Pay

Dont bet your life on that 50 cpm is a beginner... You would be hard pressed to find a company that pays better than that for very experienced hands in my neck of the woods.

 

I can't do LTL because I have a bad back. Local jobs are usually 100% touch freight. I haul 100% no-touch freight. Also, I would hate to have to fight city traffic everyday. By driving OTR, I can drive at night, when I choose, and I can often route myself around cities until I get to my destination city. When I do run in the city, it's typically NE, and I get bonus pay for that. OTR doesn't work for everyone, but those for whom it does work, it works quite well.

 

Wow. Down in Texas, an experienced driver won't move a truck for anything less than $.50pm and good accessorial pay.

 

Local gigs are harder to get as a rookie in this industry... Gotta get the experience first so you have the upper hand over some of the competition.

 

It sounds like you know what your doing and have the right attitude to be successful. My comments are not to question peoples decisions, I truly am trying to learn the industry. If I can use the figure of 80k as an example. If I have the option to stay local and make that same money and possibly more than otr for my first few years, why would I choose to stay otr rather than stay local and gain the same experience. I think we can all agree that it typically takes 2-3 years to start making 100k plus, so why not wait that time to go otr. We as truckers have alot of responsibility each day we drive and peoples always talk about how much they need drivers. The demand is there and I don’t see why a new driver should only be making 50k a year.

 

It all comes back to what the cost of living is and average annual income in any given area... Why would a company offer to pay $100k annually when most folks in the area only make $30k??? They can offer $50k and still have people fighting to get in the door because it's better than all thier friends make.

 

As far as experience, here is the funny thing: Local companies consider OTR driving as valid experience, but OTR companies often don't consider local driving to be valid experience, at least not for the aspect of pay rates, etc.

I am actually putting the effort that I am into my answers because I see the genuineness of your questions. I want to provide insight. I think that the closest that I will ever come to running local is either dedicated or regional. Once getting to the point that I want/need to be home every day, I will try to move into an office position. I won't do the physical work of LTL. I don't like driving in city traffic constantly. So, local driving job for me is a no-go.

 

I definitely appreciate your input. I see that each person has a different reason to why they chose local or otr. I have always been a person that’s looking for the challenge and maybe one day I can find that job within this industry. I am happy with my current company, I just hope my body can keep up. Thanks again.

 

I keep pretty close tabs on rates and cents per mile kind of like I do the stock market or something. Lol I’ve learned there’s way more factors that go into it than just cents per mile. Way more. A company that pays $.55 per mile for a three year experience driver can be 10 times better than one to pay $.70 per mile.

that said, the current average going rate for a driver with a clean record in three years experience operating a dry van is around $.64 per mile. Ranging from $.58 per mile to about $.68 per mile. If you’re getting below $.58 per mile and you have 3 to 4 years experience with a clean record you are underpaid.

A brand new beginning driver can expect somewhere around $.46-$.50 per mile. Some places are offering more. Usually they want you to sign a contract

 

I would rather be a cold calling protein shake salesman than work for that