I'm looking into Trucking as a career change...I"m 32 and currently work for a Aircraft company in Pensacola making 60K but my wife isn't liking Florida too much, misses Tennessee and ready to move back home. So, i'm looking at moving back home to Tennessee and doing somthing different. I spent 6 years in the Air Force and got out and went to College and graduated. After graduation I've done a couple of Sales jobs and was somewhat good at Sales but hate dealing with hard *** Sales managers (gotta be in Sales to know what I mean)...One thing I do know is that I love to travel. I went all over the US and traveled the world when I was in the Air Force...yes, I know it'd be WAYYY different in a truck

But, for some reason, I've always wanted to be a truck driver since I was little and am really looking into it seriously. I LOVE to travel and the fact that I'd be "on my own" most of the time is really appealing. The biggest thing for me is is that I hate to have wasted 5 long years of College. Can a BS degree, in any way, be helpful in this industry down the road?

Jobs back home where I'd be moving to Tennessee don't pay crap but Averitt is there in which I have conections getting a job driving when I got my CDL. My wife makes good money so this career change isn't really about "money" but about me being happy. She's OK with me being away but I don't want to be away for weeks at a time. Is this possible? Can a newbie drive locally or regionally and make at least 35K in which is actually good money back home? Or, do you have to "pay-your-dues" and be gone for a year or two?

Anyways, I'd appreciate any input or advice from any of you experienced truckers with a simular situation as mine...and from reading some of the forums on here, it'll be negative and will be told i'm crazy for considering this career.