Worth a Career Change?

Realistically as a new driver expect to make around 40K till you get that magical 1 year of experience. After a year things really open up for you but like everyone has said you will pay your dues. Now there are a lot of LTL companies right now hiring out of truck driving school and you will make well over 40K. Those include<br><br>YRC<br>ABF<br>Conway<br>Old Dominion ( I think??)<br><br>All are really good places to work. The key in LTL is stick around. It takes usually three years to hit full rate but heck the bottom rate of any LTL company is a heck of a lot better than a mega carrier rate. But again as a few posters have said take a long hard look at this career because it can really suck at times. On the positive side you have the potential to make a good salary with some decent benefits.<br><br><br>

 

I'm pretty sure that just about all of these oil patch driving jobs, you should be able to make close to 60k first year....there are plenty of first year driver doing well more than 60k.

 

Hell, Schneider is guaranteeing 65K the first year. Another company that will hire you right out of school with no experience. You can say what you want about them, but they are willing to train people. And for a lot of folks just coming out of school, they are a way to break into the business.

 

Uhh. Yeah. No.

 

Wll ya know, if you wanna do OTR that first year. Of course, the first year of OTR is more like 30K a year, but just sayin'...

 

What did u find?

 

Yeah but this is the oilfield forum! LOL. A roustabout through a temp service like Rusty's without a CDL or any experience will make at least 40k a year. You don't need to be a slave to some bottom feeding OTR co if you want to work in the oilfield.

Not that I am saying being a slave on a roustabout crew is any better.

I just think the numbers being put out here by some people are unrealistically low

 

Oh I agree. The comment was directed at the guy who thought everything starts out at 40K/yr. 40K would cover about the first seven months of just about any oilfield job.

$40K

 

So what did you decide Leviathan? Either way, good luck!