I Made $18k My First Year

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by LetUsKing, Mar 28, 2021.

  1. Dockbumper

    Dockbumper Road Train Member

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    I run Long Haul OTR by choice. I do not want a local job. Everybody has different wants/needs.
     
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  3. Lostmykey

    Lostmykey Medium Load Member

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    Yup, I like having a week off. Screw being home weekends.
     
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  4. Hazmat Cat

    Hazmat Cat Medium Load Member

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    $18k isn’t too bad if this was your first year at your first job ever and you are like what... 15 years old.
     
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  5. plankton

    plankton Medium Load Member

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    Cool! I went a different route. OTR wasn’t a viable option for me, with a young family, so I had to land a local job. After a lot of research, I found that good local jobs were available for inexperienced cdl holders in the area where I live. I picked a private CDL school. It cost a little under $5000 which I paid with a low interest credit card (the school also offered financing, at a higher rate). When I finished school I had multiple local job offers. I made over $65k my first year (paid off that credit card balance in 6 months).

    No blanket statements were made by me.
     
  6. Dockbumper

    Dockbumper Road Train Member

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    Thank you. We all take different paths into this crazy world of trucking It sounds like it has worked out well for you. I have found the company that I plan to stay with for another 5-6 years. I will have a paid off house, a paid off duplex, and a tidy sum of cash in the bank. I will retire, be a Grandpa, and hopefully live long enough to enjoy both! Lol:rolleyes::D
     
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  7. SteveScott

    SteveScott Road Train Member

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    That's great, but you ignored the point of my post which was that companies that pay in ways other than by the mile isn't an uncommon thing.
     
  8. GoneButNotForgotten

    GoneButNotForgotten Heavy Load Member

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    Just curious, was that 18K net or gross?
     
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  9. LetUsKing

    LetUsKing Bobtail Member

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    Hey guys just thought I'd give you an update. I got hired by Marten Transport. I love the company so far - everyone from recruiter, to orientation, to the system they have set up for scanning documents and stuff and fueling up when I want to and so on. And the pay. They promised detention pay. Immediate detention pay and they weren't lying. Today I was waiting at a dock for 2 hours and so they almost immediately handed me $40 for that. That was pretty sweet. And yeah I know immediate detention means that they start counting as soon as you get there.

    So far I'm making about $235 a day.

    Oh yeah and they assigned me to a KW T680! And I love it. It's a little bit floatier when it's unloaded on the highway, but manearuving it in smaller spaces seems to be more fluid than the Peterbilt I had with PAM. And I love the sound of the engine it's so fat and buttery. Even when you are barely moving it sounds like electric thunder. Oh yeah and it has an APU which I love.

    So basically I like the company. I like the company culture. The recruiter promised me things and they are carrying through with it. Thumbs up!
     
  10. kemosabi49

    kemosabi49 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Good for you. Glad to hear you got settled somewhere.
     
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  11. nredfor88

    nredfor88 Road Train Member

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    Congratulations. Marten is on my list of possible future companies. Do you mind me asking about that $235 average? Is that based on the miles you are getting or some type of guarantee?
     
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