Archive for January, 2010

Get a Job As a Truck Driver in Today’s Economy

Friday, January 29th, 2010

In today’s job-hunting woes, those who want to go into truck driving still have an opportunity for employment.  Surprisingly enough, truck driver jobs are still in high demand.  The bigger truck driving companies like CR England and others hauling refrigerated freight is still hiring, even in today’s unemployment rate.

And to push the truck driving employment higher, AOL news reported back in December of 2009 that President Obama has a proposal package for new spending on highway, bridge, and infrastructure projects.  More Truck Driving jobs will be created to move equipment and building materials to the work sites.  This is very good news for the trucking industry.

Truck Driving jobs are a necessity for moving food and product from the warehouse to the store, making trucking a very vital part of the economic growth of the United States.  In fact, 78% of all food and product is shipped by truckers across the country.  With that piece of information, it gives us the realization that there will be truck driver jobs for a very long time.

The original AOL.com article can be found at: http://news.aol.com/article/president-barack-obama-to-outline-jobs/472387

4 Technology Must-Haves For Truck Driving Jobs

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Truck driving technology is evolving just like all other fields.  Some gadgets make truck driving jobs easier and are favorites of the drivers and some are not. We were curious which ones were most liked.  We asked truck drivers what their top 4 favorites are and this is what they told us:

  1. GPS – is so popular, that many trucking companies have added it to their company trucks.  It is much easier than maps and most drivers won’t go back to reading the old fashioned way.
  2. Cell Phones – have changed trucking jobs for good.  No more pulling over for a pay phone to call their dispatcher for information.  And truckers can have contact with their families and friends more often.  Younger drivers don’t remember the days without cell phones.  They have no idea what it was like.  (Lucky them.)
  3. Laptop Computers – is a truckers line to information.  64% of those asked, felt that the laptop is one of the top 5 technologies needed for trucking jobs.  We feel that as each year goes by, the percentage of cabs with laptops will keep going up.  Life on the road without a laptop is hard to imagine for most people.   It is a huge segment of our communication to business, family, and friends.
  4. Satellite Radio – has been a great lifesaver for radio listeners in “dead radio spots” along the highway.  Not only do you have radio where radio was not, but a driver now gets their favorite station wherever they are in the country.  It is very rare that Satellite Radio loses signal and better yet, there are stations that are specific to the trucking industry.

What wasn’t on the list surprised us.  Digital Camera’s were not in the top 4.  Our thoughts are that they have been in existence for so long, it is not thought as new technology, but as old technology.  As a trucker, they have the rare opportunity to see the country on a continuous basis.  We are sure most drivers keep one in their cab.

Below are the results by percentage from all participants. The column with the % is of the percentage of participants that chose the technology item in the front of the row. An example is that 84.38%, had 54 votes, chose the I-phone/cell phone as one of their 4 favorite technologies for truck drivers:

Technology

Votes

%

iPhone/cell phone

54

84.38%

laptop

41

64.06%

gps

32

50.00%

Satellite Radio

30

46.88%

Truck driving technology is evolving just like all other fields. Some are favorites of the drivers, some are not, and we were curious which ones they liked. We asked truck drivers what their top 4 favorites are and this is what they told us:

  1. GPS – is so popular, that many trucking companies have added it to their company trucks. It is much easier than maps and most drivers won’t go back to reading the old fashioned way.
  2. Cell Phones – have changed trucking jobs for good. No more pulling over for a pay phone to call their dispatcher for information. And truckers can have contact with their families and friends more often. Younger drivers don’t remember the days without cell phones. They have no idea what it was like. (Lucky them.)
  3. Laptop Computers – is a truckers line to information. 64% of those asked, felt that the laptop is one of the top 5 technologies needed for trucking. We feel that as each year goes by, the percentage of cabs with laptops will keep going up. Life on the road without a laptop is hard to imagine for most people. It is a huge segment of our communication to business, family, and friends.
  4. Satellite Radio – has been a great lifesaver for radio listeners in “dead radio spots” along the highway. Not only do you have radio where radio was not, but a driver now gets their favorite station wherever they are in the country. It is very rare that Satellite Radio loses signal and better yet, there are stations that are specific to the trucking industry.

What wasn’t on the list surprised us. Digital Camera’s were not in the top 4. Our thoughts are that they have been in existence for so long, it is not thought as new technology, but as old technology. As a trucker, they have the rare opportunity to see the country on a continuous basis. We are sure most drivers keep one in their cab.