Trucking is one of the few careers that still pays a middle-class wage without a four-year degree or the student debt that comes with one. Company truckload drivers earned a median of $76,420 in 2023, and the job comes with something most desk careers don't - a fresh stretch of the country through the windshield on every run. For any man weighing a career change, here's what the work pays, what it takes to break in, and where the real opportunities are.
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- Written by: James Hills
Most of us treat rain as the thing that cancels a golf round. A buddy of mine treats it as the reason to book one. For years I filed playing golf in the rain under "obstacle" - something you endure if you are already on the course when the sky opens up. It turns out the guys who actually look forward to a wet round know something the rest of us don't, and most of it comes down to two things: what the rain does to the course, and what you are wearing while you are out in it.
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- Written by: James Hills
There's a specific kind of quiet at 6 a.m. when the truck is loaded, the boat is on the hitch, the coffee's in the cupholder, and half the crew is still asleep in the back seat. Then you pull out of the driveway, feel the trailer settle in behind you, and find out in the first half mile whether your truck was built for the job or just willing to try. Setting up a truck to tow a boat well is less about the badge on the tailgate and more about matching the setup to the trip you actually take.
I've sat through more than a few briefings from GMC and Chevrolet's engineers on how they build their heavy-duty trucks to move serious weight without beating you up over a long drive. The thing that stuck with me: a modern HD pickup leaves the factory more capable than most owners ever ask of it, and the smart money goes toward the few upgrades that match how and where you tow, not a parking-lot build sheet.
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- Written by: James Hills
I moved to St. Joseph a little while back, and I still don't own a boat - but every time I drive past the marina, the same debate starts running in my head. Do I want something rigged to fish Lake Michigan, or do I just want to putter up and down the St. Joseph River in a pontoon on a calm evening? Here's what nobody tells you when you move to one of the highest per-capita boating states in the country: the hard part isn't deciding to buy a boat, it's figuring out which boat actually fits how you'll use it. That question is the whole game, and it's what this guide is about.
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- Written by: James Hills
I went from a single herb garden to fifteen containers and four raised beds this year, and somewhere between the squash starts and the salsa peppers it hit me that I was in over my head. The soil was good and I'd picked the healthiest plants at the nursery, but I kept overlooking the thing that keeps a garden producing all summer: how and when you feed it. Fertilizer is where I got the most conflicting advice and made the most rookie mistakes, so this is the plain-English version - what the numbers on the bag mean and which fertilizer to reach for when, built around the two I keep on the garden cart all season.
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- Written by: James Hills
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