Not Making Enough At Your Present Job? Can't Get Enough People to Give You Money?

I'm going to rant... You've been warned.

Baby Mama Drama

Sometimes people amaze me.  I was talking with my good friend from Alabama, Tim, and he was telling me about the frivolous spending of his baby's mama.  (I do not want to get into why they are no together but money is a big issue with him.) She and her whole family are going to caravan to Gulf Shores, AL from Huntsville, AL. More than likely this trip will be financed by a credit card which will be justified by payments and high interest paid over time. They have tried to talk Tim into going but after the last New Orleans fiasco, he didn't want to pay the whole bill.

The only thing this makes this worse is that the family tries to hold over his head visitation and other activities with the daughter he has with this afore-mentioned woman.  I don't blame him for not going and choosing to save his money for his daughter's benefit down the road.

She bought a new air conditioner upon one breaking down.  I can't really blame her for doing so but it was a problem that was could have been fixed for $200 and not financed for $4500 plus interest.  In the interest of air conditioning though, even though all systems need to be replaced eventually, if I can replace a motor for less than $200 it is worth time to have a professional take a second look.

This same woman who wanted to marry Tim at one time also wanted him to buy a $300k house and two $50k vehicles on a trucker's salary (if you can call it that) so that she "could have the best for her daughter."   Tim lives in a well-conditioned and affordable $80k house that would be perfect for his daughter should she actually stay there from time to time.

Let me also mention that Tim gives this same woman $500 a month (voluntarily and not court-ordered) only for her to give it to her mother and not use it for stuff like diapers,clothes and food.  Tim defends this by saying if it ever goes to court it cannot be said he didn't try to give support.  While I defend him in his noble actions I personally would have stopped the minute I found out my money wasn't supporting the child on the grounds I was being played like a fool. (No, Tim, I am not calling you a fool.) Tim, by the way, is not listed as the father on the birth certificate. (Call Maury, Tim.)

Even though she makes $20 an hour and works at least 40 hours a week, the child is covered by ALL Kids, the "medicaid" for children in Alabama and refuses to let Tim have the child covered under his health coverage, which is probably better.

Tim does the best he can without creating drama or conflict. He is a man of principal and stands by his decision not to marry this woman but support his child. He wants a better life for his child. He, however, is constantly bombarded with how he doesn't support his daughter enough and need to give up more of his paycheck to be with her.

My opinion is that she is trying to punish Tim for not giver her what she wanted.  Baby Mama is a spoiled princess.

To The Truckers Who Tell Me they Don't Make Enough.

The one thing I will agree with all truckers on is that we are not paid near enough for what we have to put up with.  I'm sure that can be said about any profession but how many of you are sleeping in space tighter that your bathroom 2000 miles away from home wondering where the next load will take you and if you'll ever get home to a place where your family treats you like a total stranger.  I do indeed have sympathy for the plight of the fellow trucker.

On that note I have to flip the coin over and tell you that some of you deserve what you get.  I support your right to play the Cherry Master fake slot machines but don't complain about not being able to make ends meet. Yeah, I saw one driver put $120 into the machines in Indiana one time.  Don't buy Powerball tickets in every state that sells them and tell me you can't pay your cell phone bill.  You don't need all that chrome on your Peterbilt, Billy Bigrigger.  Do you have to eat at EVERY buffet at EVERY Petro truck stop on the way to California from New York?  At $15.99 you can find a better deal out there.  Buy some fruit and veggies at Walmart.

If you're spending money on "extracurricular activities" you don't deserve my sympathy. Now you run the risk of paying the ultimate price. I don't care how lonely you are.  Deal with it. It's a solitary lifestyle and don't complain.

If you thought trucking was going to be fun you were sadly mistaken. As far as your pay goes, you can either find a higher paying job or quit spending so much money.  Remember lot lizards are looking for lonely suckers like you to pay their "bills," too.

If You're Working At Mickey D's 

Why are you still there?  There are too many adults working at fast food joints these days.  I can understand if you're management or a franchise owner but McDonald's system should be so easy to follow that it is easy for a teenager to come in and fry up a burger.  I had an assistant manager who cold upsell an apple pie to 75% of the customers she waited on tell me that she couldn't do anything else.  If you can suggest an apple pie you can market a product or service.  There are sales jobs out there all the time.

I can promise you this, if you're part of the crowd demanding $15 and hour for fast food jobs you are not only part of the problem but your job will eventually be eliminated.  I saw the future and it involves a touch screen computer.  Jack In The Box has them already in Dallas. The McDonald's in Davenport, FL had one ten years ago. You are replaceable. Why not utilize McDonald's as a step up and go get some better marketable skills that can get you out of that rut?  You don't have to stay there.

If You're On Disability

Disability income has a set limit, period.  For all intents and purposes, this income is barely enough to live on your own.  How do I know?  I have been there.  My mother controlled my income at the time and I decided that enough was enough and went out and made more in a week that I could make in a month on SSI.  I felt better about being productive and contributing to the work force.  I got out of public housing and moved away from my hometown.  I turned myself around in two years.

I understand that there are real legit reasons people can't work but spend your time wisely and don't rot away into a self abuse of complaining about things and being idle with nothing to do.

The only other answer I have for your money woes is to find a way to make extra cash.  If you're creative you can.

Engineers Need Not Complain

While dropping gasoline at a station in Huntsville, I was approached by an engineer who took a little bit of an interest in what I was doing while he was helping his son repair his car.  I asked him what he did for a living and he told me he was an engineer for a defense contractor in town.  I said that was a great way to make lots and lots of money. This must have triggered the puke button because he told me that on his meager $150k salary he couldn't make ends meet and he never saw much of his paycheck due to cost incurred by his family including his son's hand-me-down car.

This is clearly a case of too much outgo and I have no sympathy for those who make 6-figure incomes and cannot be good stewards of their money.  If I made that kind of money I would invest wisely and save more.  There would be no BMW payments or fancy downtown restaurants. I can't imagine spending $500k on a house and making the mortgage payment that would give me a heart attack.

Quit complaining and get control of your finances!

5 Reasons Why People Hate Truckers - From A Driver's Perspective

I first acquired my CDL in 2001 after many weeks of frustration, guilt from my then wife, and hard work in a factory that I knew was taking me nowhere.... fast.  My dear father was a driver and a man whose skills I admired from the time I could climb into the cab by myself.  Those lessons I took to heart and used it as motivation out here on the road to be a better trucker to those around me.

Most truckers can tell you though it's a hard-fought battle keeping the shiny side up on your rig and your attitude bright especially when you spend most of your time behind the windshield, being cut off by rude four-wheelers and accosted by local and state law enforcement for the collection of revenue. The job is by no means an easy ticket to a paycheck and we don't have time to screw off.  We have to be on our game or shut the truck down.

I've only had a few incidences where my integrity and patience was tested.  I lost it a couple of times out here.  But I believe, from personal experience, that cooler heads prevail and maybe in time the general public will realize that WITHOUT TRUCKS AMERICA STOPS!

My observations over the years have taught me a few things about the trade (and, yes, it is a trade and a skill most people don't want to have or learn) and that's what helps me to be a better driver in the end. These aren't the only reasons but I know they rank up there.

1.) We are large, slow and take up a lot of space.

Most of the trucks out here weigh 80,000 pounds.  There is a lot of energy that is used to get moving.  There is a lot of force to stop us.  We can't climb hills like we want to but we have the horsepower to actually get it over the mountain top.  Imagine your car pulling 5 times it's own weight and there you have an idea of what it takes to get us moving.

The commuters of DFW who are hidden in their own little world behind the wheel often view us as a hindrance.  Maybe they should take the extra 15 minutes to get moving for the day.  Often times we get moving before most of you go to bed at night. We get up early so what's your excuse?

2.) Media coverage sensationalizes the negativity of the trucking industry.

I can assure you that most truckers are playing by the rules but some drivers and companies don't.  I want to see these people off the road as much as everyone else does but that doesn't mean we have to be grouped with the bad apples.  However, if you asked the media people how it is, we are all a bunch of pill-popping, lot-lizard-chasing, beer-swilling rednecks who do nothing more to get off on our negligence and running innocent bystanders and the general motoring public off the road.

Oh, and there is no such thing as a minor incident out here either.  If a truck wrecks the whole world knows it.  Most of the time it's not our fault but in everyone else's eyes there is always the trucker to blame. We will be reminded of it when the lawyers start calling.  (See Jim Adler, the Texas Hammer. I share this link not because I like this ambulance chaser but because he does nothing to help the plight of the truck driver and he promotes the point of view most truckers are negligent.)

3.) There is no real education out to the motoring public about how to share the road with trucks and other large vehicles.

If you have a teenager in driver's ed then you would hope this subject would be covered in his class but sadly, no, it usually doesn't.  Most driver's ed courses do not include even a basic overview of how to handle yourself around large vehicles. Many of us drivers wish they could include a day or two behind the wheel of a truck, even in a controlled environment, to get new drivers a feel for ALL types of vehicles and not just the sweet sixteen souped-up car or truck Daddy paid for as a gift for the ne'er-do-well's attendance in your worthless public school so you could be cool for your child's cliquish acquaintances that are so-called friends.

4.) It's viewed as slave labor and we are treated as such and we hate it.

And according to Federal Law it is.  Most people think that because we work 70 hours a week we get paid like we we put in 14 hours a day.  That's absolutely wrong.  Drivers paid an hourly rate are EXEMPTED from overtime provisions in Federal Labor Laws.  That means if I was paid an hourly rate of fifteen dollars an hour for 70 hours worth of work then I would make $1050 as opposed to the factory worker who makes 15 dollars an hour at the same 70 hours a week who would make $1275.  Guess who makes out better and gets to go home every night? We are certainly not paid what we are worth and our attitudes reflect that.

5.) Companies often don't care if you live or die and therefore we do what we have to do to survive.

We are being pushed constantly and treated as if we lie to the company every chance we get.  For every driver that quits five more suckers will take your place.  Some companies don't care if you run or not as long as you have satisfied their 14-day-out requirement. (Can you imagine how it feels being 14-days away from home at a time and only have 34 hours to spend at home with your family?) We run hard and have to make the most of the time out here. Sometimes we will not talk to you, acknowledge you, cut you off (unintentionally, of course) and yell at you for seemingly no apparent reason whatsoever.  We are under pressure to survive and our paychecks depend on the amount of miles we can get in factoring in for delays, traffic, load availability and hours of service among other things.

What can we all do to make it better?  Give a truck driver his space and let him do his thing.  Who knows? That may be the groceries that you need on that trailer.