Long-Haul Trucker

You drive an 18-wheeler across the country, hauling freight that keeps the economy running while you live in a cab the size of a walk-in closet. You'll see every state, eat at every truck stop, and master the art of backing 53 feet of trailer into a loading dock. The freedom of the open road sounds romantic until you're 800 miles from home, behind schedule, and the shipper won't load you for another 6 hours.

What you'll actually do

• 01Drive 500+ miles per day while managing Hours of Service regulations that dictate when you must stop whether you want to or not
• 02Back a 53-foot trailer into loading docks designed by people who've never seen a truck
• 03Perform pre-trip inspections on a vehicle that weighs 80,000 pounds loaded because a missed brake issue isn't a fender bender
• 04Wait at shippers and receivers for hours — unpaid — while they take their time loading or unloading your trailer
• 05Navigate city traffic, mountain passes, and winter storms in a vehicle that can't exactly stop on a dime
• 06Live in a sleeper cab for weeks at a time, showering at truck stops and eating food that's slowly destroying your health