How much did truckers earn in past decades? 1990s? 1980s? 1970s?

Omg again not blaming for everything but it's a tool that they use to control you. Sure some companies run you great with it sure some don't . I actually enjoy running with it but again it's a tool the companies can use to control your income

 

Ok, how do they control your income? If your company is only running you 2k a week then the issue is with them, not the hours of service.

 

So, about 15 years later, I was working at a general freight hauler, but as an overnight road breakdown agent, and I could see how much money the drivers were making. At that point, they were starting out maybe $.05 more than I had, but were getting fewer miles, and in the end, making just about what I'd made 15 years earlier!

 

That has only happened to me a handful of times, it’s always been trying to run me at night, and it’s always been by a dispatcher that isn’t mine. When they’ve tried, I’ve reiterated and that usually takes care of it.

As far as miles, no dispatcher has ever tried to manipulate me in a negative manner. My best 70-hour PeopleNet week is 4277mi, which was accomplished because of a great dispatcher. Last week, I ran 3584mi, also on PeopleNet.

If you’re having issues with getting miles or you feel like a dispatch team are manipulating things to negatively impact you, that’s strictly on personnel behavior and nothing to do with an ELD. Negative things are easily done to drivers on paper logs, too.

 

Trucking wages got a fair bump after the ELD mandate as well. Our time was worth more after people could no longer run way over the true limit. I started at .28mi in 2013, and that was decent for a starting rate then. Despite the controversy over both things, the mandate and covid both helped bring wages out of their long stagnation.

 

Governed trucks also cut into your pay.
Back in the 80’s for example the trucks I drove were not governed at 64mph. I could run the posted speed or a few miles over and do at least 600-800 miles a day.

 

I think, general traffic congestion hurts more than anything. It’s futile, these days. No matter how fast the truck, the congestion will always be the limiting factor, during daylight hours. At night, rock and roll!

 

Truth ^^^^ Most everything wrong with this industry has to do with too many of us (and traffic in general) sharing the same roads we had 50 years ago when there was 20% of the traffic. A fast truck, a clean clock and the best paying job in the world doesn't help at all if there's a traffic jam in front of you.

 

not specific to trucking but still relevant. i had lunch with a retired GM union employee this week. He started at GM Oshawa as a journeyman apprentice in 1964 making $1.25/hr. He said the journeymen were making $5/hr. From my previous research, I'm pretty sure minimum wage in 1967 was $1/hr (1967 is significant because in '68 they took the silver out of the coins and replaced it with nickel). So you could have taken your $1 and went to the bank and purchased a canadian silver dollar for the face value of $1. Today that silver dollar contains $20 CDN in actual silver and they can be had for $20-$25 at coin dealers, effectively making minimum wage in 1967 $20-$25/hr. Today the minimum wage is $15 fiat dollars per hour. Similar if not exact story in the USA. our governments have been screwing us forever by taking away the real money and paying us with worthless paper that they literally print out of thin air, all while paying us less every year (after inflation). Think about it.... what makes a $20 bill worth more than a $1 bill? Same paper. Same ink. Just because the government put a 20 on it! LMAO. and we're too stupid to see it because we don't understand what money is.

"The USA can't maintain a gold standard. They even took the copper out of the pennies so heck, we can't even maintain a copper standard!"-Ron Paul

 

My 359 sold for $80,000 out of Knoxville Peterbilt in 1986. That payment must have been a tough nut to crack back then.

Check this out...."On The Boulevard"...Trucking in the '70's. this is worth every minute
On the boulevard : Optic Nerve : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive