Thinking about trucking again

To me, and I'm sure some others, OTR is a life. I've been expediting in straight trucks for the better part of 20 years, and none of that time has come close to my year driving around the country in a semi. I wouldn't doubt the wait times I've had to endure in expediting had to have given me patience to tolerate OTR.

 

Fish!!

 

Here's the thing about percentage pay. 25 percent is paid to you of what the load pays to the company. You won't know what that amount is unless you ask, each load probably pays a different amount. That's why a lot of owner operators like percentage pay over mileage pay, they can pick and choose the loads that make good business sense for them. As a company driver percentage pay can be good if you have multiple loads you can pick from, similar to an owner operator. If the company doesn't offer you load choices than you're at the companies mercy. If that's the case then ask if they have minimum payout. The company I drove for gave me choices usually 3 .

 

When I did percentage it pretty much equaled out to the same as driving for mileage. Some loads paid really good and than they would get a cheap load or you would dead head along ways and didn't paid for empty miles. I didn't mind the percentage pay. You could ask them what there drivers pay averages out to the mile so you had a better idea of what you would make.

 

Percentage means absolutely nothing until you know all the numbers. If you don't know how much the load pays the truck how are you supposed to calculate how much you get paid for doing the job? And then you gotta factor in your time. Percentage is fine in the oilfield when the money is good but I would never do it hauling Freight. The profit margins are not large enough for my liking to make me feel comfortable doing percentage.

 

Trucking today is not for the faint of heart,,Its tough, there are so many regulations and requirements that driving is the easy part. Ive been at this for a long long time, Ive seen the good the badly and the ugly. This is the ugly. Stay home, sell on ebay, mow lawns, wash cars, buy and sell at flea markets. This is not a life I would ever recommend to anyone. Its tough on your body, mind, spirit and love life. If I had it to do all over again would I do it? HELL YES,,,Im a gypsy and love the smell of diesel fuel and the roar a big cat can make. The shiny chrome on a w900 LARGE CAR. The rockn and rollin of the ride. Am I nuts? Ive been told that but I truck to live and live to truck..This is what it takes if your going to be a real trucker. Not a good buddy, fog light in the daytime using, vegetarian. ice tea drinker. THATS IT, IM OUTTA HERE, got another town to see.