Pennies on the mile for over the road?

Lol.

EDIT...it's about the freedom for me. I like having chunks of time off, rather than little pieces. Also, i gross about $1300 in 60 hours. Works for me

 

It's a trade off imo.
I could made 1409/week running OTR, but I'd rather make 950/week running local because I have an apartment and kiddo.
If I was single with no ties I'd be running OTR with no apartment, and dropping 800/week into savings and retirement.

 

Trucking is sometimes a bigger calling than just being home every night. I would work for peanuts if I had been given or bought a large car and had loads that paid well without too much trouble.

The problem is the pay itself. I was paid close to .50 and the spouse who came out of training with me was paid in the low .30's that is .84 or something a mile to the truck.

Two drivers making .84 ran 140 hours this week coast to coast twice. If the load paid 2800 miles the tractor trailer with wife and I will gross 2352 one way, then reload via drop hook and be back in LA in 6 days and change. that's 4750 or so dollars gross. Because the fleet average is 45 mph when they decide if you are running late or not each morning via 63 mph governor, the hours needed for one driver overall to get to finish this trip is 62 total hours maybe 63 at most. or about the same amount of time actual for two drivers. which is almost three days.

The truck will be doing at least 37.50 per hour at .84 a mile both ways for around 125 hours total against the 140 availible. This to us is a very good pay. The best possible.

If the wife was alone at .32 a mile and ran 2800 by herself... she will use up the 70 hours pretty quickly by the time she crossed the USA once. It's a pay check of 896 gross for a average of 14.50 minimum per hour gross.

It is much more profitable to be a team. If there were two basic drivers earning .50 each which is considered entry level pay today then it's a dollar to the truck for the husband wife team. Having the same scenario for the LA to Jersey and back is very profitable.

Anything less is a waste of team resources and does not pay. Keep in mind that many areas consider 15.00 a minimum wage of sorts.

If a team sits around the Americold dock for two or three days being paid nothing and then find a 1200 mile load somewhere with a load of something for the week then it's a absolute waste, no money in it. Literally not worth it UNLESS.... the company collected the detention pay for the two or three days sitting waiting on the load itself. Its their pocket not ours. Why do we even bother. We should become O/O and collect that detention pay ourselves. I cannot tell you how many times we did that as a favor to dispatch when there is no other drivers single around to load. So that is one reason Americold Salinas CA is a problem with us. We will not be back wasiting money and our time again with them. They can find a single driver empty in that time frame in California. Find something bigger and more worthy of our team advantage.

 

This meme has been run to the ground with numerous threads over the years.

First, it's absolutely true what you say. OTR starting out is long hours, weeks away from home, for little pay if you look at all hours. You can get a local gig paying more right off the bat.

Then there are jobs that pay MUCH better than the scenario you paint, BUT they require a minimum of one or two years OTR experience. My current gig required two years. I make twice the money you note in the OP for my payroll and another twice as much in owner's settlement check. I paid my dues to get here.

So, you can either try to find a better gig than Celadon, or you can set your sights on a better gig down the road.

By the way, for those that like to say flipping burgers is better than OTR, do any burger flipping jobs give you a place to live? I know QUITE a few folks that lived in their trucks and saved bank for a year or more. No burger flipping job would give you the means to do that.

 

Wow, that's a lot more than Schneider was paying you.

 

This is me. I'm running local to be with family. My daughter is 11 in a month. When I did my year with Swift, I really didn't mind the OTR lifestyle. I'll probably go back OTR once my daughter goes to college/trade school. It is a bit more money which would be nice, but since I just bought my first house I'm ok with my pay.

 

You go get a local dump truck job for 11.50
An hour. Then post your pay stub on here.

I'll willing to bet most of us on here will bring home
Twice what you do in a week. And who says where
Working 70 hours every week.

Trust me. We wouldn't be out here for 11.50 an hour.
11.50 x 40 = 460 bucks. That's before taxes.
Why would anyone put up DOT rules for that
Garbage pay. The cashier at the corner store gets that.

Who says your gonna get overtime in that dump truck.
Who says your even gonna have any work for the day.
Winter time 20 hours a week if you're lucky.

 

I make way more than tgat shagging trailers as a yard dog. Find something better. Its out there just got to keep looking. Good luck.

 

It is what it is.We all have our own reasons to be here.I am trying to make up for the time I wasted.
I could get local job easily but I figured the only difference in my case would be driving to and from work everyday. No,thanks. I prefer work being 6 feet away.I also make slightly more than $950 a week and I am (or can be) home for at least 34 h every week. It is actually not that bad if you have nothing to go home for.