I don’t know how it is now, but I suspect not much different than when I drove. Biggest change I can think of is the log book is now automated. Which makes it harder to run illegally.
But driving over the road (vs. driving local where you’re home every night) means that you’re pretty much gone from home 3-4 weeks at a time, and then get about 3-4 days at home before you’re gone again. That’s a drawback for a lot of people, especially women with kids. You will miss holidays and special occasions.
Then there’s the whole dealing with traffic, road construction, bad weather, bad directions, bad information, picking up loads or making deliveries at 2 a.m., dealing with receivers who don’t like the way the product was loaded into the trailer and you have NO CONTROL over that, having deliveries scheduled for a time that is physically impossible to make, sitting for hours waiting for someone to fix an issue on either end of the trip, not being able to find a truck stop to park for the night before your hours run out so you’re parked at the side of the road with no bathroom, no shower, and no food unless you’re smart and carry supplies with you.
Plus, you have to have a clean driving record and you WILL be drug and alcohol tested.
it’s a tough job, but the government is going to make it easier! 😎
Sounds horrible. How many years did you do that?