Why do people say the pay is low?

Take the Electrical job.

 

Truck drivers like to gripe and complain.
They'd complain if you hung them with a brand new rope.

 

The pay for truckers is not too low, if you get all the endorsements plus TWIC.
Live in a state with no state income taxes also adds to how much you keep of you paycheck.

 

It depends on the carrier(s) you join.

Some pay considerably less than others.

Some drivers land a great gig right out of CDL school.

While others <<<brrrrr--hem>>> land a gig with crappy pay, for their first CDL job.

It also depends on the opportunities available to you -- after you get your CDL.

Right now -- and for the foreseeable future -- opportunities (compared to say, a year ago) are pretty darn skimpy, for CDL holders with no previous experience.

Yes, you can still get a CDL job.

But the hunt for such may well be harder.

If you're in a bad area -- it's A LOT harder.

-- L

 

Don't live in Cali and work for a carrier that pays 50cpm or you'll be eating out of a seafood dumpster , now Missouri and you'll be alright

 

It depends on how you look at it. If you consider your time valuable and worth money, versus the time that you have freedom, then it might not be worth it. If you incorporate it into a lifestyle and you learn to accept that you’re going to be away from home for weeks or perhaps longer at a time then it probably is worth it. Here’s an example. I believe I’m a natural born hustler. I can do two or three different gigs at a time and easily make myself $300 a day. And sleep in my own bed every night. See my girlfriend, whatever I want, go to the gym whenever I want eat wherever I want, sleep when I want, take time off a nap when I want, feeling rundown, just take a day or two off when I want, the list goes on and on. As an OTR truck driver I can count on none of that. Zero of it. But I make about $300 a day while I’m out here. Is that good pay? I believe it is. Is it good pay when you consider that I’m giving up all of the above flexibility and options that I could have if I ran my own show? I battle with this concept myself. But here’s the thing. Not everybody can hustle like I can or enjoys doing gig work or running their own show. So for them truck driving is a great way to make an honest decent living. Personally I go back-and-forth battling this in my own mind. I know that I can do the above because I’ve already done it. A divorce and lifestyle changed got me into trucking and I’ve been in it ever since. I probably will step off the truck at some point and go back to what I was doing before. I’m not sure yet.
So to answer your question original poster it’s all in how you look at it and what your make up and set up is. Do you wanna work two jobs in today’s economy and be home every night? You probably can make just as much as a truck driver and actually have more free and flexible time. But a lot of people can’t do that.

 

If you live in a state that has a halfway decent cost of living drivers can make a pretty good living…

 

50 cents per mile ???? wtf !!!!! that is your value ????