Be honest, is trucking a good job?

36k, roughly... so maybe 700'ish gross...500 net. for a solo driver.

dont expect more, its definitely possible to do better, but only under the right circumstances including the company,management, your specific manager,your attitude, the contracts your copany has, how the economy is doing...your driving record can also influence your earnings potential..its complex.

personally im not doing that great in my opinion, roughly 48k gross,but i also have 3 days off per week...it could be alot worse.

 

close to what i would say, but i would add 70 OR MORE hours per week of actual work, up to 14 hrs per day as an otr driver or maybe even 16 hrs in a day if you are local ( working the ENTIRE day) and probably no shower. you will most likely not have much of a social life AT ALL, you are gone 95% of the month, home likely only 3 days per month is the industry standard for otr drivers..it goes by VERY fast, laundry,relaxing for a bit and saying hi to a friend and out for another month.. or if youre lucky home for 34 hrs a weekend which is better but not by much. if youre gone an entire week from home that is 168 hours, youll eventually have that memorized.

i would say NO, its not a good job at all and most of the people that enter the industry seem to share that opinion...its pretty shocking to most, they either quit before they finish training, quit before their first year or switch to another company thinking that they just are with a rotte company but quickly learn that theyre all the same for the most part. if youre extremely resiliant, positive and just dont give up its possible to make an ok living but its definitely a challenge.

 

3 days a month off is a little extreme isn't it? For example Roehl offers hometime fleets of 7on/7off and 14/7. Granted those fleets you have to share a truck, but part-time trucking just might be the cure for those that get home sick. Even a 11on/3off sounds doable and you get the best of both worlds (decent $ plus hometime) The only way I would stay out a month or longer is if I saw 5 - 7 days off at the end to recharge and enjoy my hard work. From what I've read on other threads, quite a few OTR try (TRY!) to get you home every weekend if you desire. Like you said alot depends on your company and from what I read the 1st 6 mos are tough.

 

Not a good job at all. 3400 hundred miles last week for $175.00 That's barely more than a dollar an hour. 184 hours in a week divided by 175 is less than a dollar and ten cents a hour. Less than slave wages. And now I'll have to take even a biggger advance this week so I'll be lucky if I make any money this week even if I drive 4000 miles!

OK, just kidding. That seems to be the kind of thing I hear from a lot who says there's no money in it though.

Is it a good career choice? There is no simple answer. There are many different types of trucking job and there are many different companies. If you can find the combination that suits you it can be great. It's been close to 5 years since I stopped working and started trucking. I wish I'd done it years earlier.

 

3,400 miles for 175.00 youre kidding right??

 

Read his second paragraph.

 

He said he hears it...

 

You are correct.

 

In this thread there was talk of going to a small company. I am a recent graduate of trucking school. I haven't seen a small company that hires newbies. If there is, let me know.

 

I love trucking, best job ever and it is very easy for me. However if you are the type of person who is strong family oriented, married, likes to go out and get drunk with your buddies every weekend, not used to hard work or have the mental strength to deal with bad days, then you will hate it like a lot of whiners I hear everyday. I am a divorced independent guy with no kids and my dad was my only family and he passed away so I am a loner. It is really cool that I get to visit my old friends who have moved away to other cities when I pass through though. The only thing I worry about is making a mistake and hitting someone, which I hope never happens.