When a career in trucking is your goal, your best bet for starters is to see what that career is truly like. The trucking industry has plenty of people looking to enter it, but how many of them begin only to find a job much different than the one they envisioned? How many people in any industry, especially trucking, have experienced that phenomenon? It’s always a good idea, whether you’re entering the trucking industry or any other, to find out what the job is really like and how the realities of the business coincide with the imagery people have when envisioning what their trucking careers will be like.
But what kind of research can you do in the trucking industry to determine the realities of the job? First of all, you can speak with employers in the trucking field. Maybe strike up an email correspondence with someone in the know. Social media is good for that purpose. Find someone who hires truck drivers and find out what duties you’ll be required to do once you begin your career in trucking.
Speaking with truck drivers is another way to get good insight. Again, Facebook and Twitter are good resources for finding people in trucking to speak with. Get their insights. Did they have a particular vision of what the job would be like versus how it really was? Getting all of the first-hand knowledge you can is key to learning about the trucking industry.
Of course, you will get a decent picture of the realities of trucking during your CDL training, but much of that is likely to also be simply learning the information necessary to pass the exam. You may not always get a clear picture of the trucking industry from that portion of your training.
Reading trucking industry blogs, magazines, and other materials may be helpful as well. There are message boards and blogs that focus on trucking (as there are many industries), and they all support the growth of the industry. They, of course, will speak speak with you and educate you on the realities of the job.
Unions may also be a place to seek trucking information. Unions are another group that seeks to advance trucking as a profession, not to mention they would like to attract new members, so they are likely to help you as well.
After you have discussed the trucking industry with these professionals, consider whether you think a job in the trucking industry is something you really want, or if you think you can handle what you may consider, things that might not be within your idealized vision of what the trucking job should be. Many people, when considering their careers, neglect to think about things like paperwork or the logistics of waiting around for things to happen. This is true in trucking as well as many other careers.
One thing that is important when considering a career in trucking is whether you really are looking to score a career in trucking, or you are just looking for your next job. What you hope to get out of your career is important; if you are just looking for something to pay the bills, then just having a “job” may be acceptable to you. If you’re looking for a fluid, continuous part of your life, where you have upward mobility and want to spend your days working in a certain industry, then you may want to look for a career. Either way, if trucking is something you want to get into, then you should pursue CDL training.
So the question remains: what do you want? A career in trucking or a job in trucking? Again, it’s your choice, and whether you want a job or a career, trucking is a possibility if you are interested in it. It’s always important to know what you want, and when you have an interest in trucking, why not go for it? Learn your trucking goals and do what you can do to meet them. If a career in trucking is what you want, then don’t play around with your career. Go for it. Let trucking be your guide to a new career.