hmmm..they say its no money in a class B

for long haul or local deliveries?

The company i worked for here in seattle paid the same for A or B

But it was beer/wine delivery with average 22 stops a day.

top pay scale was 22 an hour. 10-12 hour days

 

Transit bus in Manistee county MI... $14/hr, great benefits.

 

Actually, no it isn't true. I have held a Class B license for about 15 years, and only recently within the past year upgraded to a Class A.

For about ten of those fifteen years I drove dump trucks, and made in the neighborhood of $1,000.00 weekly, maybe a little less. But the point is that I realized that a Class B inhibits the size of the job market for you. Had I had access to a tractor/trailer when I first got my B's I would have got an A from the start, and I'll tell you why.

First, the obvious is that with an A, you can drive anything over 10,000 lbs. and such being so, you can start out with any job if you are in immediate need.

Second, it is IMO, a safer way to introduce yourself to trucking by having an A, but starting with smaller commercial vehicles, and working your way up. I will never say that I know all there is to know about trucking, but the respect I built during my time in triaxles has served well in starting out with a 'big truck.'

Now for the pitfall....NO Class A motor carrier will consider any Class B truck as experience. So what ever time you spend in smaller trucks is time that doesn't count on most all applications of Class A. That stinks. So, when you do make the jump, you will have to still start off as a newbee....But you, and your dispatch will know the difference.

So, I guess my advice so far is to begin with getting your Class A and go from there. At least then you have it.

j-mac

 

good point J -mac

It is silly that class B does not count at all as experience because you still have to do the same things as an A driver only on a smaller scale of course.

I think getting your A is the best idea because you have more options.

NickB

 

I currently drive a B here locally in and around Philly. Small company, I'm the only driver delivering janitorial supplies and 50lb boxes of rags. Started out in May at $14 now making $16 plus bennies and it still sucks. Was OTR about ten yrs ago and left driving for a variety of reaons including getting a college degree. I needed to get back to work fast and this was a quick way to making some coin. I have been trying to get back into a big truck though but because I was away from them for so long, with the exception of running now and again with an O/O cousin of mine, nobody will even give me a road test. I have had a number of recruiters just hang up me. Most tell me to go back to school and call them back. If driving a big truck is your goal just go for it, don't waste your time with a B. It's a hassle to move up into them. Like I said I have a Class A and can't even get a road test....Good luck.

 

$16 is good in most places but Philly is expensive because of taxes. No my bills aren't bad but with the falling dollar and choking tax rates it's really not that much. It's good compared to what many are making though. Too many employers advertise they have a great starting rate and when you look into it they wanna pay $10-$12 bucks and that's with good experience too. That's just outrageous to me. If my boss would stop telling me how to drive the truck and how long it should take me to finish a route, and he would pay overtime after 8 hrs instead of 40 I probably wouldn't be saying it sucks. Again good luck....

And no I am not muslim, I know my name appears similar to something in islam. Alan is my 1st name so I just shortened it for my screen name.