You banging your head against the wall if you calculate hourly wages driving OTR. You either like the job and can do it or not. Jeezus
Why do OTR megas pay so little for 70 hrs worked?
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by a-trucker123, Sep 24, 2017.
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The thing is this so called 70hr week, is not hard to do.. You are sitting in a truck driving, it requires minimal effort. I suspect if you worked a 70hr week flipping burgers you would be much, much more worn out each day even sleeping in your own bed.. Driving a truck takes about the same effort as sitting on your ### all day watching TV for the bulk of your time working.. (yeah thats why we see so many 300+ lbs truckers out there)
Lets face, it we are being paid to sit on our ### and pay attention...with a tiny bit of physical work. Its not like we are out there creating new technology, building rockets or operating on people's brains.. We are getting paid to drive stuff from one place to another.. Just a bit more complicated version of "I pick up the boxes and I set them down"..
I used to do cable modem installs in the early 00s, I used to make $1,2k week on adverage and I worked 4 days during the period Id say was my prime (meaning I was experanced and the rates were still good). Even having 3 days off each week in most cases, that job was way more draining than driving a truck..
The point being that equating the 70hrs to being low pay at 52k a year is really not a fair comparison because it would require much more effort to make that same $52k a year working 2 burger flipping $11/hr jobs back home..
The biggest difference is you are at a set rate if you are lazy or not at those $11/hr jobs. Trucking is more incentive based like my modem install job was.. It doesnt matter if joe blow trucker with 10/years exp makes x amount. If he's a lazy ### and stops at the flying J every 2 hrs, a newer less experienced person can and will make more if he works harder and smarter..Last edited: Sep 26, 2017
MarkH129, a-trucker123, Lepton1 and 1 other person Thank this. -
Agreed. I don't do a god #### thing all day long. I expend exactly the same physical and mental energy sitting on my ### doing a 34 as I do sitting on my ### driving.
Even flatbed isn't super hard work. I realize people have different physical limitations and whatnot... but even that isn't #### compared to pretty much any job I've ever had. I do my best to show compassion for the slow ### people hand unloading my trailer, because that was me working my ### off this time last year.a-trucker123, crocky and Lepton1 Thank this. -
So, on the other side of the spectrum, which trucking companies pay the most and has truckers happy with the pay? Why do these conpanies pay a lot?
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Our drivers are what keeps us in business. If they don't perform well we can't be successful. We're careful about who we hire and we expect a lot from them. Paying good wages, giving them good benefits, giving them decent trucks to drive and treating them like human beings makes everything go smoother.
Maybe the mega outfits can put up with 100% turnover, and the constant screwups that come along with having an inexperienced work force...but we can't.Rackpass 85, longbedGTs, Toomanybikes and 5 others Thank this. -
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