I’m not at all going to pretend that my career is similar to that of a long-haul trucker. Not for one bit. Beyond the solitary nature of their work, there are the strains of driving for hours and hours at a time. I don’t mind driving – in fact I prefer it to being a passenger – but I consider it quite the event if I’m driving for more than 2 hours. But it is always for a great occasion like seeing some of my ladies in Maine or Vermont. It feels like I only drive north for some reason….
Regardless.
Harvard Business Review sends out a daily stat which tend to be either boring or completely unrelated to anything in my life… but occasionally they strike a chord with me. Here is the one I got on Monday:
So 72% of long haul truckers have spend 15 out of 28 nights away from their family… Since January 1st, I have spent 48 nights away from my family* living in a Hilton. There are 104 days (including weekends) during that period of time — essentially I will have spent 46% of that time away from my family. On average, I spend 4 work days a week away from home. There a few things that make all this travel okay and they essentially boil down to Hilton Points and Free Dinners. I have an inkling that long haul truckers aren’t reaping either of these rewards.
*as of 4/14/2011