before you pay to get your CDL to go OTR consider a few things

First of all, look at what has happened to the organized and unorganized American labor force in recent years. I would especially direct your attention to jobs sent off-shore (overseas), and the in-flux of illegals and immigrants to supplement, or in many cases replace expensive American labor. Without getting into any major conspiracy theory, millions of previously good paying jobs have been lost via these two legally or illegal mechanisms of elite capitalism. The American trucking industry is at this time morphing into a lower paying profession. Keep in mind, that 5 or 6 bucks an hour is huge money to people coming from newly developed or third world countries. As a strong believer and advocate of human rights, I harbor no ill feelings toward these people. They are only doing what most Americans are trying to do, improve their way of life. You might wonder how I arrive at 5/6 bucks an hour. You will quickly learn that the 24-32 cents/mile newbie pay is watered down by much uncompensated line 2 and 4 time. And don't think that you will average 55-60 mph You could easily experience a ratio of 1 or 2 unpaid hours for every 5 that you drive. As a newbie, you will bust your butt, you'll overpay for everything at truckstops, and, you can and will find yourself overnighting in places not of your choosing. It's a generally very tough way to earn a living, and there are many forces at work making tougher and tougher. A newbie lasting a year is rare.

Be very careful, this industry experiences huge turnover. AND, remember that you are competing with a huge cheap labor pool.

 

DON'T YOU MEAN LINE 3 AND 4 TIME? LOL


Pat, Line 3 is bread and butter.. Line 2 time logged after the 14 hour clock starts is pure wasted time. I think we all do the 15 minutes check in on line 4, and then go to line 2 for the dreaded wait on live load/unload. It is quite common for carriers to allow 2 hours for shipper/consignee to load/unload, before detention time is charged to them. That's 2 hours the typical (pay per mile) driver is sitting and not earning. Also the hourly rate paid to driver after the 2 hours is far less than his/her rolling miles average hourly pay. On days where you unload and reload, if either, or both shipper/consignee are slow, the driver can lose some substantial driving time, and therefore money. I'm experiencing an awful lot of 1.5- 2 hour load/unload, with the actual forklift time in/out of trailer being only 10-15 minutes.

I realize that nothing happens without shippers and consignees, but would love to see that 2 hour load/unload allowance cut in half.

I'm happy for you that you're enjoying the travel and the scenery, but please understand most OTR drivers aren't tourists, they're driving to earn a living.

BTW, ther is NO driver shortage, there are too many trucks..