DRIVER WAGES BACK IN THE DAY

We hardly have any milk in the stores here. Thanks to that ##### Florence.

Dear milk haulers : Come in from the north bridge in Currituck.
My cereal would consider you a hero.

Love,
a Cereal Killer. (No not a typo)

Sirscrapntruckalot - Snap, crackle, pop...Rice Krispies!

 

I'm not complaining about trucking wages....they are stagnant in just about every industry. You just gotta choose the right company.

I worked at a distribution center, and after 12 years I clawed my way up to supervisor level...meanwhile my friend started driving garbage truck and was making more money than me right away.

That of course made me question my life...and my first full year of trucking I made almost double the take home of my old job.

 

Lots of point missing going on.

I can tell you from 20+ years working as an expat in the oil industry, all things being equal, the guy from India, Pakistan, or Indonesia is going to get the job because they work for far less.

 

The oil industry I don't know as well. But in technology there's more work that needs doing than people able/willing to do it. The biggest bottleneck there is manpower, even with everyone knowing.

Technological advancement is growing exponentially, faster than humans are reproducing. It's not just companies competing for talent anymore, it's countries.

 

I had a choice of 13000 or 8000, I chose 8000, it was a 3 day a week run

 

How much more does one have to earn, for things to equal.
Trucking = more money
Non trucking = home every day/night for
Meals, in bed with your spouse, sh-it and shower in your own bathroom, see your kids sports or other event, babies first steps or words, nights or weekends with friends and family etc.

 

Being local generally pays better then long haul.

I say generally. I was doing pretty good with regional.

I actually make slightly less now but there was a time when I was making much better.
Depends on what current company has going on.

 

I opined some as I was reading, I did read every comment. First, it is a mistake to compare eras. One thing that frustrates me to no end is people that use 21st-century morality to judge the 60s or 70s. The same can be said of pay then and pay now. I had a neighbor to ask me to loan him enough money to make a payment he owed. I asked him what happened to his pay that week. As I waited for my answer this guy lit up a smoke AND I noticed a scratch-off ticket fall out of his pocket. I then asked how many packs do you smoke a month? 2 packs a day was his reply. That is 60 packs a month, do the math. I then asked about the scratch-off, ohI get one every time I buy a pack of smokes was his answer. I did not loan that guy any of my money.

Of course, what a person does with their money is their business! However, sometimes said person being able to make it or not is related more to their spending habits and not their income. Further, I also know we all want to be paid what we feel we are worth. The problems come when what you feel you are worth and what your employer feels you are worth can be miles apart. The only way to fix this problem is to find another employer that will pay you the difference.

 

1977, I started driving a 6 wheeler for $100/week take home pay. I think when I left in 1980, I was taking home $125/wk. Went to a job paying $5/hour. 1981, managed to get my Class A while working at this job, no school, just on the job training. I think I was up to $5.50/hr, plus we would get "incentive" pay of maybe $10/day(cash) Did a little bit of OTR there for 20 CPM, I think they were giving some meal money also, but I don't recall. Back then, health insurance was not expensive and the company provided it for free. 1984, I hooked up with a pretty good union job that lasted until 2004. Health insurance costs might've been one of the reasons why that company closed...I had my wife and 4 children on my policy with darn good coverage, and it didn't cost me anything...