Hello all, I'm in the fortunate position to be working for a pretty good company (a nationally known beverage company) and have the ability to move up and around in position. To give a little background, I'm currently a warehouse picker and work evenings. Before that I built sofas for 7 years, but left due to low pay. As soon as I got hired on I began to investigate future career possibilities and have narrowed it down to 3 choices with 2 basic sets of pro/con.
*Truck Driver.
Pros:
-Schooling is fast, cheap, flexible.
-pay is decent (~70,000 per year, depends on location).
-easiest position to get hired for here (2 drivers in my current location are speculated to retire or move soon), in demand everywhere.
-least draining on mind and body
-Low stress (once clocked out job is DONE!)
Cons:
-Top pay doesn't grow much.
-Advancement possibilities are nil (although I can get endorsements like tanker, doubles, etc. and be more valuable to other companies).
-can easily be replaced by a computer once automatic driving takes off.
Electrician/Tech or Fleet Mechanic:
Pros:
-Higher top pay
-Advancement opportunities
-Difficult to replace
Cons:
-Schooling is longer, more expensive, and involved.
-Harder to get hired where I work, though probably not so hard elsewhere.
-More stress (on call) and job doesn't really stop when clocked out.
I've spoken with my supervisor and others about different career paths and would have been pretty set on trucking if I hadn't seen how advanced driverless vehicles have become. I see truckers with their pay and relatively simple duty as easy targets for automation. Add in the fact that there is currently a pretty big shortage right now means in my mind that large companies are going to be the first to eliminate drivers. This might all take 20 years, but what if it happens in 15, or 10 years? 10 years ago, who had cell phones, now what's everyone got in their pocket or hand? Being a fleet mechanic or an electrician would be the safer bet, especially once I'm retired I would have the ability to do freelance work. The only problem here is the opportunity cost lost to the amount of schooling needed and the waiting time to get hired. I look at my company's jobs posting and there are dozens upon dozens of jobs for drivers, and out of the first 150 listings I pored through-there was ONE single opening for a fleet mechanic. Starts at $30 an hour, but damn that's not a whole lot of demand. Granted I could look elsewhere, but I really enjoy the company I work for and would like to stay a while.
What say you guys? Have I overlooked anything? Any personal experiences to share? I'd love to hear 'em-thanks!