Somebody give me the real deal.

Having kids and perhaps a significant other and away from home for weeks at a time is a huge factor to consider and is probably the second most reason new entrants bail out of trucking inside of the first 6 months.

Yes, the salaries you mention are about right. During the "apprenticeship" phase the money can be crap, depending on where you begin, but inside of the first 2 months, once you go solo, you should be averaging those numbers assuming you're not sitting at home 6 days a month and pull your weight and put forth a strong work ethic.

The first thing that washes out most new driver entrants is the job itself .. the lifestyle. It's not easy, it's demanding, the pay isn't especially good, and not everyone has what it takes to be a successful driver simply taking into account the most basic skills required. Odd, changing hours, demanding scheduling expectations, can be pricey to eat if you like to eat, demanding expectations from fellow experienced drivers, and several legal aspects watching your every move at any given moment.

But on the flip side, you can see the nation many times over, (the good and the bad), there's a lot of autonomy (but you must be a good self-motivator), and if you're good at it, you will always have a decent paying trade to work at, regardless where you decide to move later.

 

to add to Stexans post, i just finished heading into Cheyenne Wyoming and (sherman pass?) a mountain separating laramie and cheyenne. dense fog.. 21 degrees, and moisture on my windshield... wouldnt call it freezing rain but maybe freezing drizzle?? running regional i still don't get home very often if ever, but i do run 2300miles a week and to get that its 4-5 loads a week alot of 14 hour days doing live loads and unloads....being new to the industry my dispatcher has called me lazy for wanting to go home, hes also said its going to hurt his paycheck. this industry is cut throat and sadly i feel i have to watch my back with my own company.. i would take almost any other job if i could and never look back. too much regulatioins, not enough truck parking... your in everyones way i could go on and on.... i regularly drive 60-65 hours(add the 5hour live load/unloads) a week and i've only cleared(after taxes) 20k in 10months with a 2500 truck company. also gotten a ticket for following too close which ccost me 260 then my company fined me 260 for that ticket they said the dot fined them for my ticket and basicly passed that cost onto me.....

there is a reason this industry is ALWAYS hiring........ my ex trainer says CSA will start regulating safe experienced drivers right out of the truck

 

The first thing that you need to realize is that it is a tremendous strain on a marriage, no matter how supportive a person can be. Everyone hopes that their kids will be ok with them being gone, but it is the other person dealing with their frustrations, crying, missing, and acting out because their father is gone. It does get better over time, but your wife will be a single parent and begin to feel overwhelmed by all the responsibility. I have a very strong marriage, and I do support my husband in driving, but it is extremely hard to have kids and have responsibility of everything.

Now, there are companies that do hire student drivers that can be regional. The money per mile is not that great, but you would be home at least 2 days a week. My husbands first 6 months...he grossed $15,000 and the next 9 months he grossed $22,000. That was with his runs, any accessorials, and safety bonuses. The first year is when you have to pay your dues, and after the first year then you can go to another company that will pay you more. Today was the first pay check that he got with the new company that was $1500 and that is after taxes, so yes eventually it is possible to make $55,000. There will always be truck driving positions opened as long as their is freight to move, and it is probably one of the most dependable jobs that will last through the recession. So if this is what you want to do, then I really would consider it, but make sure that you are willing to sacrifice a great deal of many things to be a truck driver.

 

So my friend. Where do you live? Where you live determines a lot. If you live near a major interstate that goes coast to coast or north and south. That should be able to get you a good job and you can be by the house often. You will find some companies will only hire out of their hiring area. The reason most companies are hiring drivers because they lie, steal, and cheat from them and now with the E Logs they use to want you to run illegal. I'll be honest with you 37 seems high. I'll shoot for more for 28 to 30 and remember that's gross. So you might only take home 18-20.

You also now have to live on the road. Buy your food. If you have a fridge or cooler you can stock up at a wal mart for 50 dollars a week and eat sandwiches till you blue in the face or other food that you may like. Or you can spend probably about 7bucks everytime you want to get a bite to eat. Fast food. Expect to gain weight. Also if you are already over weight with a BMI over 35. They make you take a sleep study for a c pap machine at most larger companies. You can lower your bmi by exercise. Or end up paying close to 1500 dollars for a sleep study.

Also the training you get after your cdl school is normally done by inexperienced trainers so they might not be able to help you much and only get you in trouble. They will fire you at the drop of a hat for minor accidents, speeding etc. Most of the companies you may train with go less the 65mph unless you going down hill. More in the area of 62 to 60mph. They expect you to drive 11 hrs at 60mph so you get tired after the 4th hour and you push yourself to finish or get to a place to legally park. Parking sucks too many trucks not enough parking. Best time to park is before sun goes down or Early morning when everybody is waking up.

Expect while training 300 dollars a week. That's gross so you take home about 200 dollars and you have to live off 50 of that for about 6 weeks. If you can survive that then u might be taking home 4 to 600 a week maybe more give or take the time of year. You will have roller coaster checks. That means 1 big check, 1 low check or 2 good checks or 2 bad checks. All in all if you and the old lady can work together and you find a decent company who won't rip you off. You should do pretty good.

 

As a company driver in 08 when I first started I was paid $0.32/mile and averaged 2800 miles per week. Thats $890 take 25% out for taxes each week that leaves like $660 net in my pocket. Yes you have to eat while on the road and send money home for bills but still $660/week net isn't to bad. $660 per week times 48 weeks that you work adds up to just shy of $32,000. Nope not to bad. Now your miles and pay will vary depending on which company you drive for. If you could have a do over I would have tried to stick it out for two years before going to the greener pastures. Alot of the good driving jobs require at least 2 years OTR. After the two years then get a bigger wallet because you can go upto more than a $1,000/week net if your lucky in your search.

 

Murdog, If you don't mind hard work and are able to work with customers ftf you can go get a year or so worth of experience and start looking at the food service industry ie delivering fast food. I don't where you are located but I did it for 30 years and made a decent living( when I retired in 2011 I was making a little over 75,000 a year). Now when I said hard work, I meant hard work. Unloading anywhere from 3 to 5 stops and 1,000 to 1,300 cases per trip. But his was only 3 days a week..home every night. If you can try and find out from your local Burger King or McDonalds restaurant manger when they receive their trucks and show up to watch and maybe ask the driver a question or 2 . Do not be surprised if you have to be there in the wee hours though cause that is when most of those deliveries take place. I worked for both of them Distron 19 years (Burger King)...then GSF (McDonalds) 11 years. You said you wanted the real deal...well that is my story. Good Luck and if you have any more questions pm me...gotta go deer season is open here in NC and I got an arrow looking for a place to go.....

 

Go for the trucking career. You may have to job hop 2 or 3 times in the beginning to finally get to the job you are happy with financially. With me it finally was Tanker/hazmat. Did vey well with reefer OTR also but tanker/hazmat OTR was much easier & my pay averaged $65K per year. It's not that hard to hook up a couple of hoses and turn a pump on to unload.
You mentioned the IT career, many ex-IT people are now truckers, because the IT field is saturated.
Keep everything in perspective; you're makin a career change for your family & more job satisfaction & more pay. Most truckers complain so don't let that discourage you. They complain, but they still go truckin' down the highway just complainin' away; 30 years later they're still truckin' down the highway and still complainin'.

 

I could not agree more about the family thing. I have 2 girls at home. When we found out my wife was expecting our youngest, I decided I wanted to go OTR. I was a local driver up to that point, and life was great. Then i started OTR and while I made great money and thought everything was okay, my marriage began to suffer. I realized my wife was now a single parent and my youngest daughter didnt even know me when I came home. Talk about a kick in the b####! Thankfully, a great local gig came up, and the wife begged me to take it, and I did. My marriage is much better, my kids are now the center of my world. So whats the lesson? Think about how it will affect your family IF you go OTR. Local is the way to go if you have kids and wanna be a driver.

 

i put in my 2 years of OTR. i read somewhere that the actual definition of OTR is running more than 5 or 6 states. that may be different depending on who you ask. like the others have said, the lifestyle of being a driver is a bigger strain on yourself personally then you can possibly imagine. while i commend you on wanting to take a step ahead to better your life at home, you have got to understand that the first 6 months are the absolute worst. the 2 years is gonna be rough unless you run across someone that can pull a few strings for you and get you on doing something closer to home.

having said that, i did my 2 years of OTR, i finally got the job i have been searching for. i live in chattanooga, and i drive for a small local company (less than 10 power units) and i am home 4 nights a week and i run 2300 to 2500 miles a week. most of the driving is mon - fri, but sometimes i have to leave on sunday, when thursday rolls around, and i am home, i do what i did today. i run locally in town getting trailers loaded for the monday deliveries making 10 bucks an hour. all my running is for a local shipper in a 300 mile radius of chattanooga. i deliver the product, and 9 times out of 10 i run back home empty. we do have an occasional run to DFW and to central florida, and i have to do the latter one for this monday with a 6am appointment. those two longer runs are planned out mid week for the next week, so a reload is pretty much guaranteed with no wait. i make the delivery, get the reload and head home.

the funny thing is i am making more money now than i did the entire time i ran OTR. it is a combo of better pay and less time spent having to eat out on the road for 5 days straight. but that is one of the lumps you have to deal with until you can get what you want. it takes hard work, and above everything else, keep your PSP and CSA score clean as a whistle. NEVER take a warning ticket on anything. beg for the real ticket. a warning ticket can not be reduced or dropped and it will go on your CSA record.

i can tell you from my own experience that being OTR was extremely difficult. myself and the better half had been side by side for almost 6 years, then i went OTR. man i wont lie, it was heart wrenching being away from her and home when i was so used to being at home with her every day and night. this industry will test the most rock solid relationship. i can take her anywhere i go as i am fortunate to drive for a carrier that does not mind if i am legally armed or if i take passengers with me as long as i tell them who is in the truck for insurance purposes. her being able to go when she wants makes it much easier, and the being home 4 out of 5 work days a week on average has really eased the tension as well.

be sure you attend a PTDI certified school. dont fall victim to a bottom feeder like Swift. all the information you need is here in the forums, just search and read. what you cant not find or if you need clarification, post about it and ask. you can go to a certified school at many colleges. you can apply for state grants that you may qualify for like i did. my CDL cost me 700 bucks out of pocket. the state grants that i was eligible for covered the rest of the schooling costs. and they were technical grants, so i did not have to pay anything back.

best of luck.

Rob