Posted on 05/02/2021 7:52:43 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I’d do it for the chicks.
The groupies mean everything.
At 70k a year, they will be replaced by autonomous trucks.
No sick days, no health insurance, no vacation, no bad trucker habits.
Make a Coors run.
There are too many variables on the road. That will only result in terrible accidents.
Read the article and take it at face value.
What do you think the solution is, if the problem IS just as he describes it?
You suggest AI as a solution, but it won't be.
Don't look for AI Trucking in the next 5 years.
IF I can get a quote for long distance deliveries the rates are now close to $3.00 a mile vs last year and before I was getting $1.35 to $1.50 a mile. Now quotes are only good for a couple days. It’s impossible to give my customers a solid freight cost, I have to leave it open ended until the day of pickup. It’s horrible.
Too many hot shot drivers, many from Russia hauling 5th wheel trailers off the back of an F-350-550.
I did it for 1.5 years. The most over-regulated, lowest paying, and dangerous industry. I was in the minority that actually loved his wife.
And Covenant sucks. They only offer teams, so you split your pay.
I guess that’s true. Myself, I’ve never been able to function well without sleep.
Work local P&D for an LTL carrier. You'll get more exercise than you bargained for. And be home every night.
Yep
What you are describing are "turnaround" runs, also know as "meets", and all the big carriers use them. I did it for a while for Estes. It's good money, but you work at night.
The cellphone has made driving of any vehicle much more dangerous than in the past. I have ‘retired’ after almost 20 yrs of rowing gears (van, reefer, flat, oversize, construction, hopper, etc. Got out clean, no wrecks, one speeding ticket (2005), no CSA points on my record. I truly appreciate the courteous drivers that I would encounter each, but their numbers are dropping every day. A month away and I don’t miss the big city logjams. The open road, especially between ol’ Muddy and the Rockies I will miss.
I’m a retired long haul trucker. I got in back when it was a fun lifestyle. The government has removed all pleasure from the job. Now they monitor every breath a driver takes. There is no longer any freedom of the road in trucking.
I think the trucking industry will end up composed of big carriers operating as you describe. Otherwise they will continue to have problems getting drivers.
Independents will be hauling the odd ball stuff that does not fit into big corporate systems.
For instance, hauling gas line pipe or water pipe out to the side of the road or to some construction site.
To put it more clearly, I predict the decline, maybe even the disappearance of small trucking companies and the industry being dominated by the super bigs.
Well, just check my screen name 😁👍. Been doing this for about 25 years, same company for 22. I’m home every night so it’s more like a regular job than most of the truckers out here. Nothing like it was when I started and CERTAINLY nothing like it was in the 50’s - 70’s. Been making damn decent pay for quite awhile so I’m in no hurry to find anything else.
The part about putting the trucks into tight spaces is for real - you’d be amazed at some of the hellholes I’ve had to get my truck into. As far as issues with family life, for the ones that are gone 3 weeks or more at a time it probably is. It was for me my first year in the job, glad I was in the right place at the right time for the job I have now.
I’m not saying AI will completely replace trucking, but if it can allow a trucker to work just another longer because of the basic work that it takes over, that’s thousands of truck that will not be needed across the industry.
It’s somewhat still an artificial problem that caused by driving profitability for the independent into the ground. When all things are considered, a professional trucker does not make much above minimum wage.
A person that is willing to work two minimum wage jobs can earn $70,000/year if he works the same amount of hours as a trucker.
Long haul drivers, living in a truck, no life, no family, zip?
They should be paying these guys 100k a year minimum.
What is this thing you call “sleep” of which you speak.
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