Your job as a trucker lets you make enough money to pay the bills and feed your family. It gives you the freedom to work independently, while you travel across the US seeing all sorts of cities and seasons. At the same time, there are downsides, especially if you have a spouse back at home. You get lonely, you miss each other and you want to spend more time together. That’s the sacrifice that truckers and their spouses make each and every day. What if it didn’t have to be like that? What if you could have your cake and eat it too?
Strengthen Your Relationship
Couples who have a stable relationship can take it one of two ways. You either nourish your relationship and help it grow, or you lose that loving connection and watch your relationship wither. For truck drivers having a healthy relationship with a spouse is instrumental in helping truckers stay happy and focused. What better way for a truck driver to work on his relationship than to spend more time with his spouse over the road? Keep in mind it can be a challenge to share a confined cab space with anyone else, even a spouse. You will have to work together to make things go smoothly. However, like all efforts in life, if you are successful your relationship will blossom into full bloom.
Travel Together
If traveling is on your wish list of things to do as a couple, then being a driver in the trucking industry is a great way to accomplish that. Truck drivers taking over the road trucking jobs haul everything from cattle to cars to clementines from the Pacific northwest to the Florida Keys. You get to see all corners of this great nation, while making money in the process. For you and your spouse, you can take advantage of your job environment by going over the road together. Think of it like one long road trip where you get paid to travel.
Avoid Loneliness
A big issue among truckers of all ages, from rookies to seasoned drivers, is loneliness. The road gets awfully quiet sometimes and your time alone becomes overpoweringly depressing. During the wintertime this can be even more of a problem thanks to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which occurs most often when seasons change or the daylight hours are reduced. For truckers away from home over the holidays, loneliness is combined with the feeling that you are missing out on the festivities with family and friends. If you have your spouse with you on OTR trucking jobs, such as hauling flatbed loads or reefer trucking jobs, then you are able to avoid feeling lonely. Your spouse can help you cope with the change of seasons by being supportive and communicative.
Become a Team
Driving a truck can allow you to earn good money with trucking jobs ranging from dry van loads to car haulers. However, if you drive as a team, you can make the most money as a truck driver. Team driving jobs earn big bucks because your tractor-trailer is constantly rolling. As a result, you are living with your team mate in your big rig. For a lot of team drivers this means living with someone whom you don’t know too well prior to the job. If your spouse has their CDL, they can become a team driver with you. In addition to driving with someone whom you love, you have every reason to spend more time with your spouse. At the same time you are both bringing in paychecks that are greater than what many college graduates are earning.
Considerations
While taking your spouse over the road may sound like the perfect situation, there are limits. First of all, if you are employed by a trucking company, such as Swift Transportation, Schneider Trucking or JB Hunt, you may not be allowed to have passengers in your rig. For drivers who are owner operators or independent truckers, check with your insurance provider to ensure that your spouse is covered under your trucking insurance policy. The last thing you want to do is get in trouble with the boss or DOT inspector because you aren’t approved to have a spouse riding shotgun.
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Posted Date : May 01 2019
