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Careers / First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators |
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| Happiness Index |
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| Users in this Career Group |
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| There are 270 users in this career group. They represent 15 different countries. You can see the list of users in this career group by clicking on one of the links below. You can also join this career group simply by selecting your current status and clicking "Add Me." |
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146 users are currently in this career. |
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1 user is considering this career. |
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26 users left or retired from this career. |
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97 users have hidden memberships. |
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| (Hidden users have added this career to their portfolios, but have not indicated a publicly visible status.) |
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| Reviews |
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| There
is 1 review of this career. |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this career with others! |
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Author: |
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Anonymous |
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Date: |
March 17, 2007 |
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There is an old saying in trucking that goes something like this: "If you can eat it, drink it, wear it, sit on it, plug it in, turn it on, fight it, kick it, or cuss it, a darned old truck brought it." Everything you use rode on a truck. Trucking is the backbone of our whole country. Our entire economy comes to a screeching halt without them. All of us computer geeks, paper shufflers, and pencil pushers would be out of a job, out of gas, and out of groceries in one big hurry if the trucks stopped running. This whole country runs on 18 wheels, like it or not.
I have been involved in trucking for 25 years. I started as an over the road driver for 12 years, and for the past 10 years have been working in dispatch, safety and transportation office management. And, if given half a chance, I would delete the word "truck" from my vocabulary.
For anyone considering a career in truck transportation, the first thing I would advise them to do is learn the Federal DOT regulations, no matter what kind of job they will be doing. Federal laws dictate every aspect of trucking, and the penalties for violations are steep, financially and personally. If you are going to be involved in trucking, being well versed in the regulations that apply to drivers, carriers, and brokers will serve you well throughout your career.
Multi-tasking will also be an important skill for new comers to hone. I have never seen a dispatch office that wasn't fast paced to the point of almost total chaos. You will need good phone skills, and effective communication skills. Good computer skills are a must in today's trucking, whether as a driver or administrator. Some simple skills not often thought about are good map reading skills, knowing military time, knowing all the state and Canadian province 2 letter abbreviation codes, working knowledge of US geography, calculating driving times, and familiarity with different time zones.
Before embarking on a career in trucking I also think it important for new comers to understand, and accept, that trucking is a 24 hour a day business, 365 days a year. It's an unusual trucking company that does not have 24 hour dispatch on duty. The average work week I have encountered as a dispatcher is a minimum of 50 hours, often 60, sometimes more. "You come in at 0600 and stay until everything is done." Safety does not usually involve quite so many hours as operations.
I don't believe compensation is all it's cracked up to be. Mid-management positions such as dispatchers or fleet managers can earn $35 - $42K per year with some experience. But again, the hours and the pressure cooker atmosphere is grueling for that price. Compensation improves, as ever, in upper management levels such as terminal managers, or safety managers, and substantially at larger companies. I have found that health benefits, when offered, are more expensive than in other industries. Trucking is rated as a hazardous profession by the insurance companies, so the rates are higher, even if you are in the clerical pool. One or two weeks of vacation is usually offered. Some of the larger companies offer benefits such as 401K, profit sharing, and tuition reimbursements, but they are few and far between. I want to dispel the myth that drivers make a lot of money, also. They don't. Stagnated wages was one of the many reasons I decided to stop driving over the road. Good drivers can make about $40K a year. For me, being 1,000 miles from home 340 days out of the year wasn't worth it any longer.
Trucking used to be a noble, proud, profession and brotherhood. Unfortunately, globalism is taking it's toll in this industry as it has so many others. Compensation is going down and pressures are going up. With the recent opening of US borders to Mexico trucks and discussions of guest worker programs, the forecast for the industry is dim indeed. |
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| Interesting Fact |
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| Only 70% of the total cost of employment in the U.S. goes to pay wages and salaries -- the rest goes to pay benefits and employment taxes. |
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| Did you know... |
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| The MyPlan.com Career Assessment Tests provide more detailed career recommendations than any other set of tests available anywhere! |
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