$100,000+.....Company Driver

Any place that has interviews and appearance standards.. Basically LTL and over sized..

I've worked at Walmart tier van companies and contract fuel delivery and a solo runner caps out 72k-85k before 15% w2 tax and medical deductions.. The van companies have productivity, stop, layover, fuel, detention pay which racks up with contract loads

I know a Tyson driver that does 90k but he lives in the truck no home time..

Team you can break 100k even at bad companies you have priority dispatch and exclusivity for hot and expedite loads. Even before covid megas would go nuts for teams

 

I make around 130k and home every day hauling hazmat: Problem is I’m poorer than when i used to make 100k 5 or 6 years ago. Inflation sucks. I need a raise

 

Ag Commodities if you are willing to work a ton of hours (Ag exemption). 2023 I grossed $106,000. YTD 2024 $111,000+

Because it's mostly local and regional OTR (UT, ID, CO, NV) I still make it home 2-3 nights a week.

 

For some of us, trucking has done the opposite... I think most of this industry is just your attitude towards it... I met guys that have been out here 40+ years and they still enjoy it and I've met others like yourself that claim it's the worst thing ever... I had an old timer tell me one time when you stop having fun it's time to hang up the keys.. something to think about.

 

People choose their path in life. I’ve earned a living in a truck since I graduated high school in 1996. Road construction, Pepsi, flatbed, livestock, pneumatic, hopper bottom, dry van. It’s far from perfect but there is nothing that would give me the schedule and time off that I want. I’m fairly healthy though I am a little heavier now than when I delivered Pepsi or pulled flatbed. I exercise, don’t eat much junk food, and I’ve never worked for a mega so my experience is different than others.

 

Most drivers just never know that attitude they have and fully control is what makes or breaks em. When you're unaffected by what anyone else says or does it's a powerful thing.

 

One’s day to day can affect their attitude, but look how many keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. People bounce from mega to mega to mega, get treated the same at all of them, and then complain about how bad trucking is. Or lease purchase to lease purchase and complain about getting screwed over. If someone doesn’t have goals they will simply exist in their life continually making lateral moves instead of trying to make upward moves.

Some of my friends poked fun at me when I made the switch in January to where I am now because “they don’t have very nice trailers”. I suppose these days social media also has an effect on choices that people make.

And to touch on your last sentence about caring what others think, I had a guy a few years ago tell me if you wouldn’t ask that person for advice then their criticism shouldn’t get to you.