Any Advice?

David,

Check out the jobs on craigslist also, however some of them are bogus. You honestly are in a decent area, for florida, for trucking.

There are also decent driving jobs listed thru the Workforce site.

Push comes to shove, go down to the new courthouse, Alan was looking for help. He's a pipe-fitter !!!!

 

My take is a newby will make zilch the first eight weeks. He'll make just enough to survive. Then the first year he'll make around $32K and gradually grow to $50K in five years. Don't forget paying the school back.

I made $50K ten years ago. My best year I made $59K. Last year I made $42K. It all depends on the company and your choices. I've had about every type of company driving job there is. I believe I was happiest driving a rolloff locally and made $36K. I always want to go back OTR though. There's this little man on your shoulder that keeps yelling at you, lol. OTR is alot of fun but at the same time there are alot of stressful times and you deal with all walks of life from the nicest person you'd ever meet to a total jerk you never thought existed. You have to keep a cool level head to succeed. Some customers will make you mad as hell, but you have to maintain sanity to get out of there quick. Losing your cool will just hurt yourself as alot play god and punish you by making you sit and stuff. You'll learn that in the early years. Older truckers should get honorary psychiatry degrees.

If you want to be at the top of ladder in trucking... Gear yourself towards being an owner operator. It's risky right now and alot of added responsibilities. If you have good business sense, you can make in excess of $80-$100K with the right connections.

Expenses will cut you down drastically. You can easily spend over $12K a year living out a truckstop. Not only is it expensive, it's unhealthy. Do the math and your earnings just dropped to below $38K.
You can save a bundle by bringing your own water and making your own drinks and coffee. Buying drinks out of a truck stop will cost you around $3K a year alone. Equiping your truck with a good fridge/freezer, microwave and doing the Walmart thing will save you a bundle. I eat alot of TV dinners, soup, salads and sandwiches. It's not healthy but it's cheap

Seeing the country and watching different sunsets is something not many get to do.

 

Nicely put and realistic but the last line is the BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yup, 50k, 10-15 years ago was good. I did that over 20 years ago !!!!

It should be the bare minimum now days, it's a darn shame !!!!!!!

 

Where I live unemployment is around 14%. I think it is higher. One problem working fast food I have seen through my kids friends is that a lot of non-english speaking people work there and are in charge. The english speaking ones that work hard get hours cut and no increases while their non-english speaking counterparts that are lazy and do not work as hard get the increases and promotions. Times are tough all over.

 

Sure is-where I am alot of the jobs flipping hamburgs or at grocery stores were and are still going to the kids while people like my husband got passed up. I am not saying teens don't need jobs but if you got a 40-50's old applying at McD's you know it's not for sh^%$ and grins.

 

Most of the larger carriers do offer health insurance, but just like with most other companies, your costs may vary.