What is the REAL average first year income for a new driver

The account your on, you should have no problem making 55-60k/year once your comfortable.

 

My wife and I drove team and made about 40k each the first year, 45k the second and will gross about 65k each this year. We are pretty much at the top of the pay scale right now and if we want to make more we need to get our own truck. If you are going to run solo you could expect to make a little bit more than 1/2 of a team but you will earn every penny.

 

When a company says you can make up to 70k a year it's to draw in fresh meat!
Yes one guy that used creative logging, ran out every minute of his 70, only went home almost never, or spent his 34hr resets in a dirt lot in Lawton Ok or some other fine establishment.
Also if this is possible for the first year, why are experienced drivers with multiple years and clean mvr records only averaging approximately 55k year.
Realistically if you want to push yourself, run hard and get home for your standard 2 days every 3weeks you'll probably make around 45k your first year.
There are exceptions for everything, but this is probably most realistic.

 

Oh I'm plenty comfortable. Have been since about 2 months in. I will say that generally speaking this is a decent account to be on. Granted, it's my only experience but still. I will say that it doesn't pay top dollar and that's ok. Once you enforce upon the office folks what you will and will NOT do things run pretty smoothly.

Not rightly sure how much longer I'll be here though. Until mid Feb for certain because that is when my 1 year contract is up. After that I may be looking to move on.

 

Or...discipline yourself to eat right and get some exercise. Get some quality "me" time for a while with the lofty goal to ultimately Know Thyself! This is sure to strengthen interpersonal relationships and one's own mind and body.

Call me an optimist

 

You are ignoring all those local drivers. The trash, dump, cement, and other heavy truck drivers local. They don't work cpm. Just hourly, and often a five day week.
I was making $33K/yr in trash. Base pay. Actual with overtime about 35.
I'm taking a job quoted at $70k/yr. If I run hard. Little to no home time. (my first year)
That averages to $52.5K just for my statistic.
I had made as little as $26K to start in trash. Overtime walked all over that.

Also, what all to they include in heavy trucks for their statistics?
There are many people driving local. Not making very much. But they're home every night.

 

I worked about 60 hours a week in ready mix over summer which is time and half over minimum wage or a little bit over. Our City fathers (Yes we used that term.. for City Council) in that Searcy area limited Ready Mix driver wages to 12.50 a hour in those days. I made 8. Minimum was 6.35 or so maybe. Throw in time and half that 8 became 12.50 and 12.50 became really nice for those who put in some years.

I was in a interesting position having only one year with a mixer experience and paid as a newbie despite the then 20 plus years running both A and B class vehicles. The actual doing was not the problem, the wages paid to me were. Especially if the old hand with 5 years or more in company time of employment were paid 12.50 a hour.

I don't know what the gross wages were for my time in Arkansas doing local work because we were carefully adjusting our total income to be less than 30,000 earned for filing jointly with certain deductions against state taxes and federal. We were both taking in other checks as a vet for spouse and from ss for me, but all of that is not taxable. But that is beside the topic.

The Government Labor Department enjoys creating huge data and then handing it down across the country as it created them. When I talk to a state person responsible for winter unemployment and they ask what hourly pay? And I say I earned .40 a mile. They sit there and wonder what is .40 a mile? Fine. 50 miles an hour times .40 = 20 dollars an hour, in a form they could understand and enter into their precious computers for the off season when we are not doing paving, concrete work etc.

 

Breakdown pay and layover pay aren't bad if you're with a good company. Making 40 the first year is easy if you specialize.

I'll probably make 50 plus as a rookie driver and without running hard. Just getting into it and the pay is good. I also get home every 9 to 15 days. Decided to do 15 to have some extra coin for Christmas. After this I'll stick to 9 or 10 out then 3 to 4 home, unless I want some extra cash for something.

 

2nd time I messed up a name here. I'm getting old and weird.