The trucking industry has a long-standing reputation of endless days and nights behind the wheel, rugged drivers, and weeks away from your family. This stigma has tainted a career path which in reality is within a high-tech, in-demand industry that powers America, that is now facing a nationwide shortage of new drivers. Without trucks, store shelves would be bare, and you can say goodbye to overnight shipping!
Fortunately for those interested in a career in the trucking industry, companies have shifted to allow for more regular hours, shorter distances, and more time at home to focus on family. This shortage of drivers has transportation companies scrambling to fill more than 50,000 open positions, encouraging them to evolve their offerings to attract millennial job seekers. If you are interested in alternatives to the traditional 9-to-5 complete with great pay and benefits, there could not be a never a better time to consider a career in the trucking industry.
Keep reading for our complete list of reasons to start your career as a truck driver. Do you have another benefit to add to our list? Leave a comment to let us know!
Job Security
Did you know the trucking industry directly and indirectly employs more than 8 million people in the U.S alone? (planetfreight.com)
The trucking industry is a critical component to the success of the country’s economy, and remains the primary method of shipping and transportation nationally. According to TruckInfo.net, the United States depends on trucks to deliver nearly 70 percent of all freight transported annually in the U.S., accounting for $671 billion worth of manufactured and retail goods transported by truck in the U.S. alone.
As the economy relies on truck drivers to transport freight that keeps commerce supply chains moving, more drivers are needed. In fact, employment is projected to grow 6 percent from 2016 to 2026, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations. (www.bls.gov)
Be Your Own Boss
Similar to popular transportation apps like Uber and Lyft, truck drivers get the autonomy to choose when and how they will work. Within the trucking industry, there are three main types of trucking jobs:
- Over the road (OTR): Drivers spend up to one week per month at home
- Regional: Drivers travel throughout and around their state
- Vocational: Local jobs that allow jobs to be home with their families nightly
With this variety of job offerings, drivers can create a career that complements their lifestyle -- family time and paid vacations included.
Drivers may also choose to go the entrepreneurial route by investing in their own rig and therefore becoming an owner-operator. Typically, most truck drivers operate the company’s truck who they are employed by, while owner-operators partner with trucking companies to haul their freight on the owner operators’ truck.
See The World While Travelling Through Your Job
With all of the diversity in the marketplace available to young people, they are no longer interested in a monotonous lifestyle. Instead, millenials are veering away from the traditional 9-to-5 jobs, opting for a career ripe with experiences, fulfillment, and opportunity for growth.
A career as a truck driver means every day is oftentimes different while driving new routes, hauling different types of freight, and interacting with people in new cities.
For those with wanderlust, a career as a trucker means you can get paid to see the world while creating new experiences along the way. Did you know most over-the-road truckers average 100,000 to 110,000 miles a year on the road? That’s equivalent to traveling around earth almost four times! (Planetfreight.com)
Great Pay & Benefits
With the industry wide shortage, companies are offering higher salaries, competitive health packages, and other benefits like pensions, profit sharing, and more paid vacation days, just to name a few.
Companies are also improving the quality of their fleets so their driver are safer and more comfortable. Trucks are being designed with the drivers in mind including features like heated/ventilated seats, satellite TVs, ambient aircraft-inspired LED lighting and dimmer switches, and dedicated space for drivers to prepare their own meal (www.truckinginfo.com).