Maybe instead of posting who's bad, easier to say who's good?

No there are other things. But not that. Maybe my paper logs would be nice. I refuse to like eld when dispatch cannot plan my loads. If I were to plan my loads better, I would need double my current pay rate. I'm just a driver.

 

go to computer school, don't waste your life......

 

Yeah, why waste your life looking out the window when you could be staring at a monitor instead.

 

There is no such thing as a good job. A job is something that gets you by. And sometimes it doesn't even do that. A career position is a better outlook and it pays better. However you will still be working for someone else. So as long as you want or except the money your gonna follow their rules. No matter how stupid they may be. And you wont get rich despite a $10k sign on bonus.

 

I dont plan on being rich from trucking, but I'll be better off financially from where I am now

 

Work is a vocation ... something you love ...like a musician or artist or a nun

Job ... is where you end up ... it pays the bills and gets food ....like most of the planet

I would imagine few are doing what they really love

PS: If one is saving the money from their labor then in a sense they
are 'working' for their self ... that counts for something in this day and age

Most don't have much saved according to current economic reports

 

My advice from 35 years over ther road is; when you do land a job, keep looking for the next one...always keep the back door open. As mentioned here, shipper/receivers quite often treat drivers like trash and expect them to take it. You will find a common saying at those places..."if you don't like it call your company". Personally, I don't take any of it from them. You can deal with them and other nasty people in trucking any way you like-its up to you.

Furthermore, when you find a prospective employer, make sure you find out exactly what and how you will be paid for all your work; such as layover pay, unloading pay, detention, how they get you home if your terminated, pay for sweeping out trailers, double dropping trailers, watchinig safety videos, do they withould 1,2, or 3 weeks pay, is there any escrow, who pays insurance/taxes, etc. Approach any new company as just an employer, and don't fall for the "we are all family here" saying. Companies only use you to make money and never get to comfortable with them. Let them know from day one, even if your a new driver, that they need you and you don't need them. When they tell you we give you 30 days probabtion, tell them thanks, because you are giving them 2 weeks, and if they are no good, your getting rid of them. Otherwise, they think you are desperate and at their mercy. Too many new drivers just want to drive a truck and put up with what I think is too much company garbage. Tell them what you will do and won't do as a driver, if they don't like it just keep looking. Always have enough money on yourself to get back home from anywhere. Get a cash advance as soon as you can every week. Should they terminate you, you have a least some of your next pay. May sound harsh, but you need to take care of yourself because other people and companies won't.
I

 

Well, truth be told here, they're all bad.
You're about to embark into an industry that pays about $650.00-$700.00 take home (after taxes) every week for up to 100 hours a week... or the equivelent of two, full time jobs at about 5 bucks per hour. Each. With no overtime pay.

I don't expect you to believe me... yet.

In due time, you too will be incredulous as to why anybody stays for more than six months in an industry that requires so much training, so much testing, so many tests for strength, drugs, alcohol, and medical conditions, as well as the ability to safely manipulate an 80,000 lb. vehicle through so many challenging conditions....and then top it all off with tons of thorough and invasive background checks as well.

All for a low class, low paying, sometimes dangerous and easily replaced job, any day of the week.

Don't let anybody fool you; you're giving so much, regardless of experience, right off the bat and in turn all these companies are compensating you so little in return. By the time you're hired on, you've already proven your worth.... otherwse, you wouldn't be hired on.

All the major OTR carriers are way understaffed because they all are experiencing a nearly 98% driver turnover rate meaning, nearly every, single new driver now will be gone in just a few months, tops.....
And gone for mainly one very important reason..... the pay is at ridiculously low poverty levels.

Only reason any new drivers show up at all is that even if the pay is so incredibly low (if you've got a wife and kids, you will not be able to take care of them financially), fledgling, ignorant, new drivers still give it a shot due to the pure baloney given to them by the company recruiters, as well as from the traitorous company 'schills' that post on these threads stating that things get better with time and that these driving jobs are much better than they actually are.

They aren't. The pay is absolutely terrible and the conditions are "Dickensonian".
Ever read "Oliver Twist"?
You'll be so desperate that you'll be asking for a second bowl of gruel every chance you get.

 

You do have to pay some dues. But yeah, even the top 10% of carriers don't pay enough for what a driver gives up.

 

You nailed it down well. The largest group in long distance trucking with the lowest turnover are homeless gay men, with homeless people in general the second lowest turnover group. I work driving long distance delivering new trucks - piggybacks, all over the US and Canada. Union job, good benefits, lousy pay. Lots of gays, shills, antifa and blm types. Employment model revolves around 'diversity and inclusion', which is often hilarious as it is tragic.

$50k per year average with $60k being the top limit - our pay hasn't gone up in 15 years - last raise was in our 2003 contract. ALOT of lying shills in trucking and they seem to be organized, like they know each other and work for the same firm(s).

For a young man-woman with no family or debt, trucking is a good way to travel, get your CDL, endorsements, TWIC, passport, border cards and a bit of experience under your belt before moving on to something more specialized and/or local where you're home most nights or every night. Better income is possible and you can start a family, if that is in the cards. I'm retiring shortly with a good pension but not much else but memories of a 45 year trucking career.