Trucking has proven to be an attractive alternative to a four-year college degree for many Americans as student debt continues to rise.
Social media star Alex the Trucking Guy, 24, has built up a huge following by sharing his experiences as a truck driver for Variant America. Alex, who has over one million and a half followers on TikTok and Instagram, as well as YouTube, since the beginning of the pandemic is a social media sensation. He documents his life on the road, working for Variant in America.
Alex, who did not reveal his last name, said that he learned about the trucking business from “Riding with Dave”, a YouTuber he found during the pandemic.
“Everyone at home was watching movies and videos in general. . . . One day I saw his YouTube video ‘Riding With Dave’, and he showed life as a trucker. I thought, “Like, why?” Alex said, “I’m that kind of person.’ I think, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose.'” “I just did it and it was the best decision I could ever have made, honestly.”
He continued, “Since deciding to be a trucker, I began posting videos on TikTok, then YouTube, and finally Instagram Reels.” “I began posting behind-the-scenes contents of a trucker’s life, such as who we are, and putting faces to these giant machines you see on roads, humanizing their job.”
Alex tried to earn his associate’s degree but dropped out.
He said, “College was not for me.” “Honestly, my parents wanted to me go to college. But it wasn’t for me to sit in an office for 40 years. It wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life, so I dropped out and took control of my destiny.
His life changed dramatically when the COVID-19 epidemic hit. He was living at the time with his mother and grandmother and didn’t want them to get sick. So he quit and stayed at home. The show “Riding with Dave”, which he saw on TV, inspired him to go into trucking.
He said that he is amazed at how popular his social media channels are and the amount of interest his trucking content generates.
He said that in 2021 “as he was packing his bags to attend CDL school to learn to drive a truck, he wrote three goals on the board of his goal board using a marker. “One of my goals was to achieve a minimum 5% click-through rate for each video. I also wanted at least 1,000 views per video and $10,000 in advertising sales by 2022.” . . “It’s exceeded anything I set myself for.”
“My life is now at a new level, one that I never dreamed possible. “It’s amazing,” he said. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I positively mean this. “The social media platforms I’ve built out still amaze me.”
Alex says that there are many trade jobs for which people can qualify by taking classes or obtaining certifications. These jobs don’t require an expensive college degree or a large amount of student debt.
He said that after paying off the student loans, you will live a life that is much less stressful financially, as you won’t be burdened with $50,000 or $100,000 in debt.
According to the American Trucking Association, in 2022 there were over eight million people employed in jobs related to trucking activities. 3.54 million drivers were also employed, which is a 1.5% rise from 2021.
He said that trucking allows for a greater level of freedom because drivers don’t need to go into the office or to the same location every day.
He added, “The pay’s also very good.” You don’t need to pay rent because your employer will provide the semi-truck. I drive the truck. My company purchased the truck. “If anything goes wrong with the truck, call them and they will pay for any repairs.”
“So you are setting yourself up to have a certain level of financial independence,” he said.
He acknowledged that the job can have its downsides, especially for truckers with families, as they are away from them so often. Alex, however, said that trucking was a “golden job” for someone like him in their early twenties.
He said that if you are 30 and have no mortgage or rent, plus a well-paying job by then, you will be in an excellent position.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual wage for heavy- and tractor-trailer truck drivers is $53,090 in May 2022. The New York Times reported that this was a significant drop from 1980. One analysis showed that average pay at that time was about twice as much when adjusted for inflation.
