Night workers

[Redbugdave]

I think a fun job would be a heavy equipment operator. Dozers, track hoes, and such...especially if you owned your own equipment.
LETSDIG18! - YouTube

[Tree-dweller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords He had also seen a talk-show host claiming that one out of every three stay-at-home wives would have an adulterous affair while their husbands were at work on the day shift. My friend always wanted to do more research on the subject, but he said he never got any further than the third house...

<rimshot>

I did all my 2nd and 3rd shift work before I was married, meaning when I was still young. My father worked 3rd shift for 30+ years in the PO, and looking back, it took its toll in his later years. Me, in my early twenties I could work all night, get out at 7AM, go to the beach for a couple-mile run followed by an x-large coffee and 2 jelly donuts, go home and fall right to sleep. A 20 year old body is a resilient thing!

[Amethyst]

Mostly it was men doing shiftwork in my business, back in the day. And anyone who tried to call me a "girl" got retrained on the spot.

Amethyst

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha You girls were rough. Ha

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 The standard shift is M-F rotating 3rd,2nd,1st with weekends off. However, they can tell you at anytime of any shift that you need to work 12 hours instead of 8. Also they have weekend overtime that is mandatory if you're scheduled. Could be 8 or 12 hours and could be any shift. You find out thursday afternoon what you work that weekend so not much notice. Hard to plan anything in advance. I've considered truck driving. There are a few things that have held me back. When I owned a manual transmission vehicle I got a sore left knee if in heavy traffic. I'm assuming it'll only be worse with a semi. When I drove from Wisconsin to Florida without stopping to sleep I got a very sore lower back. Also probably not good if i'm going to be driving a truck for 10 hours per day. Another thing is i'm reluctant to fork over several thousand upfront for training when I don't know if I can do the job. The other thing is that I hate driving on the highway in winter. I'm guessing you don't have a lot of options as a truck driver to wait out a storm. You have a place you need to be and not much time to get there.

Your schedule would be horrible for me. My schedule as a truck driver is better, believe it or not. Because it is generally the same every day, since I drive "local".

You might stilll consider trucking. The sore knee thing. I had that during my training because they make you use the clutch. In reality, truckers only use the clutch for first gear, usually, then shift without it, by matching engine rpm and gear, etc. My sore knee went away after I stopped using the clutch so much.

The sore back thing. I have had a sore back once in a while, but it goes away. 99 percent of the time, no sore back. I do have a sore neck currently, but I'm using a neck roll thing which is helping.

I do not have to load or unload anything.


About the huge ripoff of truck driving school. Yes, it is way overpriced. I was able tio get my CDL for free, since I was on unemployment, and there was a state program which paid for it!!


About winter driving. The dispatchers want you to just drive through the storm, but if you say it's too dangerous, they will let you get a hotel, and they will pay for it. It sets your schedule back, and you make less money for the week, possibly, but you don't have to risk your life and others.

I actually had had a longstanding desire to be a truck driver. You may not. I like the independence, and the concept of actually completing your task every minute you are driving, as opposed to worrying in an office about how some other person is going to ruin your work efforts (change what you do, when it is due, how you do it, etc)

I must admit I was a complete Zombie for about the whole first year and a half, due to the schedule, which used to be 5 pm to 5 am. Going to sleep after the sun came up was a real killer. And I must admit, unfortunately, that I have aged about 10 years in the 6 years I have been driving.

My excuse for continuing is that my current schedule lets me get to sleep around 2 am to 3 am, so I can get some night sleep in, which is much easier on the body, I find. Aging less quickly now, I hope.

I was lucky too get a local job right out of trucking school. There are lots of poor bas##rds who are working over the road, aren't home much, and are only making $35,000 per year !!


You might want to get trained to operate heavy machinery, as another poster mentioned. Backhoe, bulldozer, etc. Daytime hours, and big bucks, from what I hear.

JG3

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 When I owned a manual transmission vehicle I got a sore left knee if in heavy traffic. I'm assuming it'll only be worse with a semi.

You seem to have plenty of reasons to not like truck driving, but manual trannies are likely not one of the reasons. Many big trucks now are automatic trans. Just listen to one as it leaves a light.

Ha

[SinCityGrrrl1]

I work 2nd shift now. Been at my comapny for 33 yrs and out of that I've only worked days 4 yrs. Worked 3rd for about 17 and now 12 yrs on 2nd. I use to love 3rd shift but last year they asked me if I want it and after thinking about it I decided, I'm not young anymore and I've adjusted and am use to 2nd and if 3rd didn't agree with me now I'd be stuck as I know they wouldn't let me go back.

We only have an intranet, can only go on companies website but I bring my own tablet to work and do a little surfing when I'm waiting for parts to inspect.

[smr91481]

Aaron I also drive a truck and John is correct... Once you learn to drive you only use the clutch when you start and stop.

Also you don't have to pay for training. Of you go to one of the big over the road companies they will pay you to train and get your cdl.

I started out that way with Prime. The deal is you don't pay for the training, but you commit to work with them for a year. If you leave early, then supposedly you owe them for the training. I only made it 6 months because over the road trucking was miserable for me. I never had to pay them any money though.

Lots of people go this route to get some experience then find a local job. There are some good jobs to be had. With 3 years of driving experience you could get a job with my company. You would make no less than $60k to start, get 2 weeks of vacation, a total of 7 more paid off days, insurance the day you start, and more.

I also agree with John that it's great to have no boss over your shoulder. You are given a task at the start of the day and as long as it gets do e safely I never hear a word from anyone.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smr91481 I started out that way with Prime. The deal is you don't pay for the training, but you commit to work with them for a year. If you leave early, then supposedly you owe them for the training. I only made it 6 months because over the road trucking was miserable for me. I never had to pay them any money though. Lots of people go this route to get some experience then find a local job. There are some good jobs to be had. With 3 years of driving experience you could get a job with my company. You would make no less than $60k to start, get 2 weeks of vacation, a total of 7 more paid off days, insurance the day you start, and more. I also agree with John that it's great to have no boss over your shoulder. You are given a task at the start of the day and as long as it gets do e safely I never hear a word from anyone.

If I was going to try to be a truck driver i'd probably go with Schnieder because I know they'll cover my trainging costs if I stay with them for 2 years and because they're local. They don't pay a lot a first but as you stated with just 2-3 years experience you can move on to much better pay. Most places make you start out doing over-the-road where you are gone for a couple weeks ata time. I'm 6'6", would that be a problem sleeping in the cab? I have no problem being by myself for weeks on end infact I prefer it. The problem would be whether my body can withstand the beating that i've heard truck drivers endure.

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 If I was going to try to be a truck driver i'd probably go with Schnieder because I know they'll cover my trainging costs if I stay with them for 2 years and because they're local. They don't pay a lot a first but as you stated with just 2-3 years experience you can move on to much better pay. Most places make you start out doing over-the-road where you are gone for a couple weeks ata time. I'm 6'6", would that be a problem sleeping in the cab? I have no problem being by myself for weeks on end infact I prefer it. The problem would be whether my body can withstand the beating that i've heard truck drivers endure.

Aaron,

If you are OTR (over the road) you will be driving a "sleeper cab" truck, which has a longer wheel base than the "day cab" truck which is used for local driving. The sleeper cabs are pretty smooth, and you don't bounce around much, but the day cabs can be a bit brutal over bumpy roads. I am in a day cab, and sometimes it's like you are riding a bucking bronco. However, I have survived 6 years of this with only temporary soreness in back or neck. I'm in my 50's. As far as sleeping in a sleeper cab, I think you could probably stretch all the way out, at your height, in a sleeper cab, but without much room left over.

JG3

[NW-Bound]

Hulu has this documentary on truck driving that one can watch free. It is mostly about interstate driving.

Big Rig (2007)