Truck Driving beats Helicopter Flying for Career Potential
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Truck Driving beats Helicopter Flying for Career Potential
Having been both a Truck Driver (Articulated Lorry Driver for those on the east end of the Salt Water Divide) and a Helicopter Pilot....I have found several common areas to both but prefer Truck Driving for its advantages.
As a Trucker, and having modified my Big Truck with an airhorn from a Locomotive (Big Train Horn for you Brits!)....I found it to be great fun and added immeasurably to my work day. The concepts of weight and balance, fuel loading, fuel planning, route choice, weather planning, and compliance to regulations and procedures was not all that different. Pay was better (for those on the West end of the Saltwater divide anyway) but the roster was worse. Managment was better....not nearly as autocratic nor were the licensing authorities as hard to deal with.
From previous threads, it is apparent that too many of us would choose not to repeat our careers in helicopter aviation......my question is how many would take up truck driving....lorry driving as a replacement occupation?
Why , there is nothing finer in life than to form that special bond between man, machine, and the open highway! (of course the UK segment of the population would not know of that concept as we do in the US or Australia).
As a Trucker, and having modified my Big Truck with an airhorn from a Locomotive (Big Train Horn for you Brits!)....I found it to be great fun and added immeasurably to my work day. The concepts of weight and balance, fuel loading, fuel planning, route choice, weather planning, and compliance to regulations and procedures was not all that different. Pay was better (for those on the West end of the Saltwater divide anyway) but the roster was worse. Managment was better....not nearly as autocratic nor were the licensing authorities as hard to deal with.
From previous threads, it is apparent that too many of us would choose not to repeat our careers in helicopter aviation......my question is how many would take up truck driving....lorry driving as a replacement occupation?
Why , there is nothing finer in life than to form that special bond between man, machine, and the open highway! (of course the UK segment of the population would not know of that concept as we do in the US or Australia).
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How can you possibly compare truck( Lorry) driving to helicopter flying. Please read about my day today.
05:00 hrs Woken by ALARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
05:05 hrs Again woken by ALARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
05:06 Hrs " Please go to work and turn of that F******G Alarm as I have to be up in two and a half hours and I'm tired "
05:06.1 hrs I am Vertical but gyros not fully erected,and stub little toe on end of bed "**************".
05:07 hrs Find bathroom and turn on lights, Catch a glimps in mirror and decide to turn lights off.
05:07.5 hrs Leave bathroom looking refreshed and youthfull.
05:07.6 hrs trip over dog
05:50 hrs arrive at work and pour first coffee.
05:50.1 hrs Awake at last.
05:55 hrs look at computor for weathers on Met computor for the west of shetland Taffs ( Bugg*r all in ) look out of window and notice a dried bit of seaweed on window ledge, assume that this means it will not rain today, so continue with flight planning,order fuel and greet my captain. He asks about the weather (unusual) I tell him that everywhere is wide open and the rig wx is good too. ( No point us both worrying all day!)
06:40 hrs We have more coffee and start up the A/C.
06:59 Taxi for departure.
07:00 get airbourne and capt. asks where are we going?
08:30 hrs pick up breakfast from first stop of three and set of for home ( Aberdeen) hopefully!
10:00 arrive back (phew!)
10: 35 Coffee and crew room chat of daring and exceptional flying skills during morning sortee.
11:30 hrs Arrive home and turn off running tap in bathroom.
11:31 hrs Read note from very Tired Quilt hogger " where is dog"
11:32 hrs go to bed for power nap.
all this for £ 60,000 and you want to drive a lorry all day.
Your welcolme mate
05:00 hrs Woken by ALARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
05:05 hrs Again woken by ALARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
05:06 Hrs " Please go to work and turn of that F******G Alarm as I have to be up in two and a half hours and I'm tired "
05:06.1 hrs I am Vertical but gyros not fully erected,and stub little toe on end of bed "**************".
05:07 hrs Find bathroom and turn on lights, Catch a glimps in mirror and decide to turn lights off.
05:07.5 hrs Leave bathroom looking refreshed and youthfull.
05:07.6 hrs trip over dog
05:50 hrs arrive at work and pour first coffee.
05:50.1 hrs Awake at last.
05:55 hrs look at computor for weathers on Met computor for the west of shetland Taffs ( Bugg*r all in ) look out of window and notice a dried bit of seaweed on window ledge, assume that this means it will not rain today, so continue with flight planning,order fuel and greet my captain. He asks about the weather (unusual) I tell him that everywhere is wide open and the rig wx is good too. ( No point us both worrying all day!)
06:40 hrs We have more coffee and start up the A/C.
06:59 Taxi for departure.
07:00 get airbourne and capt. asks where are we going?
08:30 hrs pick up breakfast from first stop of three and set of for home ( Aberdeen) hopefully!
10:00 arrive back (phew!)
10: 35 Coffee and crew room chat of daring and exceptional flying skills during morning sortee.
11:30 hrs Arrive home and turn off running tap in bathroom.
11:31 hrs Read note from very Tired Quilt hogger " where is dog"
11:32 hrs go to bed for power nap.
all this for £ 60,000 and you want to drive a lorry all day.
Your welcolme mate
Thread Starter
I prefer the freedom of deciding when I get out of bed....and where. In the truck, I turn on the Sat TV...check the weather channel....hit the button to the coffemaker...check for any Sat Com messages.....think about my day over a second cup then set off. Lunch is when and where I wish...naps when the need arises....and end the day watching telly or reading. It takes 4-5 days to get to the other coast.....a couple hours unloading then off to the truckstop for a break. Load the next morning....then head back for the other coast. My trips are predicated upon hitting nice places to eat...visit with friends....and drive the scenic places. Long days in the cockpit and long days in the truck are not much different....except it is high quality stereo music in the truck and what selections you get from the ADF when not being interrupted by a whining copilot crying about everything from the pay....pace of upgrades....and why he has to get out and handle the baggage. The driver seat is sure a lot nicer than any aircraft seat I have ever had....and having a nice bed behind you for your kips makes it all the better. Sprawling in the bed, popcorn in the microwave....a cold softie....and a good movie on the TV...never had that in a helicopter. I have GPS and moving map nav displays on the truck....never had one on a helicopter.....I set my own pace...route.....and decide when to take my time off....never got to do that in the helicopter business. The boss is sometimes 3,000 miles away....and is never closer than one mile...thus close supervision is not a problem. No checkrides, medicals every two years instead of every six months.....it is all single driver unless I desire to share the truck with another driver.....and better pay than for flying helicopters. If the weather gets bad.....I park....and wait until it is good enough to go again. If something goes wrong mechanically.....I coast gently to a stop and call a mechanic to come fix the thing. Lightning strikes and commercial pressure don't affect me in the truck....but the bad news....well there just isn't any Glory in being a trucker!
Combine the two professions...
...fly the BV234/CH47/Chinook or whatever you call the double-headed-dump-truck where you come from 
Thread Starter
Hey Thud....once a trash hauller...always a trash hauller! Yep...two tours in Vietnam, Republic of, flying 47's....and two tours teaching in them at the other CFS....one civvie tour flying them in Italy in Libyan colours.....but that is a another story.
Cockpit height about the same in the big truck as in the Chinook.....and the same overall length....105 feet. Chinook at max auw weighs 30% of the truck....burns 150 times the fuel of the big truck for the same distance and does the trip in 50% of the time. Truck stops quicker....accelerates slower....turns sharper....but will never be able to dissassemble itself nearly as completely or as quickly as can a Chinook.
Cockpit height about the same in the big truck as in the Chinook.....and the same overall length....105 feet. Chinook at max auw weighs 30% of the truck....burns 150 times the fuel of the big truck for the same distance and does the trip in 50% of the time. Truck stops quicker....accelerates slower....turns sharper....but will never be able to dissassemble itself nearly as completely or as quickly as can a Chinook.
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Hope some of the "wannabee's" read this and give serious thought about there career options before forking out "megabucks" for a licence they may never get to use. Only the truly dedicated will make it!!
Thread Starter
Capt K....Trucking schools are plentiful and cheap....jobs are readily available.....ease up...the really dedicated can always find a paying job! Why there is no limit to the how far you can go in the world of transcontinental trucking! If the going gets rough..why you just drop a gear, drop the hammer, and keep on a'trucking! In time....why you too can be in a great big ol' KWhopper9....and be somebody and not just another cipher on the roster. There just isn't any mobiling like Chicken Mobiling!
Remember....if you got more Chicken lights than you got horsepower....you too might be a Chicken Hauller!
Remember....if you got more Chicken lights than you got horsepower....you too might be a Chicken Hauller!
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Having spent the last 8 hours trundling up the M1/M6 to Stoke and back I need to ask;
When did a helicopter last get stuck in traffic around Brum?
How many idiots in BMW's try to sneek down the inside of a helicopter when it's about to turn?
How many pilots worry about tacho infringements?
How many pilots drive trucks at silly hours just to be able to afford an hour or twos flying a month?
I dare say I could go on but given the choice, I'd happily take 2nd seat hauling trash and I'd do it for a darn sight less than £60k !!!
(available now... open to offers )
When did a helicopter last get stuck in traffic around Brum?
How many idiots in BMW's try to sneek down the inside of a helicopter when it's about to turn?
How many pilots worry about tacho infringements?
How many pilots drive trucks at silly hours just to be able to afford an hour or twos flying a month?
I dare say I could go on but given the choice, I'd happily take 2nd seat hauling trash and I'd do it for a darn sight less than £60k !!!
(available now... open to offers
)
Thread Starter
Don't know about the M6.....but....I have spent hours holding over a rig to divert for fuel to return to the hold....wonderful planning and coordination by Mobil. Have enjoyed the rare thrill of passing other helicopters at very close proximity ....once even in cloud on the way to the Ninian Field....never realized the BAH pilots could get away with wearing shirtsleeves in the cockpit (but those were the early days!). Any pilot who ever flew a Bell product in hot weather knows too well about Tacho Infringements (exceedences!). You would be surprised just how many truckers work extra hours to foster up enough money to go flying......and yes...even Truckers have those that will do it for nothing just to have the experience which keeps us all broke.
If the amplifier on your CB radio draws more current than Old Sparky at San Quentin prison....then you too might be a Chicken Hauller!
If the amplifier on your CB radio draws more current than Old Sparky at San Quentin prison....then you too might be a Chicken Hauller!
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It all depends on the job you get
I guess in economical terms driving trucks can be more rewarding in most civilized countries, but nothing beats flying, if you have the right job, that is a job which gives you constant challenge and variety in the flying, I have turned down many excellent paying jobs just becasue I didn't like the kind of flying, now with a 2 month old baby in the house I am waiting for one of those boring jobs to come by, who know maybe truck driving is in my future.
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As I get older, I realize that I've been bored, & I've been terrified, & bored is better. I try my best to keep my flights boring. Doesn't always work, though.
Max, it must be nice to live where you fly, & be able to go home at noon, or any time. Over here in the Gulf of Mexico, no respectable woman, & very few women at all, will live anywhere near our bases, and nobody likes to move every 3 months or so. So it's a week at a time, every other week, driving through the marshes to a dump in the midst of the bayous, & the boss doesn't want you to go anywhere just in case you have a flight, until at least 12 hours have passed, often 14. If you're lucky, your rig is so far out that you can only get 2 trips a day done in less than 10 hrs flight time, so you may get away earlier. The worst is when it's a 3:15 round trip, which means 3 trips a day, usually the last one being as late as you can get back within your 14-hour duty day.
Any jobs open in Scotland?
Max, it must be nice to live where you fly, & be able to go home at noon, or any time. Over here in the Gulf of Mexico, no respectable woman, & very few women at all, will live anywhere near our bases, and nobody likes to move every 3 months or so. So it's a week at a time, every other week, driving through the marshes to a dump in the midst of the bayous, & the boss doesn't want you to go anywhere just in case you have a flight, until at least 12 hours have passed, often 14. If you're lucky, your rig is so far out that you can only get 2 trips a day done in less than 10 hrs flight time, so you may get away earlier. The worst is when it's a 3:15 round trip, which means 3 trips a day, usually the last one being as late as you can get back within your 14-hour duty day.
Any jobs open in Scotland?
Last edited by GLSNightPilot; 2nd Oct 2002 at 04:52.
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Stan
We have just tendered for a contract that if we win will mean more pilots needed over the next few years but if we lose it will mean the loss of 45% of our work, so at the moment the company isn't activley recruiting, however we (Scotia CHC) have a aging and (very creeky) workforce that will need replacing so watch this space, We also have quite a few with fixed wing ratings that are ready to jump should things pick up.
I thought that flying in the Gulf of Mexico would be fun, I guess not eh !
Well at least you will drive to work and back in Daylight.
Time for me to set that alarm again
Regards
We have just tendered for a contract that if we win will mean more pilots needed over the next few years but if we lose it will mean the loss of 45% of our work, so at the moment the company isn't activley recruiting, however we (Scotia CHC) have a aging and (very creeky) workforce that will need replacing so watch this space, We also have quite a few with fixed wing ratings that are ready to jump should things pick up.
I thought that flying in the Gulf of Mexico would be fun, I guess not eh !
Well at least you will drive to work and back in Daylight.
Time for me to set that alarm again
Regards
Thread Starter
Well Max....if CHC loses the tender....and you in fact lose 45% of your business...you can always join "Big B".....they will be needing experienced co-pilots. Then you can sit next to a young Co-Jo who has company seniority over you.
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You've all missed the point - Truckers get better chocolate bars! (or are you all too old to remember the Yorkie ads... please excuse the flippancy)
This is an interesting discussion - most pilots hate being compared to truck drivers or taxi drivers, despite the comparisons that are rightly made.
One could say that at least both heli pilots and truck drivers actually have real-time control of their machines, unlike many airline pilots.
R
This is an interesting discussion - most pilots hate being compared to truck drivers or taxi drivers, despite the comparisons that are rightly made.
One could say that at least both heli pilots and truck drivers actually have real-time control of their machines, unlike many airline pilots.
R
Last edited by Draco; 2nd Oct 2002 at 17:57.
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Max, I was kidding about jobs in Scotland. I consider it a foreign assignment when I have to go across the border to Louisiana, & I ain't going further than that.
And no, the driving is in the dark, unless you go to work very early. And the drive home is always in the dark - get off just about sundown, & then start the drive, the company-supplied bed in the 5-man trailer doesn't belong to you on break night, it belongs to your relief, so you have to go immediately. You just have to be careful, because those back country roads are dangerous.
Actually, I have it pretty good right now. I go to work in daylight, to sign in at 5PM for night duty at a real city, with an actual airport, and real restaurants & everything. That's why I stay on night duty.
And no, the driving is in the dark, unless you go to work very early. And the drive home is always in the dark - get off just about sundown, & then start the drive, the company-supplied bed in the 5-man trailer doesn't belong to you on break night, it belongs to your relief, so you have to go immediately. You just have to be careful, because those back country roads are dangerous.
Actually, I have it pretty good right now. I go to work in daylight, to sign in at 5PM for night duty at a real city, with an actual airport, and real restaurants & everything. That's why I stay on night duty.
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Hi all.
Thanks for a great reading, being a part time truck driver, I agree with a lot of points made. I am desperatly trying to work up hours to get a helicopter job, at the mo looking at going State side, after reading all this.... still want to fly choppers!! it's a HOOT!, the only 1 fly at the mo is the 47, and I love it!
Going state side to do my instuctors this month. Great page chaps!
Thanks for a great reading, being a part time truck driver, I agree with a lot of points made. I am desperatly trying to work up hours to get a helicopter job, at the mo looking at going State side, after reading all this.... still want to fly choppers!! it's a HOOT!, the only 1 fly at the mo is the 47, and I love it!
Going state side to do my instuctors this month. Great page chaps!
Stop the bus and let my brother Jack off