The six-figure club.

I think we are having a miscommunication- I'm not talking about welfare. I'm talking about Federal spending.

There is no way that New Mexico or Arizona could afford to build and maintain the road network needed to keep commerce moving in the American SW. Without Federal money, US 35 would still be a two lane slog through southern Ohio and W. Virginia. Without Federal money, the ports in Houston and Miami wouldn't have been dredged to allow for modern cargo ships. Without Federal money we wouldn't have the state college system - without which we wouldn't have put man on the moon or be able to carry a supercomputer in our pockets. Yellowstone wouldn't exist without Federal money.

Those are all things that I find beneficial.

We can talk about the best forms and manner to levy taxes, and certainly have a lively debate over how to allocate those taxes, but the underlying philosophy of taxes are a necessary part of any civilization or economy.

To wit - Kansas and Wisconsin cut taxes in the early 2010s. Both ended up with budget issues and more importantly both saw gdp growth stagnate, especially when compared to neighboring states.

 

And would this "tribe" that thinks government knows best be the same tribe who brought us the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, No Child Left Behind, and the Patriot Act?

The problems of "tribalism " in this country are not caused by the issues. The "tribalism problem" comes from gerrymandering, partisan primary, plurality elections, and funding coming from sources outside the voting district. Reduce those and you'll find the margins of both sides lose power to the center where there is massive, overwhelming agreement.

 

hush your mouth. thats downright unamerican.....

 

92k not including benefits

 

I agree with you on some of this. Rural areas can't fund the equivalent of an interstate system. But those are things we have a joint interested in. We all chip in and get equal use so we don't have to worry about going from pavement in populated states to driving across dirt or gravel in places like Montana.

I'll leave parties and welfare programs aside cause this is purely subjective and can easily go opinionated. But do we really need all of these regulatory agencies? Do you really need someone to tell ya "hey, I know you are almost done with your route and want to go home to your sick kid/wife/dog ....buuut, you are against your 8 and need to park your truck for 30 minutes".

Or another example. Today I was at Fort Gordon making a delivery. I had to get a background check and get searched to get on Post, then a separate background check, fingerprints, and K9 search of truck and trailer to get access to a warehouse that was outside of the fence line of the NSA compound.

The building, the electricity, the security, the air filters I was delivering are all tax payer funded. Do me and you (and by "you" I mean anyone reading this) get a chance to just walk inside and browse their servers? What about just to see what files are being kept on our personal activity? The answer is an absolute NO and even though we are all paying for this (and many other agencies like it), we do not get to see what they are doing.

These are super secretive parts of the government that are funded through the Defense Authorization Act (the budget that funds the military). And they receive tens of billions of dollars in annual funding but much of that is classified to the rest of us.

Why is this a thing? Why are we funding programs that we can't even get access to? I could rant on how we have enough money to be in the Middle East for two decades and tighten our purses when some states ask for a fraction of the war budget to improve schools or their potholes.

 

Ok, I am done complaining.

But I do want to go back on subject and point out something to everyone not in the field and that are lurking this folder.

The lucky few that break the 6 figure ceiling didn't just fall into their wealth. They are either:

A. At the top of their seniority board and been with their respective companies forever

B. Working well over 55 hours a week, and in some cases against their 70.

C. Most likely a combination of the above.

I just want to throw this out there, cause those that make the cut are outliers, and not the norm.

 

With pay at most if not all of the ltl carriers above .70cpm plus drops/hooks/fueling even a 500 mile run will be over $100,000 a year. You don't have to work over 55 hours or be at the top of the seniority list to make six figures.

 

I disagree, a lot of this is flat out because more companies are paying more.

When I started at FxF, I was at the bottom of the board with a crappy run that involved under 150 miles of driving and 3-6 hours of dock work. Drivers on that same run now are making over $100k and working about 50 hours a week.

 

Now I feel the need to steer this in yet another direction. "Six figures" has been a magical number for a salary ever since I can remember. Unfortunately, adding an extra digit to your salary gets less and less magical every year due to inflation. I'm grateful for the money I make but it needs to be put into perspective.

You can use any online inflation calculator to see what I mean. Six figures in 1980 was nearly $340,000 in today's money. In 1990 it was equivalent to $210k. In 2000, about $162k and in 2010 about $128k. I can tell you one thing, I may be in the club now but I don't make doctor or lawyer or corporate executive money. It's a much less exclusive club than it used to be.

Today's six-figures buys as much as a $29,500 income did in 1980. And so on. Which reminds me: I remember when a Lamborghini Countach "only" cost a hundred grand!