I have sold everything from insurance, roofing, insurance and medical device. Over the last few years I've discovered the most enjoyable part of my day is behind the wheel so I figured why not get paid to do that.
Ben, driving your car, or pick up truck, or SUV for your sales job, is in no way a comparison to truck driving. there are rules, laws you must adhere to, that you can basically get away with driving a 4 wheeler. then comes the hours. you WILL BE on a 24 hour rotational clock driving trucks.
that 24 hour clock will be very difficult to adjust to, being new. NOT that it cannot be done, but again, frankly you are comparing apples to oranges.
that 24 hour clock will put you on the roads at some of the most difficult of times, and days. when many are (say) leaving the bars, you WILL BE on the same road as the drunks. or rush hour traffic, in Chicago, L.A., Miami, Boston, etc. you think that you might not want to come here to the east...forgedaboudit....as a newbie, you WILL GO where you are told to go....at first.....you have to prove yourself.
your life as a salesman maybe staying at hotels or motels, WILL STOP, as that truck becomes your motel. you will need to do laundry, eat, shower, mostly all at truck stops. wanna clean bathroom to sit on the toilet like at the motels...?? you'd be lucky to find anything clean at certain times of the day or night at the truck stops.
i had been in this industry for 30 years, before my injury, which has debilitated me. ( i have an ongoing thread here.
http://www.truckingboards.com/bb/threads/career-ending-operation.58735/) take some time to read my horror story...... i am now half way thru a 6 year, workman's comp claim, in need of at least one, if not 2 MORE operations. some people can go thier entire career and live thru it, and retire healthy and well....some (like me) can become incapacitated from it, this is some serious crap. here you are at an age where you are very well established, (i do not know your age), but i got hurt at 57, so my life on the road is done. if you are in your 50's, you wanna start this time at a job where you're not as spry as a youngin....?????
life on the road sucks, and frankly, you SHOULD KNOW THAT, if you have to stay away from home and the conveniences of life, you give up, doing your job now...ya think it is MORE convenient to be on the road a month at a time.>????
it's not just driving, do you realize this.>???
YOU WILL LOAD and UNLOAD.....like i HAD to do, when i got hurt. many drivers are "lucky" to get a job, "just driving".....but those are few and far between. as a newbie, you just ain't gonna get a job like that, over a man/woman who has years of experience over you, a newbie.
again, i do not know your age, 15 years as a salesman, you could be only about 35.....
or you could have started your sales job AT 35 and now you are 50.....
either way, NEVER compare driving a truck professionally to driving your little 4 wheeler..you just cannot compare the 2 nor the lifestyle to either profession.
best of luck to you