get jobs as truck drivers have
careers, as truck drivers, and make money. It's a good job and if it doesn't
work as your primary job it's a great backup job because you can always always
always find employment as a truck driver. So the second reason to find... to get a
job as a truck driver - you're never unemployed.
he third reason you might want to consider a job in trucking is the
options, the sheer number of options that are available to you.
Van, reefer, & flat deck: those are the top three types of units that you can
operate in the trucking industry. Vans are just the square trailers they're not
temperature control at all. They haul general freight, so there's lots of work
in that area whether regional, local, or long haul kind of work. Reefer is
temperature controlled units trailers that heat or cool hauling grocery lots
of work like that. There's a guy here in Vernon I know he runs back and forth
between Calgary and delivers to all the local stores. So there's lots of
refrigeration work because grocery stores always need groceries. The last
one that's very popular here in British Columbia is flat deck work - throwing
tarps and chains if you want a bit of exercise and doing a bit extra. Flat deck work!
The fourth reason you might consider a career in trucking is that you can work
long haul and of course there's a damned helicopter! The fourth reason you might
consider a career in trucking dovetails with number three in terms of the
options that you have available for different types of equipment. You also
have options for the kind of work that you want to do whether you want to run long
haul, you wanna run regional, you want to run local - lots of general freight hauling
on vans and reefers and flat deck running long haul, especially here in
Western Canada or you can run regional. There's one guy in town, as I mentioned in
number three who runs to Calgary and back he's gone a couple of days and home
every two or three days delivering groceries. Or if you want to do local
work there's lots of that delivering general freight in 5 ton trucks driving local
transit buses or hauling gravel trucks, cement trucks - those kinds of things so
there's lots of options in terms of how far you want to be away, how many times
you want to be home, and the types of equipment. So three and four provides a
really good options for you to consider being a truck driver.
The fifth reason you might want to consider a career in trucking is the
challenge. Truck driving never has a day where there isn't something you
gotta figure out, whether it's the mud, the snow, the rain, the ice. There's always
something interesting!
Getting a load strapped down, load securement there's always something
interesting. There's a saying in truck driving: shit happens and CYA! Cover
your ass! What we mean by cover your ass is always put habits in place that will
protect you when you get tired when you get in a hurry or you get pushed because
all those things are going to happen in the trucking industry.
So one of the other reasons the career is challenging and like I said in three
and four - different kinds of equipment
different kinds of work so if you get tired of something you can go and do
something else and present yourself with a new challenge so that doesn't get old
and it doesn't get stale.
The sixth reasons why you might consider a career in trucking is the autonomy. The
self direction of the job. You don't have a boss looking over your shoulder as if
you're working in a plant or working in an office. They tell you when the load needs to
be there
you figure out when you need to show up get the truck down the road
get the bus down the road on schedule and there's a sense of satisfaction
because you did the work you fulfilled what you were supposed to do and at the
end of the day it's all good you're safe, and you'rre home with your family. So
autonomy - sense of self-direction - self-governance driving the truck.
Number seven: it's not a nine-to-five job! There's lots of opportunity to get some
variation in your work day you don't have to show up every morning at nine
o'clock and work until five or six at night or work afternoons, or work days -
there's lots of variation about when you're going to work in the daytime. So
that provides some stimulus for a lot of people who are kind of - don't want to do
that 9-to-5 grind. Truck driving is a great job to not work nine-to-five.
Reason number 8 for considering a job in trucking: money, the money in trucking is
good!
Most local drivers make about $27, $28 dollars an hour depending on what kind
of work they're doing: gravel truck drivers make make a little bit less:
twenty, twenty dollars an hour. Most over the roaders make between 42¢ and 47¢ cents
a mile. If you're making 42¢, 47¢ cents a mile - most drivers are running 2,500 to
3,000 miles week - that's a thousand to $1500 a week. So you're making a pretty
good paycheck. For the amount of education you need, for the amount of
schooling you need to go to truck driving school and get your license the
return on investment is great. The money that you invested to get your license -
you're gonna get it back in a few months. So there isn't any problem - As I said at
point number two
employment - the only unemployed truck driver is the truck driver that wants to
be unemployed. So you're always going to be employed and the money in the
industry is good.
In conclusion, the reasons that you should consider a career in trucking
number one it's cool every kid knows the sound of an air horn and every
truck driver loves pulling the air horn for kids who do with this.
Number two,
employment the only unemployed truck driver is the truck driver that wants to
be unemployed. Number three the variation in the industry the kind of equipment
that you own or operate there's all kinds of options about what kind of
equipment you want to operate. Number four: what kind of work do you want to do? Do you
want to run local, regional, long haul? Lots of options in terms of what you want to
do and the kind of work you want to do. Number five: the work is challenging
there's never a day goes by that there isn't a different challenge that you
gotta meet in the trucking industry - weather, traffic, the roads, getting the load
strapped down, getting it there safely, getting it there on time!
Number six: autonomy. There's no boss looking over your shoulder. There's a sense of
pride in doing the job and doing it well according to your own rules.
Number seven - not a nine-to-five job! Lots of variation about what the hours you
work to get the job done. And the last one: the money in the trucking industry
is good. Local drivers are going to make between eighteen and twenty seven
dollars an hour - some are even gonna make more than that if you go up north
northern Alberta or long haul are going to make between 40¢ and 50¢ cents a mile
depending on what kind of work you're doing. If you're making flat deck, you're
probably gonna make a little bit more those guys running vans. I'm Rick with
Smart Drive Test. Thanks for watching.
you like the channel subscribe below, hit that like button... over there in the corner
the red one, hit that one. Remember: pick the best answer, not necessarily the right
answer.
Have a great day... bye now!
[CLOSING CREDITS & MUSIC]
are