Truck drivers aren't surprised that trucking companies are struggling to recruit and retain drivers.
Allseitz, a truck driver for two years in Missouri, told Insider that everything about trucking is bad.
The US has a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers, which has caused havoc in the supply chain.
Long periods away from home coupled with low pay made it an undesirable job for truck drivers, according to Insider.
"It's not a profession, it's a lifestyle," Joe Katterman, a trucking instructor in Nebraska, said.
He said that he has watched his three-year-old daughter grow up over video chat. I spend more time video chatting with my family than I do with them.
"It feels more like this is your life and when we go home, that's just a small portion of your life," Chris Chilton, a trucker in Alabama who has a wife and kids at home, said. It's a big sacrifice to be out here. You miss a lot of things.
Eric Sloop, a truck driver in Washington State, said he didn't surprise him that the industry was struggling to fill jobs.
Sloop said he would usually be away for three weeks at a time, covering around 2,000 miles before returning home. This is a standard pattern for over-the-road truck drivers.
It is legal for truck drivers to spend up to 11 hours a day driving and another three hours on other work tasks.
Roberts said that you can't do anything except work when you're on the road.
When they were on the road, the drivers had to live in their vehicles, which was described as a " moving jail cell." Some stay in hotels while others sleep in their trucks.
Allseitz said that the poor diet of the truck drivers is due to the fact that they have to rely on pre-made meals. He said that when it was bad, it was terrible that some people kept grills in their vehicles.
"It takes a special type of person who can be away from home for weeks at a time and some just can't take it," said a former truck driver who left the industry three years ago after a workplace accident.
Roberts said that he had turned down multiple job offers for over-the-road driving and that he was hoping to get a job in the industry. He said he didn't want to sleep in the back of a truck anymore.
Many companies offer huge hiring bonuses to attract new workers and encourage them to switch companies.
Most of the drivers said that their take- home pay had not changed despite the shortage of drivers.
Frederick Hall, a truck driver in Georgia, said that trucking companies aren't willing to pay drivers what they're worth. Drivers would like a piece of the pie. I'm not here for my health.
"It's not much compensation for someone making $50,000 a year, not being able to see their kids grow up," Allseitz said.
Some drivers were positive about the industry. Nine years ago, Sloop became a truck driver and said it's better than his previous job in the lumber industry.
He said that he was paid well for what he did.
Are you a truck driver? Please email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.
