If you are a person who does not want to spend years sitting behind a desk, becoming a professional truck driver who specializes in long-hauling may be just the career you’ve been seeking. While it’s a job that’s not for everybody, it can offer a variety of unique advantages that make it a very attractive career option. If you’re intrigued enough to want to find out more, here are five advantages you’ll get by choosing a career in long-haul trucking.
1- Excellent Benefits
Since driving big rigs is a job that continues to be needed more and more each year and companies continue to have a difficult time attracting people to the profession, trucking companies are doing numerous things to make their jobs more appealing. One of these is offering drivers outstanding benefits packages that often include paid vacations, retirement accounts, and various types of insurance coverage such as medical, vision, dental, and life.
2- Flexible Schedules
Even when you are transporting various types of cargo across the country, you still have a tremendous amount of schedule flexibility. Along with being able to choose your own loads and pick your driving contracts, you can often schedule your trips so that you have a proper work-life balance that will ensure you are not away from your home and family for long periods of time.
3- A Chance to See the Country
One perk of being a long-haul truck driver is having the chance to see virtually any area of the United States that you wish. In fact, no two trips in your truck will ever be exactly alike. By visiting various places, you’ll satisfy your need for new adventures, meet new people and make new friends, and use any downtime you have to do some sightseeing and take selfies you can post on social media.
4- High Salaries and Pay Raises
If you want a steady career that will offer you a high salary and regular pay raises, long-haul trucking will give you this and much more. Due to the constant need for truck drivers and the desire of trucking companies to keep qualified drivers on their payroll, you can expect an annual salary ranging from $50,000-$100,000 and maybe even more. Along with this, you can also expect trucking companies to give you regular raises and bonuses. In fact, you may make more money per year than many people who obtain four-year college degrees.
5- Short Training Period
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on a four-year college education and having to wait several years to start making a good salary, you can become a long-haul truck driver in a fraction of the time you’d spend in college. Since many community colleges offer truck driver training, you can obtain the skills you’ll need for this career in as little as eight weeks.
Now that you know the many advantages associated with this career, you may be thinking this is one profession that is worth a second look. From the high salary and short training period to excellent benefits and flexible schedule, being a long-haul trucker will be a career you’ll come to love.
