Woo... patience getting rewarded? =O.o=

[wolfwings]

I... well, I just got called by the TSA. =o.O= Not in a bad way, either. It's been just over a year since I applied, pass the screening tests, and was put in the queue for a background test and all that. They just got back to me finally, asking if I was still interested.

I said yes.

If I get the job, I'll have to move down to Tulsa, but that's okay with me, means I'll be far enough south to not worry about any road-salt at all. I just... wow, didn't actually expect to hear back at this point anymore. Glad I answered my phone when I didn't recognize the number. =^.^=

If I get the job, it's GSD pay scale to start... so, $23.6k to $35.4k... I really need to think about this now. =-.-=

Thoughts, folks? I get the feeling it'll be 'now or never' soon for picking what career I'll be doing for the immediate future, should I really look into trucking at this point, should I stick to security work, or should I take the TSA job if I get the chance?

Comments

[shabm.livejournal.com]

Trucking isn't exactly the most stable of careers, especially if (when) the cost of gas rises enough to make it impractical (between 2 and 5 6 years) and automated driving systems become commonplace enough to replace truckers (anywhere between 5 and 20 years).

Security work is alright... but government benefits! Plus, the fact that the TSA is essentially a nationwide employer; if you ever feel like moving somewhere else, you could just poke your beak into whatever you felt would be a nicer place to live.

[shabm.livejournal.com]

I meant to replace '5' with '6', not turn it into '56'... -_-;)

I actually doubt the cost of gas will get that high anytime soon.

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

And it's for a physically simple reason: Once they get to and stay above about $80-$85/barrel, the United States will suddenly become the new oil barons for the world thanks to shale oil. We already have most of the refinery equiment in place thanks to the oil crisis of the 70's, but it's all shut down because it's too expensive to run until the price of crude stays above $80-$85, perhaps as high as $95/barrel for some sections of the known reserves from some estimates Wikipedia cites.

Between that, and cellulosic ethanol we'll be good for quite a while yet.

As for automated driving systems... that I actually do see possibly being an issue, but to be honest by that point we'll have a LOT more things automated in a lot of other fields, IMHO, and I still see them paying people to 'sit in the cab' just in case something goes wrong.

And from experience talking to folks that do trucking, I just don't see most cargo companies moving to any form of automated driver when they have (literally) hundreds of millions of dollars of rigs that aren't likely to be able to be retrofit, and that have an expected service life measured in decades. There's big-rigs on the road that have been in service for over 40 years, and still have the original engine and tranny in them. I wouldn't be surprised if 'automated' vehicles end up disallowed except on special roads/lanes just for them, so the majority of the roads will still need manual drivers for quite some time yet. Automated truck in downtown San Francisco, for example? Not bloody likely. =^.^=