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-   -   Long haul truck driver (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/leaving-career/37291-long-haul-truck-driver.html)

kspilot 03-09-2009 03:15 PM


Originally Posted by SkyHigh (Post 574658)
I don't know how long you have been a pilot or what your career objectives are but you just described the life of most pilots exactly.


Skyhigh

Its different, Have you done both for a living to comment?

kspilot 03-09-2009 03:19 PM


Originally Posted by pause (Post 574719)
You get 6 hours of sleep while trucking?? PFFFFFFFFT sign me up. More than I get now (generally) :D

Try it for 2 to 3 months without a day off at home. The time you get home set by most companies is 1 day off for every 7 gone. I sick of arguing, go give it a try you may like it.

SkyHigh 03-09-2009 03:35 PM

I have not
 

Originally Posted by kspilot (Post 575436)
Its different, Have you done both for a living to comment?

I can tell you that I have flown both air ambulance and airline. It seems to me that you could have traded your long haul trucking job for a short haul one and gotten the same results as what you have as an air ambulance pilot.

If you ever leave air ambulance work you will be living the long haul trucker life again without the good wages. In many ways trucking and flying are the same job except for the wages.

Skyhigh

DYNASTY HVY 03-09-2009 04:42 PM


Originally Posted by SkyHigh (Post 575459)
I can tell you that I have flown both air ambulance and airline. It seems to me that you could have traded your long haul trucking job for a short haul one and gotten the same results as what you have as an air ambulance pilot.

If you ever leave air ambulance work you will be living the long haul trucker life again without the good wages. In many ways trucking and flying are the same job except for the wages.

Skyhigh

How about a side by side comparison on the wages ? let's say 0-10 year's?
I,ll bet you the pilot's pay is a hell of a lot more than a trucker's pay at the end of 10 year's.
I,ve spoken to some of them and several stated that after a certain amount of time that the pay get's stagnant .
One guy told me he was making 50,000 a year and that was after 20 year's of driving .
Too many ppl going for the lowest common denominator just like in the aviation biz .:eek:

RMWRIGHT 03-09-2009 05:22 PM

"my thread" keeps growing and growing...
see on yahoo.com that there are an average of
5 persons applying for every new job available
compared with 2 to 1 from november 2007.
the career with most jobs available, nurses, vets
and pharmacists where there is a 6% shortage.
i didnt see aviation on list:mad: lol
guess cuz theres a 60% surplus

SkyHigh 03-09-2009 09:01 PM

10 years
 

Originally Posted by DYNASTY HVY (Post 575487)
How about a side by side comparison on the wages ? let's say 0-10 year's?
I,ll bet you the pilot's pay is a hell of a lot more than a trucker's pay at the end of 10 year's.
I,ve spoken to some of them and several stated that after a certain amount of time that the pay get's stagnant .
One guy told me he was making 50,000 a year and that was after 20 year's of driving .
Too many ppl going for the lowest common denominator just like in the aviation biz .:eek:

In ten years a pilot could make more however if you were to add in the opportunity cost of four years of college followed by 150K in pilot training the pilot would have to work ten more years to break even.

Now we are talking twenty years into the future. By then all bets are off in regards to the pilot. Given how much has been lost over the past 20 years it is difficult to predict the outcome.

I live in a very small town and even in this economy there are no less than four want ads for truck drivers. My state just enacted much more stringent requirements to obtaining a CDL. It seems likely that trucker wages and demand will continue to increase.

Skyhigh

RMWRIGHT 03-10-2009 01:02 PM

had to chuckle yesterday... was listening to the mark levin show and a guy in michigan called in mentioning that he just lost his job in saginaw
and was curious if getting a cdl was worth the effort. he went on to say he has 3 degrees but in todays economy were worthless. the next caller was from michigan now living in colorado and said his salary was 23k in michigan and now was a trucker making 50-60k and went from bologny to steak. btw i have an interview tomorrow as a salesmen (motorcycles atvs snowmobiles) they need someone who speaks spanish. 4 weeks in wyoming and dozens of resumes and this is first serious job offer.

js081285 03-10-2009 05:21 PM

Dont fret my good man. My first real interview was leasing apartments. Didn't even get that one. Have been searching for about 7 months. No telling how many resumes Ive sent in. Its just so friggun competitive, almost like you need to apply for jobs a couple levels lower than what you normally would.

Seems like entry-level jobs are being taken by people with 2-3 and more years experience. Im using my degree right now to part-time supervise at a rec. dept. Nothing like putting that high-dollar degree to good use.

Im just fortunate Im able to live with my parents able ride this out, instead of having a family to provide for in all this mess. It was pretty sad, I went to a career-day at my University (recently graduated) and there were alumns from the 80's there looking for jobs.

sandman1 03-10-2009 06:23 PM

truck driver
 
I transport heavy machinery and am burnt out after 17 years in heavy city traffic.started on my flying 7 years ago. my dream was to fly for chalks airlines,as yall well no they went down in flames.but i still keep trucking along for some day i will make it to sea borne airlines in the islands man..so after all the days of labor in the heat and sweat at 45 years old i still keep the dream alive in my heart.you see i only have 172 hours flight time.a long way to go....

crewdawg 03-10-2009 09:23 PM


Originally Posted by RMWRIGHT (Post 564291)
2 years of training and 70k later one becomes a "pilot" , unemployed and
even if one is lucky to land an FO job it starts at 18k per year... In 3 weeks and 3k one can get a CDL class A. Truck drivers start at 50k and owner/operators can make 100k per year. You'd need to invest about 8 years in aviation to make 60k. (2 years school, 2 years cfi, 4 years fo)

Just my 2 cents

Owner Operators can make more than 100k, but what they don't tell you is the $$$$ they have to put back into their trucks!

Ya, you could go do that and end up like my dad, who hates his job with a passion. He was stuck with it because of us kids and now because he has no options. He tried he longhaul stuff for a month of so and realized he would never see his kids grow up and quit. Luckily got a job M-F and home every night, not as much $$ but being home made it all worth it. I did a little right after high school....no thanks!

In less than 4 years in aviation I am making 1.5x what my father makes as a 20 year trucker! Goodluck if you try, we need those guys too.....talk about a group of people who could cripple the nation if they collectively went on strike!


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