Jobs for people who can Drive Real Good?

So I've been brainstorming recently on how to extract myself from my joyless and mostly fruitless IT career. I'm only good with computers and vehicles...and that's basically it.

I already asked on here about operating construction equipment which it seemed was not such a hot idea. I've been researching work as a motorcycle courier, chauffeur...they don't look so good, the former being a job where it's hard to even turn a profit for yourself. Thought about becoming a pilot when I was younger, glad I didn't pursue that - low pay, high training costs and long times away from home don't appeal to me.

Working on vehicles is something I tolerate because I have to and I wouldn't like that to be the meat of a career, but I could accept it as a secondary part. But then again I've only worked on rusty old crapcans while horribly underequipped and without anything remotely resembling a garage so maybe I could come around, but I have no formal education on this.

Any suggestions? Even wild-assed guesses are welcome, just looking for ideas.

No real help here, but what about limo tours or safari-ish tours for upscale tourists?

Good idea (and I know exactly where those trucks are parked BTW) but I'd have a hell of a time finding an opening. I'd have to watch which guys are old and don't eat healthy

Hey, just go there and express your interest. Nothing to lose but a little time, might work out. Besides, you can provide more than just driving abilities, you can fix the 'puters, too.

there you go.. get your foot in the door with fixing their computers and wait for an opening driving

What about learning to tune cars? I know a guy who left and IT career to be a professional tuner and he ended up being one of the top tuners in the nation.

The market for that is more than saturated, we have plenty of top-level tuning shops and specialists.

Eh, I don't know about that. Around here we've got guys that wait for some gypsy to come through town twice a year to tune their stuff, because he's that good. Just because people do it doesn't mean they are good at it. If you can master it, the work will come to you.

I think Gameboy is looking for something more immediate than a few years worth of highly specialized skills that is tuning ems or even carbs.

A lot of those guys who do that stuff has spent lots of time around their wild cars, their friends wild cars, motorcycles, and computers.

ddavidv wrote: Eh, I don't know about that. Around here we've got guys that wait for some gypsy to come through town twice a year to tune their stuff, because he's that good. Just because people do it doesn't mean they are good at it. If you can master it, the work will come to you.

+1 on this. There's a lot of places where there aren't too many people who are actually all that good at tuning.

Its like they always say... You can tune a car but you cant tuna fish!

Working on cars at a rate you can actually make money takes a lot of training and experience. It's a long and low paying learning curve.

20 years of profesional experience and giving up weekends and evenings for schooling is starting to become diminishing returns for me. Now every intermittent, difficult, or technical diagnosis goes to me because I have the most trainging in my shop. Problem is that there is no money in diagnosis. There just isn't enough brake jobs and scheduled services to make up for all the time I spend with a scantool, research, re-adapting and coding modules, and verifying repairs.

Sometimes I wish I was just a lube-tech that just has to r&r parts all day

In addition to the local talent I'd have to compete with the foreign talent, a lot of the cars that compete here are kept in the UK/Europe and flown here for events. The cars that are kept here are often running on very grassroots budgets and the owners would rather DIY and just settle for the butt dyno (there is 1 dyno here and nobody I know has ever used it).

Remember, GameboyRMH isn't located in a place as big as the USA. In order to be a successful tuner, you have to have a good client base.

That said, there is probably a lot more opportunity elsewhere, Gameboy.

Dive boat helmsman? I'll bet there's a lot of competition for that too, though.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

I don't know that it is all that different in the US, as far as tuners and being able to make money. I am in IT too, and like Gameboy, it is not the right career for me. However, what do you do? I would LOVE to work on making cars faster all day, but, especially in this economic climate, I don't think that is really possible.

Ever thought about becoming a tugboat pilot?

Wild-ass guess? Sure, this is a wild-ass guess:

Transplant organ transport? I've seen the siren and strobe-equipped minivans buzzing through traffic.

Airstrip support? I would guess most of the high-speed driving jobs also require other skills as a major pre-requisite.

Proving ground gigs are probably impossible to get, and probably also require a sharp engineering background.

I had a blast driving charter buses. Its a great way to meet people, go places for free, and if you're good at it, the tips are awesome. 10 years ago I was making $90/day and at least that much in tips if it was the right group. Help old ladies down the steps with a smile and the money just flows.

Mike wrote: Transplant organ transport? I've seen the siren and strobe-equipped minivans buzzing through traffic.

Ass, we are hauling ass!

Yep lots of competition for dive boat helmsmen...

I actually have an uncle in Jamaica who's a tugboat pilot, pays well but I'm sure it takes many years of training.

Around here if you need a transplant organ quickly and there are none at the hospital you're already in, I guess you either need a pilot or a casket...

Airstrip support I'm sure isn't actually that fun. Driving faster than usual in mostly straight lines in wide open spaces...in a pickup probably...meh.

Proving grounds are a non-starter. I doubt anyone here turns a profit from driving, which is funny because recently the FIA president was here and said that we may have the most race car drivers per capita according to their numbers.

Charter bus driver could be another one worth looking into.

I wish I had looked into tug boat jobs when I was younger. Charter buses can be fun, and you know where all the tourist girls will be getting drunk and doing stupid things.

Well with the way the title is written, I would say NASCAR is just for you.

You're a Canadian dual citizen right? The school bus companies up here are ALWAYS looking for drivers. It's actually a lot of fun if you like childrens, and not too hard to get in (training is provided.) Unfortunately they don't pay much at all, which is why they're always looking for drivers.