Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving Paperback – June 1, 2007

I bought this book for my brother who recently told me he was thinking about quitting his job and getting a CDL. He was already talking to Swift and Roehl. Fortunately for him, I was able to talk him out of going down that path. Trucking can be good if you educate yourself about all the possibilities out there before making a decision. This is one career where you don't want to take the path of least resistence getting in, as my brother was about to do.Anyway, based on the title of this book and all of the glowing reviews, I thought it might be useful. I was wrong. First off, save your money, you can read this book for free online at the author’s website. I didn’t know this until after I had bought it. As I read it, I made lots of notes in the margins of the book, and still gave it to my brother, telling him to pay close attention to my notes, because the author of this book misses the mark in many ways.For one thing, the author harps on and on about his belief that trucking companies expect you to cheat your logs, and that you won’t be successful unless you do. He claims that companies will cut down your miles (your pay) if you don’t cheat. First of all, this is not true at the good companies (probably is true if you work for one of the Mega crap companies). Secondly, it’s very irresponsible advice for an author to be giving to people who are just getting started in trucking.In one part of the book the author boasts that he averaged 4000 to 4500 miles/week in a year pulling smooth bore tankers, one of the most dangerous types of trailer to pull. If his story is true (doubtful), that would be a feat of great recklessness and lawbreaking! Poor example to share in a book for new drivers!If you are a new to trucking, you should be focused on getting things done safely and legally, without incidents. You should not be trying to manipulate the system to maximize miles.I wonder how many new drivers have gotten into accidents or trouble with DOT following advice like this book gives?The author also seems to think that it’s okay to lie to law enforcement and customers to get what you want. Most of us out here do just fine as drivers keeping it honest in our words and in our logs. The company I work for expects its drivers to keep things safe and legal. If your company expects something other than that then you should find a new company.The author glosses over the real issues that lead the majority of drivers to quit trucking early in their careers. If the author wants to claim that he's telling the "raw truth about trucking," then he needs to tell it all, warts and all. There are reasons that turnover is through the roof in trucking, and it’s not because “most people can’t hack it.” It’s more like, “most people won’t put up with all the bullcrap.”This book just glosses over most of the big issues for drivers.The writing style in this book is really kind of annoying. Pages full of “ya’s”, “yap’s” and “‘em’s” where it should say “yes” or “them”. If you're going to write a book, try to use the language correctly.To sum up, this book is one man’s opinions about trucking. Most current, experienced drivers that I know would disagree with many of his opinions. If you are thinking about trucking as a career, I would suggest you talk to as many truck drivers as you can, ones who are actually out there doing it now for a living. You might try doing this at a truck stop.