Like a lot of the other drivers said it is a hard life and it is even physically challenging as well as mentally with all the crazy 4 wheeles and even other truck drivers out there. The dispatches sometimes dont help the situation either. I just had to quit one company because they wanted me to run illegally all the time, but the problems really started when they started to charge me for not delivering a load on time even though I told them I couldnt make the delivery when I was given the load and it was a T-Call. Go to school like the other driver said and become a doctor, lawyer, but momma dont let your boys (woman too) grow up to be truck drivers!!!

It's like anything, good and bad. I made about $40,000 my first year, but I run hard. One thing to be aware of though, give La Hood (sec. of transportation) another 4 years and theres no telling what our hours of service regs. will look like. Plus with Obama tossing around the idea of a 60 mph nationwide limit on trucks we could all see our $ take a drop. I'm not trying to say these things are going to happen, but it's a possibility. As far as trucking being a good job or not you need to look inside yourself. Read about it on the forum here, Look at the good and bad, and decide if you can handle it because most people cant. Yes you can make good money, but not if your not willing to work for it.
b

Originally Posted by tinytim

Not a good job at all. 3400 hundred miles last week for $175.00 That's barely more than a dollar an hour. 184 hours in a week divided by 175 is less than a dollar and ten cents a hour.

braggart!

Originally Posted by Wooly Rhino

Good Job requires a value judgement. What do you define as good job? Money. This is not the highest paying job I ever had. But is $70,000 a realistic number. I make 45 cents a mile as a company driver. Take the amount of money you want to make and divide it by the cents per mile you are paid and it give you the number of miles you have to drive to make that amount. $70,000 / .45 = 155555.56 miles. 155555.56 miles divided by 52 weeks gives you miles per week you have to drive. 2991 miles a week average for $70000. It can be done. But if money is what drives you, you will not make it in this industry. You have to become a business man at heart to make it. Truck drivers are one of the most important thing in a businesses success. We are rolling warehouses for companies. The "Just in Time" inventory system that major companies rely on can not function without the driver getting to the place on time. Harley Davidson was one of the first companies to figure that out. Companies can cut cost if they do not have to inventory large amounts of parts. As long as the ones they need arrive "just in time."

If you fail to understand that truck drivers are very important to this nation, you will fail. It isn't about your pay check. It is about the global economy. Without trucks nothing gets done. Understand your place in the universe and you will be a success. Because you will demand to be treated with the respect and pay you deserve. I make sure my load arrives on time and in good condition. I ask the customers if they are satisfied with my performance and if there is anything I can do to make their job easier. I listen to them and try to improve. I know my dispatcher and let her know that I will do anything I can to help her. I never turn down a load and I drive anywhere. I point out anytime that I get screwed as taking one for the team but do so smiling. Most times, I get ten good runs to make up for anything bad.

And remember, you can always buy a powerball ticket.

Great attitude and work ethic!!

posted on wrong thread pls delete