Trucking industry starving for drivers

Cost of living has always increased regardless of wages. I don't know of any state still paying $7.25 minimum wage that has housing/rent prices still at 2009 levels.

 

$15 hr will barely put a roof over your head in S Florida in 2021 and that's only if you are willing to eat PB&J's everyday and walk every you need go. Can't imagine another 5 years of inflation.

Oh and as for the idea of getting a trade and making more than minimum wage...


That was a recent text I got "up to $18.70" for CDL driver. You can splurge on canned tuna to upgrade those PBJs when you have that kind of dough rolling in.

 

Out CO2 plant in Lakeland is paying $28 p/h.
Thought about a transfer, even inquired, but the prospect of a pay cut hit me hard.
Even w a cheaper cost of living, homes and no winter weather.

 

1) The minimum wage in Kansas is $7.25 an hour, the same as that of the federal government. FORTUNATELY & THANKFULLY, I am earning more than that. Lately, I have been working overtime. Providing that I do not get laid off or terminated, I am looking at retirement in December 2022. By that time, I will be close to full retirement age for Social Security & other retirement income.
2) My rent is currently $540 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment. When I moved into my apartment back on 12/1/2008, 12+ years ago, the rent was $425 a month.
3) FORTUNATELY & THANKFULLY, especially in the last few years, major repairs & renovations have been made: new roofs for all 6 of the buildings, new windows for all of the apartments, new air conditioning & heating units, and new water boilers, for various apartments as mine. New stairs for apartments on the 2nd. floor is now in the works. The current landlord is elderly and getting ready to turn everything over to his son. HOPEFULLY, the son will be as decent a landlord as his father.
4) I am originally from Hartford CT. This same apartment would rent for as low as $1,000 a month to as high as $2,500 a month, in Hartford CT. Cities as New York City NY, Chicago IL, Los Angeles CA, Minneapolis MN, Boston MA, plus many other major cities in the U.S.A., the rent for this same apartment would be as high as $3,000 a month, (NOT exaggerating).

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

The absolute sheer driving force of our national economy - without truck drivers, our entire national economy would come to an absolute standstill - if not outright be dead.

Over the mountains, through the woods, into the valleys, coast to coast, from sea to shining sea - truck drivers can and do go anywhere and everywhere, every day, every night, all year round.

 

Son taking over; be ready for big changes and those changes won't be for the better.
~
I lived in a very nice apartment years ago. Fair rent, swimming pool, recreation room, etc.
Owner rarely raised the rent, maybe a few dollars sometimes. Eventually, the rent was considered low, so got lots of people moving in that vandalized and spray painted graffiti and stole out of cars.
Some man from India bought the complex and put the word out that all rents going up when leases expire and he really jacked up the rents. Also repaired vandalism and graffiti. Friend of mine that still lived there when this happened said it's a wonderful place to live now and the tenants now feel safe again.

 

@Chinatown
You raise a good point.
While no spray painting has occurred, break-ins to cars and vandalism in the laundromat has occurred in the past. The elderly landlord hired security to patrol the complex and keep it safe, without increasing the rents. The son may not be so generous, as to provide the maintenance & services that his father has provided, without the possibility of increasing the rents.
Me Personally:
I always made it a point not to discuss rent with questionable people, as to not have them come to the apartment complex that I live in. Currently, 99%+ of the neighboring tenants are really good people.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

The absolute sheer driving force of our national economy - without truck drivers, our entire national economy would come to an absolute standstill - if not outright be dead.

Over the mountains, through the woods, into the valleys, coast to coast, from sea to shining sea - truck drivers can and do go anywhere and everywhere, every day, every night, all year round.

 

My sister-in-law just received a job offer from Amazon in Las Vegas/Henderson; warehouse work starting at $16.00 hr. to $42.00 hr. + Benefits.
$42.00 an hour must be some type of warehouse suit job.
Here's another one for warehouse work; Amazon Warehouse Jobs Hiring For All Positions at $16-$35+/Hour + Benefits
She owns her condo outright, but that pay is good enough to rent a nice apartment in this area for those wanting to rent.

 

True, but yeah I believe driver churn.
Some of these mega #### box companies are or were at 125% turnover annually. Insanity. Thank the lord I have never been a company driver. I would be fired the first hour probably.

 

The trucks are my mistresses and wife approved of 34 years. She knows that the trucks come first and they get what they need. But yes it #### sure is a commitment not many want

 

1) For a very long time, I wanted to go to a truck driving school to learn how to drive a truck, then go to work for an OTR trucking company, driving all 48 states, possibly going to Canada, as a SOLO driver.
2) I would have been more than willing to drive dry vans, reefers, tankers, (with HAZMAT), hoppers, and flat beds.

Unfortunately, I have NOT been able to pass a D.O.T. physical:
1) This alone kept me from being able to get into any truck driving school, or any trucking company that teaches students to become truck drivers.
2) In addition to trucks, this restriction also applies to buses, trains, and construction equipment.
3) In some areas of the country, individual states apply this restriction to limousines and taxicabs. I found this out from a taxicab driver who experienced this himself.

NOTE:
1) I have never married, never had any children, (actually checked to be sure - both in and out of the U.S.A.), have no pets or plants, & live in an apartment that I can be away from for stretches of time. I have never smoked or used drugs. What little drinking that I did, I gave up many years ago.
2) FORTUNATELY & THANKFULLY, I have never been arrested or convicted of any crimes, and have never had a DUI or DWI. My driving record has been clean for many years. I also have a clean work history.
3) Had I been able to pass a D.O.T. physical, it would not have been a problem for me to have been an OTR truck driver. Years ago, I was in the U.S. Navy, (1984 - 1992). I had no problems sailing the 7 seas, my last cruise being away from home port for 9 months straight.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

The absolute sheer driving force of our national economy - without truck drivers, our entire national economy would come to an absolute standstill - if not outright be dead.

Over the mountains, through the woods, into the valleys, coast to coast, from sea to shining sea - truck drivers can and do go anywhere and everywhere, every day, every night, all year round.