Is this a Trucking forum or an ANTI-trucking forum!?!?!

In 1992 i made $42,000 as a company driver then, pay sure has not increased much.

 

21 years old? I thought you had to be 23 to run outside your state. You will not get rich driving a truck for a living but you can make a decent living if your willing to run. I think my average pay per week was around $750.00 after taxes while i was an otr driver staying out for 7 to 10 days at a time. On the other hand if you are single and don't mind being away from home for weeks at a time you can make really good money. For a while i stayed out for a month at a time then would come home for a few days and then do it all over again, ran like that for about 2 years. I made a little over a thousand a week after taxes in that time but like i said i was never at home to spend it. Now that i have a family i just cant do the otr thing anymore.

 

I averaged $600-$700 a week (bring home) in 1985. Do you really want to discuss how pay hasn't changed?

The company I worked for, was fairly PO'd then, when we were dealing with .69 a gallon fuel, and getting $1.25 a mile for the load.

Now it's $2.70 a gallon and rates have went DOWN for the O/O that leases on with a company. On average .87 a mile plus fuel surcharges....total BS in my book.

I'll top 50K this year. It could be more with the right company. But the right company for now, is the one I'm at...weekends home

 

Carolina, I was 21 years old when I started OTR over 14 years ago...depends on who you are and your record. Yes, 21 is the age they will GLADLY accept you now, back then it was hard.

 

..pretty much based on 'insurance rates' for companies? Those that are 'self-insured' can take younger at a higher risk!

 

Wish I could have got some of that when I started. IT was a little over 15 years ago for me, but the going rate was around .18-.19 everywhere I looked.
Ended up with J.B. Hunt, where I didn't stay very long at all. Nothing to do with the money, because I did fine in terms of miles, and never had an issue getting money that I had coming to me. I just didn't like slip seating and hearing the complaining about me idling the truck all the time, LOL.

For the guy who started this thread, you can make money in this industry with some common sense and hard work, much like any other job. Just remember, for every negative story you here, there are 10 other people who are happy with what they do and simply don't talk about it. People generally don't talk about something when they are happy about it, but when someone has feels negatively about something, they are going to post it anywhere and everywhere
they can.

If you can handle around 35K in your first full year while you learn the ropes of the industry, you will be just fine, provided you are cut out of the job. If you are the type of person that complains anytime something doesn't go right, aren't prepared to do things at times that you don't feel should be your job, or can't deal with people being a jerk to you at times while at the same time smiling back and treating them professionally (because they are a customer), then this isn't for you. If you have any sort of issue at home where being gone for a while (more when you are starting out) is going to be a problem, this isn't for you.

It is a different lifestyle. Not all, actually a high percentage, are not cut out for it in today's society.

 

Hey magic,

I was 18 when i got my cdl, I drove old mack trailer dumps and got my exprience, just doing local. Its was hard for me when i went otr i went with werner. Well lets just say it was boarder line salvery, waiting for loads for hours. Doing mt trailer recovery out in philly. It is a rewarding career just do your time and you will be fine. I no longer go otr, as i am doing the heavey hauling right now, that and some flatbedding work and i am happy as a clam. I wish i could show you all the pics i of the machine i got on the drop deck now. I think its a CAT D8 or D9 dozer its a heavy mother going to Rhode Island tommarow.


Magic I wish you the very best of luck, these people on this website are true blessing to the industry helping out others form bad companies and such.

P.s Will give contact info if you want.

Be safe and godbless

 

That's true, BullWinkle. I agree. You just got to remember...one disgruntled employee, ok, two disgruntled employees, weird, 10,000 disgruntled employees, something is wrong here.

 

I am not disagreeing that things need to change, but that is going to take drivers actually sticking with the career, and demanding the changes.

Still though, it is a good honest living, and you can make good money at it. I basically had to start over in the industry this year as a newbie (.35/mile) since I was off the road for over three years. I get plenty home time, and still bring home 1K or more per week. And this is such a hard job, that I also find the time to spend a few hours per day on my websites as well.

It isn't nearly as bad as many of the whiny stories make it up to be. 90% of those, probably more, are simply people having no idea what they were getting into, or not having the abilities and work ethic needed to do the job.