Feds & DOT say's $16.+hr. -$25.+hr.

Not to blow my own horn here (beep-beep), but I did just that and reported my findings here. Do a search on "running 100% legal" and "running 99% legal" and like you said be prepared for depression! (lock up your firearms and all objects with sharp edges).

 

An average day is different from person to person.
For me, I liked to get up as the sun came up, or earlier if I was driving west bound, the sun can be blinding in the AM or PM depending on which direction you are going,
eat a SMALL, protein-packed breakfast if I didnt eat alot of protein, I would have to stop and eat again before my day was over,
BE CAREFUL how much liquids you take in! Too much and you will be stopping more or holding it longer! Hold it too long, it can cause Urinary tract infections, pain, or kidney stones, more pain. Over the years holding it too long can cause a prolapsed bladder. look it up! It aint good! Dont drink enough, get dehydrated, headaches, feel awful!
I would drive anywhere from 6-8 hrs before I HAD to stretch. Bad for you to, could cause DVT (deep vein thrombosis) real bad!
Maybe take a catnap 30-60 mins,
Finish my 11 hr shift, hopefully get a parking spot, fuel, (assuming you stop at an "approved" fuel stop, shower, eat a HUGE meal as I am starving now, go directly to bed, (bad for trying to lose weight, indigestion, heartburn, assorted other ill effects)
Get up the next AM, repeat as needed
Not exactly what I or any expert would say is a healthy lifestyle, not to mention REAL LONELY!
I guess the short answer would be 1-2 stops in an 11 hr driving shift for me.

 

You will probably have to go to one of the training companies
Swift,Werner,Stevens and dog it out for at least one year.
Quit before than and have to start all over.
Times are tough right now, freight is slow and freight rates are down.
Trucking is cyclical, as with the economy.
The more experience you have the more opptys.
If you are single you can make it.
If your married right now it'll really be a struggle.
Good luck.

 

If you're going to run for a food delivery outfit, I would strongly
advise getting on a linehaul run if you can.
Delivery work into restaurants, resorts, ski areas, etc., is backbreaking work.
You'll lug handtrucks full of goods up several flights of stairs and down
steep inclines as well.
Many of which are often ice covered during the winter months.
The potential for injury is great.
A nice linehaul run is the ticket if you want to run this gig.
Let the other guy break his back.
Better him than you.

 

Rick, you don't seem to GET IT. What exactly do you want me to do? In a couple months i'll have one year experience and perhaps i'll be able to get a better job then. There are no jobs in my area. You can drive a truck if you have a year or two experience for a GOOD company, no experience for a bottomfeeder, and uhm...you can work at mcdonalds. But i'm too smart to work at mcdonalds I guess, I applied there and they didn't hire me, they hired some moron that nearly caught the building on fire. LOL.

So lets see

Drive for werner and make $800 a week even if it involves working 80 hours a week (hey thats 10 an hour) and buy equipment that I need to start my home business on the side, which will eventually require a non-otr job.

Work for walmart and make $200 a week. Can't even afford to live on my own on that money.

Work for mcdonalds and make $150 a week. What am i going to afford on that?

I can't go on welfare even if i really needed it because I'm smart enough to not have knocked some girl up

Are you suggesting that i sit on my butt, at home, not doign anything, not making money, getting yelled at by my parents for not paying rent, looking for a job that simply isnt there? I wouldn't be able to go to college either, because I wouldn't have a job? Sure i could work at mcdonalds if i did that, but ........they have wayyyy more applications than they have jobs.

All the better trucking jobs in my area require experience. Other jobs are non existant, or part time at low wages.

And if im OTR, i really dont mind working 90 hours a week, just wish i got more for it. It's all work if i'm not home.

So, what are you suggesting exactly?

Also, i've had some people tell me i should go work for falcon, falcon says i should come work for them, but I'd be making the same money i'm already making, maybe its a better company but its not better pay. I'm on the fence on that because i feel like it's just a waste of time to switch for the same pay, with the always present orientation risk of not being hired, and not having a job at all.....

You do not have a realistic world view.

 

phroziac, Are you sure you don't live in San Diego? What you just described matches SD to the T.

 

I defnitely live in the Benton Harbor, MI metro area. It describes most of the country.


Not to get depressive here, but....heres another look at the economy..

Seriously, a while back i was homeless, jobless, very very very depressed, and had just enough gas money to "move" to anywhere within 1000 miles...if my car would make it (i couldnt maintain it without a job). Got denied unemployment and was too depressed to fight for it. Didnt think i'd get it...was forced to quit my trucking job...I decided there was no point in living in michigan at all. I felt that i had no hope of ever getting a job there, and it seemed that nobody cared about me at all. My dad tried to kill me and my mom had an extra bedroom and wouldnt let me live there. I was sleeping on a couch in a 1 bedroom apartment with 6 other people living there. They made me hate life even more, honestly. Sooo..I decided i was going to fix the problem. I was going to find a state with HOPE and stay in a big city homeless shelter and take care of my life. I couldn't figure out anywhere with enough hope to waste my time moving to. They all seemed as bad as michigan. Maybe i was looking in the wrong places but i tried realllly hard. I was willing to do anything for money. Well, I guess not anything, i couldve been a good buddy at the local flying hooker and made all the money i needed. But how about a job without the AIDS?


I couldnt get any job. Trucking or non. I had the money i had from working a couple days a month for a local temp agency. Averaged $200 a month. Barely kept my cell turned on. Barely paid my ticket for driving the wrong way in california. Didn't have car insurance or nothing. People i "lived" with didnt have a phone and wouldve run up a phone bill. I had to have that cell to get a job. And if that temp agency called they might want me in work as fast as i can possibly get there, and I needed every second of that $7.45 an hour.

 

Sorry to hear of your challenges. I'm pretty much in the same boat. I'm more fortunate that I have a place to stay (for now) while I pound the pavements looking for a job. Are you saying you have something lined up with Werner now? I'll add you to my prayer list.

 

Nope, I work for werner and am doing great right now! My situation has totally turned around in the last 3 months. But thanks. The Jordin Sparks song "One Step at a Time" describes my life to a T... lol.

Anyway now i'm looking to move on up. Werner sure does get on my nerves sometimes but I want more than a different logo on the door! Trying to get a local gig so I can start my DJ biz ...i would've never gone OTR again after my CRST experience if it hadnt honestly been my only option. I feel like i'll be able to get something going on this spring.

And hey the local garbage company is hiring! I heard those guys make a lot of money. I can deal with a little smell. LOL. and around here, they dont *DO* anything. they have a mechanical arm that grabs the trash cans and dumps them in. Never get out of the drivers seat. They're SUPPOSED to pick up the mess if it doesnt get in the truck, but they never do!

 

If you think you'll be making $800/wk working for Werner than I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.

Reality: you will be lucky to GROSS $600.00/wk.