Wellll…. The concept you need to go to college to have a prosperous career or make a difference is plainly wrong. Welders, fabricators, miners, equipment operators, technicians, and number of skilled and even unskilled trades can be either or both lucrative and/or vital, and finding fulfillment in one’s work can be independent of either of those things. That said… the trucker making $100k a year is more of an outlier these days, average salaries for long haul truck have not kept pace and have actually fallen over time. Having endorsements and running hazardous loads is one way to increase earnings- being an owner operator CAN increase earnings but can also end up making one less and leaving one with fewer protections. While every job has “sweet gigs,” in generally being a trucker is hard.
Driving a rig is not like driving a car and there is more to the job than operating the controls and driving. A “good” trucker faces the most danger from things like idiotic drivers sharing the road and weather etc. out of their control. The end result however is generally the same wether one is truly to blame or not. The trucking industry is generally about results. It is not uncommon (though GPS and technology are somewhat mitigating this) for trucking to carry not so secret “secret” risk like running over weight, fudging rest periods and logs etc. to keep schedules, save fuel, and be profitable. There are physical and mental tools that can come from long haul trucking and the realities of it as well as the schedule being great for some but having its draw backs- long haul trucking isn’t a “9-5” job with “sick time and vacations” in that sense though it can have some flexibility and some people like working long stretches and then having stretches off- though to maximize earnings..
One generally needs to minimize time off.
So I mean- there is SOME potential wisdom to alternative careers- a job that has you working 9-5 type hours, home at the end of each day, weekends off, making $100k+ without the need for physically demanding and dangerous- potentially life threatening work has certain advantages. But… that is also a very “traditional” way of looking at things. Nowadays many people make steady income and fund retirements outside of work. Pensions are all but a thing of the past. You can side hustle from a truck as well or better than an office or whatever else- trade stocks, invest, flip properties- if you’re running long haul truck and taking weeks off between that can make running involved side businesses like home improvement and flipping more practical for example. So many of the advantages that an “office” type job once had for retirement and wealth building are mitigated. The average office worker in a major…
.. market like NYC or south CT or LA CA or the SF bay etc. making $100k a year and not trading stocks and investing and supplementing income or retirement is being eaten by inflation and is no better off than a trucker doing nothing but trucking. It’s also the case that “9-5” is increasingly not the norm in “office type work.” 60-100 hour weeks and constantly being “plugged in” are a growing norm. The high paying tech sector is mostly “exempt” employees who don’t get overtime for the extra work and despite “$100k” salaries are making hourly wages closer to fast food or even below minimum wage. Many “office” jobs can carry similar health risks to trucking in the sense of sitting all day, and eye problems etc. from staring at screens as well as “ozone” and related issues.
All that said it wouldn’t be fair not to point out that many “office” type jobs have traditionally had some sort of “remote work” possibilities and post pandemic many office workers are on permanent or semi permanent remote work. Trucking and certain other trades are also often impacted heavily by a wealth of commonly fluctuating global factors and economics. While much of the world relies on trades and truck drivers always, those fields can be hit hard by recessions, fuel and energy crises, and other fairly common issues that many “office jobs” are less impacted by. While trucking is not quite “feast or famine” work, you’ll find as many or more truckers making $20-40k a year as $100k+, which isn’t generally true with say- cardiologists.
Another thing to consider is portability. Using the tech sector as an example- a low level “desktop” worker- base level “tech support” can pay $40-100k a year depending on organization. These workers have skills and do vital tasks but they are relatively easy to replace if you just need a body to do the job. The same is true in trucking or many trades. The economic differences between a top level highly paid worker and someone who can barely do the job often don’t favor hiring top talent at high dollar. There are only so many employers and only so many ways to get paid. A degree in something can be used to open a lot of doors and can often be expanded on so you can change careers. The skills specific to a trade or something like operating trucks often aren’t as portable.
Of course if you are an experienced truck driver AND have some sort of degree you have a lot of potential for career advancement and expansion in logistics, and it may be possible to move within a company into management, your trucking experience might be useful to move into sales roles related to equipment and technology or services and consulting. There are career paths potentially available to truckers- but not necessarily if one’s only marketable skills are directly trucking related.
It’s important to not think too narrowly. That applies to people who think a degree is the only path to a worthwhile career but also to people who put too much stock in an idea that formal education is without value. One also has to factor in less tangibles like what type of work suits a person and the lifestyle implications of a job. If you want to be home with your kids every night or there to care for your aging loved ones, Long haul truck might not work. If the schedule suits you that’s perfect.
I had to interview more than a dozen people with commercial drivers license as to what their work was like when we were designing a roadway project explicit to their industry. All but 2 said they'd been offered positions starting at $110k per year (driving Houston - DFW - Austin/ San Antonio). Many were independent owner / operators and really liking the idea of passing the insurance and permits cost to someone else. TXDOT can't keep people in maintenance with CDL because businesses need truck drivers so bad they're offering 2-3x what the state pays.
Like I said- it varies. I was very clear that truck driving can be a lucrative and rewarding career. My father was a long haul truck driver for many years as was my uncle. I considered it myself for awhile when I was younger but instead took a job as a contractor doing regional LTL for a short stint and then doing commercial delivery. Commercial delivery was one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had, but the pay was no where near what contract work paid which was short of what long haul would pay.
The average salary for an industry is just that- an average. If you go to San Francisco or NYC the average wage for many jobs is going to be higher than most of the country- that doesn’t do much for the people who aren’t in those markets.
So if there is some impression I was disparaging truck drivers or saying they can’t or don’t make money, that was poor communication by me. You can make a lot. Or not. Depends on where you are, who you’re working for, what you haul and all sorts of things along with the global situation. When the goods are moving the money tends to flow. You’ll find drivers who would love to see their kids follow their career and ones who hope their kids don’t. This is true of many trades as well and it’s true of “white collar” work too. Lots of tech people making $200k+ and others can’t pay to get work or make $60k for the same job. So my larger point I laid out was that degree or no degree, neither road is all peaches and certain riches.
So I mean- there is SOME potential wisdom to alternative careers- a job that has you working 9-5 type hours, home at the end of each day, weekends off, making $100k+ without the need for physically demanding and dangerous- potentially life threatening work has certain advantages. But… that is also a very “traditional” way of looking at things. Nowadays many people make steady income and fund retirements outside of work. Pensions are all but a thing of the past. You can side hustle from a truck as well or better than an office or whatever else- trade stocks, invest, flip properties- if you’re running long haul truck and taking weeks off between that can make running involved side businesses like home improvement and flipping more practical for example. So many of the advantages that an “office” type job once had for retirement and wealth building are mitigated. The average office worker in a major…
It’s important to not think too narrowly. That applies to people who think a degree is the only path to a worthwhile career but also to people who put too much stock in an idea that formal education is without value. One also has to factor in less tangibles like what type of work suits a person and the lifestyle implications of a job. If you want to be home with your kids every night or there to care for your aging loved ones, Long haul truck might not work. If the schedule suits you that’s perfect.
The average salary for an industry is just that- an average. If you go to San Francisco or NYC the average wage for many jobs is going to be higher than most of the country- that doesn’t do much for the people who aren’t in those markets.