Make a hundred of those in a year and that's $400,000 in revenues. That is, he is fully booked with lots of three-day, $4,000 deliveries. In the case of indies, however, a good trucker can make a few hundred thousand dollars in a year if times are good. So independent trucking is risky financially.

In some cases, he also owes the grocery store a ton of lettuce. If any of these bad things happen, he loses some or all of the four grand he was going to make doing this haul.

Well, usually all of these elements are spelled out in a relatively simple contract-and in order to win the business, in most cases the independent trucker takes on all of the liability of failure himself. What happens if the truck has a flat tire and the heads don't get there? What happens if the refrigeration unit breaks and they spoil? What happens if there is a ton of traffic and the truck gets there late?

That's a dime a head, if you missed math class today. Spouse? Family member? Buddy from their bowling league? And they agree to deliver 40,000 lettuce heads from Salinas, CA, to Omaha, NE, by Sunday for $4,000. Many indie truckers spend the lion's share of their driving time marketing their services. They have to make their own work-that is, if clients aren't around to pay them to haul stuff, they justвЂ¦sit. And they service their clients hauling everything from refrigerated lettuce to compressed liquid hydrogen in special round containers all over the country. Independent truckers are just what they sound like-a lone guy or gal (but usually a guy) who wants to earn a nice living.driving a truck. Big businesses aren't famous for caving on day one. Fair warning-your arms will get tired holding up those signs. If you're a member of Teamsters and you guys aren't especially in love with your current benefits package, you might strike until the company relents and gives you what you feel is fair. There's some overlap between the two i.e., you can be an independent trucker (not working for some large company) and still be a member of a trucking union, the Teamsters being arguably the most famous. Trucking divides into two broad categories: independent and union. Seem harsh? Why should you be held to more difficult strictures than Joe Shmo Driver?ДЄ) Trucks are big fat things on the road which can do enormous damage if they plow into other things.Д«) Trucks carry expensive stuff if they have accidents or problems, the costs are way more than just the ticket.Д¬) The world is competitive-lots of people want to drive trucks-so the companies that hire truckers can afford to be.picky. Same deal with traffic tickets or other violations. More than a collision or two and your career as a truck driver is pretty much over. Truckers are held to a higher standard, however. Luckily for you, in a collision, biggest car wins and, well, you're the bomb in that department. Especially in city traffic when some mean or just plain clueless driver doesn't realize that you have to make a wide turn around the left hand signal-and he cuts you off. There's a deep sense of feel and touch in maneuvering these giant elephants around. If you turn the wheel to the right, the truck's butt end goes left when you're backing up-but if you turn too far, the truck kind of accordion crunches upon itself and all kinds of bad things happen-from tires ripping on the road to the connection buckles.buckling. Ever thought about having to back up an eighteen-wheeler? Or poppers-caffeine pills famously taken by truckers in an attempt to stay awake driving at night. Lives of truckers begin with some very basic education-'turn left, turn right'-basically your driver's ed exam but on steroids. There's really decent money, a sense of freedom on many fronts (Wanna drive naked? Go ahead-who will know?), and a feeling of connection with the core fabric of commerce on this continent (North America, that is, in case you're reading this in Sydney). The life of a trucker can be an awesome one if you're cut out for the road. Or the sonorous, endless white noise humming of tires on concrete, that will make one feel as if they're being tortured. It's about jawin' with buddies on the cell (or CB radio in the old days).

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