In Political Insight

thwTwo interesting articles popped up over the weekend. One article looks at how the trucking industry is having a hard time finding people to take their driving jobs even at $50,000 a year plus benefits.  The other article basically blames most of a persons bad luck and poor choices in life on their parents.

First let’s look a little closer at this Truck Driver shortage…

Because of increased government safety regulations truck drivers are not allowed to drive as many miles as they did a few  years ago hence their income has been capped a bit. These weekly maximum mileage regulations are probably good for any of us who drive on our nations highways because they certainly help reduce driver fatigue and make the roads safer. The downside is that drivers just can’t earn as much money.

Truck Driver GraphThat said… The starting annual pay for entry level long haul truck drivers is around $50,000 plus benefits. Not a bad paycheck and definitely will get a person on their way to a middle class lifestyle.

What kind of education is needed to drive a truck?

Trucking employers do not require a college degree. I don’t even know if they require a high school diploma. To drive a truck you will need to attend a several week driver training course paid for by the trucking company then you are ready to go. No college debt to worry about.

I wonder how many June college graduates wish they had a $50,000/year job waiting and no college debt?

TDI-truck-keys-to-office-rev-DSC00948So this is an example of how piling more public money into education may not really get the desired end result. Unfortunately once someone earns a four year degree they seem to think they are above anything that even looks like physical labor. Unfortunately their high priced college education may have forgot to give them any marketable skills.

Truck driving may not be the most glamorous job you could have but if you can stay sober, don’t have a nasty arrest record, and can read a map it could be a way onto the rolls of the productive Americans earning a solid paycheck. Sure you might have just earned a degree in Political Science, Psychology, or Fourth Century Latin Literature but what’s better, living in your parents basement or a life on the open road?

bad-decisions-tatOn to the second article… The New York Time’s Nicholas Kristof makes the journey back to his childhood home in Yamhill, Oregon and sees so many people with drug and alcohol problems plus long prison records so he comes to the conclusion that no matter what you do if your parents took the wrong path it is pretty much a done deal that your life will be hard.

All you will have to look forward to is addiction, crime, unemployment, and prison.

Not a pretty picture. and it’s sad to think that with all the public money spend on education, according to Mr. Kristof, if your parents had a hard life you are in for more of the same. And your children are destined to repeat the painful cycle.

Prison-barsMaybe it really takes more than a good education system to move up the economic ladder. Educational opportunities could really be just like the cover of the book. Those school buildings, yellow buses, high paid administrators, rows of shiny new computers, and libraries are only part of the story. The part that can be bought with tax dollars.

The difficult part is getting the kids motivated for the hard work of becoming productive citizens. But that can’t be solved with a fatter government check book.

 

 

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