How much do you earn gross per year?

Funny is when you expect drivers (especially O/O's and IC's) to be HONEST about what they make.

Funny is when 90% of the responses here are nothing but lies and over-exagerations.

 

please tell us which ones you think are lies, or over exagerations,! and why do you believe they are not truthful?

 

I think that is true, especially in this industry. Sometimes you will be lured over to a new situation and they will give you pay based on experience, but even then you are still going to have to learn their way of doing things and may not maximize your potential. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence, there might be plenty of green grass in your own pasture if you care to go find it.

Playing "work up" getting back in the industry early last year I started with Swift after getting three month's OTR experience without going to school. Swift took the three months experience instead of school and I had to go through their training program and start from the bottom like a recent school graduate. I knew off the bat I wouldn't be getting top dollar and that Swift had a bad rap on this forum and elsewhere, but I also had the balls to go visit prospective companies and Swift's terminal near where I live was open to talk to me and invited me "open kimono" to look around the dispatch and planning office, talk to a recruiter, look at the equipment, and talk to the drivers.

Starting early May to end of December last year I made $24K gross, about a $35K annualized rate that also included training time and starting out at $0.25 per mile.

This year my gross is working out to an annualized clip of $55K. I started this year running a team on a dedicated account, going to coast to coast every week. Starting in July I became a trainer (mentor) and my income boosted significantly. If I work a full year as a trainer, then my rate will be closer to $60-65K.

I think three factors contributed to my rapid increase in income with Swift:

1. They gave me a 12.5% increase in pay per mile on base rate.
2. I hit "Platinum" status, with lots of miles, no service failures, and a spotless risk analysis score (zero accidents and passed DOT inspections). With that status I now get bonuses that will run in the $6K per year range and increasing.
3. Becoming a trainer. In a "training company" that's where the money is at. It also happens to be my passion and I'm good at it. There's nothing like getting a trainee to those moments where they "get it", that first back without assistance and without pull-ups, the first time they make a smooth skip gear downshift, or the first time they make a right angle turn without using the entire intersection and keep the trailer tandems about a foot away from the curb at all times. I love what I do and the financial rewards are nice.

All that being said, I know that ultimately I'll want to take that next step to becoming an owner-operator. IMHO that means in order to make the kind of profit I want in a business I'll need to lease on with a different company. Until then I'm loving what I do and learning a lot by teaching.

 

Last year I made around $84,000. I was on the road for a total of 3 months. That is spread out over the entire year. Other than that I sit behind a desk the rest of the year.

 

Last year, my reported gross to the IRS, after deductions for my 401K was $54,786.00, the actual amount before that was $59,900. This year, I'm on pace to gross $60,200 before 401k deduction. Work 5 days a week hauling intermodal, varies between 10 hrs to 13 hrs a depending on the day and the amount of work.

 

Apperantly you've never worked in the gas/oil industry. 12k/mo is average pay.