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> ...is a stoic enough soul to live on truck drivers' wages for 24 years Truck drivers make decent money. $40k, usually closer to $50k+ if you're experienced w

> ...is a stoic enough soul to live on truck drivers' wages for 24 years Truck drivers make decent money. $40k, usually closer to $50k+ if you're experienced without accidents. Much more importantly, you don't need to be in an office building in a high rent area every morning. If your spouse also works, those salaries buy a REALLY nice house in Nowhere, MS/WI/KS! "Has the nerve and patience" might be a better way of saying it for truck drivers, at least. The job's downsides are the stress, risk of death/injury, and the crap hours. > The temptation to start plucking out money from the S&P honeypot -- in the name of having a better life And "temptation for a better life" isn't the only source of risk. A lot of low-skill but decent-paying jobs are extremely vulnerable to economic cycles. "Making the mortgage that was comfortable before the market crash / paying for medical bills that accrued while my insurance lapsed" can make a life time's worth of savings disappear in a matter of months.

tutufan 9y ago
Possibly true, but I cannot think of a worse occupation to get into right now, with self-driving trucks on the horizon. (Also, I have a trucker in the family, and the financials are harder than they look.)
- throwawayjava 9y ago
  > but I cannot think of a worse occupation to get into right now, with self-driving trucks on the horizon I don't think this is necessarily true. Fully self-driving trucks are at least a generation out. I wouldn't seek a huge multi-decade capital investment into trucking for sure, but individual drivers aren't terribly exposed to such long-term risks. And even if SDF gets here sooner than expected, if you work for a company it's kinda whatever. Getting a CDL is a pretty small up-front investment compared to most jobs that both pay well and are in demand. As long as you're not an independent operator (=capital investment), you're not really making a huge investment aside from your time (for which you're well-compensated after the first year or so). > (Also, I have a trucker in the family, and the financials are harder than they look.) Certainly for OTR and especially for independent operators. And like I mentioned, injury/accident/economic downturn are huge threats. Trucking with a second family income remains a viable path to a middle class lifestyle, but you're right -- there's a good reason a lot of people choose other paths.

tutufan 9y ago

Possibly true, but I cannot think of a worse occupation to get into right now, with self-driving trucks on the horizon. (Also, I have a trucker in the family, and the financials are harder than they look.)

throwawayjava 9y ago
> but I cannot think of a worse occupation to get into right now, with self-driving trucks on the horizon I don't think this is necessarily true. Fully self-driving trucks are at least a generation out. I wouldn't seek a huge multi-decade capital investment into trucking for sure, but individual drivers aren't terribly exposed to such long-term risks. And even if SDF gets here sooner than expected, if you work for a company it's kinda whatever. Getting a CDL is a pretty small up-front investment compared to most jobs that both pay well and are in demand. As long as you're not an independent operator (=capital investment), you're not really making a huge investment aside from your time (for which you're well-compensated after the first year or so). > (Also, I have a trucker in the family, and the financials are harder than they look.) Certainly for OTR and especially for independent operators. And like I mentioned, injury/accident/economic downturn are huge threats. Trucking with a second family income remains a viable path to a middle class lifestyle, but you're right -- there's a good reason a lot of people choose other paths.