If You Want To Drive A Big Rig You Need To Read This

Pahrump, I realize you may not want to be bothered. Tried to send a PM, but that's a no go. Tremendous OP!

This should be a must read for anyone considering getting into driving or who has a few months or year's experience and thinks they "got it".

I second that!

 

I want to read this post asking how to get into the upper bunk!

 

I want to read both. Can't find any links???

 

So many good jobs out here that have you home every weekend grossing around $55-$65K....

 

The man who taught me to drive back in the 70's always said, "There are lots of people driving trucks but not many real truck drivers". Never more true than now.

 

Ask a new driver what a hand is and the answer they will give is duh. Very few hands left in todays world of trucking.

 

Please don't make this a sticky.
51" Screen 1920 X 1080 OP still doesn't make sense with various text sizes.

 

$200-$650 a week isn't good money. If you don't have that many bills it might look like it is good money, but it isn't. You were just lucky enough to have low overhead costs. Go look up the history of OTR and come back and tell me again the model was designed for frequent hometime. The less cents per mile you are paid the longer you are going to have to stay out. Now if you are getting paid pretty decent than obviously you don't have to run as long to make as much money as someone who ran 6 straight weeks for lower pay. Not everyone knows the companies that pay really well, and student drivers are for sure not getting paid that well. So my advice was practical for the people not getting paid that well. It'd be great if everyone got paid at least .50cpm, but that's not a realty yet.

My original post was concerning OTR not Regional or Local Driving. Regional and Local caters to frequent hometime.

 

I think you're a little off. You can stay out as long as you want and if you're not getting miles then you won't make money regardless. I think lease ops and owner ops should stay out 6 weeks or more at a time but that depends on how they're getting paid. I think 3/4 weeks out is good if your averaging 25-3200 a week for those weeks out. I do the 3/4 and average 8-1100 a week depending on circumstances. So with that being said 6 weeks is pushing it if your company I think. I've done it once.

 

TMC Rookies & McElroy rookies could easily clear 50K first year, guess what? Home on weekends!!

The last company truck I drove, hired rookies as well, smaller company outta of Iowa, we would run loads from the East coast to far Midwest and be back home on the weekends. 2500 majority of the time but was paid on percentage & got bonuses. I netted at least $850 a week & on average netted around $950. Pulling a reefer.

Go to a truck stop on a Friday/Saturday and watch how many common carrier trucks sit in the same spot all weekend long. Most irregular route carriers don't Avg no more than 2400 miles a week. Why waste that time at a truck stop when you can waste it at home? Only a select few at the Schneider, Crete, & Swifts of the world's grossing over $70K while being gone for a month & a half.