Can I make 40-45K 1st yr OTR?

You know, we all need to remember that this is just your opinion. Many people in life get defeated not only emotionaly but financially, and i for one will not be defeated by the grumblings of anothers misfortune! Call me foolish if you will but I and I alone will choose my destiny and outcome regardless of AN OPINION of a few. How do i know that your opinion is not based on the poison that you've let slip into your mind from another?that this is everyones fate in this industry! I belive your fate is what you make of it, if you want to be home with the family then DO IT, it's called OVER THE ROAD dude. You work and live on the road, and sure times will and are tough but thats not gonna change no matter how long you B*&^%$ about it! Find somthing else to do that makes you happy, I for one won't listen to all the crap from drivers who have been driving all their lives and say that the industry is crap and there's no hope. Hope is what you make of it so stop already, I Look foreward to being a trucker and and will be PROUD of it and i've read all the bitterness i can take. People in business will try to exploite/take advantage of/make more profit/ect..ect..
so what else is new, THATS LIFE, IT NOT FAIR, IT NEVER WILL BE but i for one will walk some day to my death with my head held high and will have enjoyed life with all the thanks i can muster.

CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE.......CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

 

There is no such thing as a free ride in life....nor even an easy ride. Trucking has its hardships and challenges as anyone reading this site will quickly find out. I have been trucking for 5 years OTR. I started at the bottom with Swift and got fired for my trouble. I'm doing better now but others are doing better. My point is that I love being a trucker despite all of the crap. I love getting behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler and hauling ### down the road. I cannot think of anything else I would rather do.

Trucking is not for everyone but that does not mean that it is not for anyone. Read this site and take it all in. If you are willing to take the chance, then come on out and play. It will take you years to really learn this business though. Most of what we learn is on the job. Everything we learn is expensive. One of the primary reasons that first year truckers don't make a lot of money, besides the rate they are being paid, is that they really don't know what they are doing. They don't know the little time saving tricks that experienced truckers have learned along the way. The sad part is that no one can teach them to you. You just need to learn as you go. So, if you are like me, part hobo, try it out. The hours are long and wierd and the pay is not all that great for the time and sacrifice you put in. However, that doesn't matter in the long run if you love it. Just my opinion for what it is worth.

 

It's not a matter of changing your attitude. The guy that posted this is telling you the cold hard truth. The company I work for, JB Hunt, two years ago, had a little over 12,000 tractors on the road. We are down to a little more than half that now. The biggest cuts came in the random, over the road division, which at one time was the meat and potatoes of our business. Most of the remaining drivers, myself included, have been put on dedicated accounts. Up until January I was making $800-900 a week. Most of my paychecks since then have been around $300. I've had ONE $700 check in the last two months. Twice I've canceled my hometime, I get 3 days off after 11 out, because I simply couldn't afford to sit at home.

In my 12 years of driving, I've never seen so few trucks on the road. I unloaded in Middletown, NY last night at ten pm. Ask any experienced driver what a nightmare that would be to find parking after delivering a load that late in an area like this. Two years ago, the truck stops around here would have been crammed full by 6 pm. Not so today. I drove to the Pilot truckstop near the I84-I87 interchange at 10:30 Pm and found it virtually deserted. The signs warning drivers, "3 hour parking limit" were pretty much being ignored, some of the trucks parked here have 3 and a half foot of snow piled on them from the storm 2 days ago.
It's rough out here. Despite all the cuts the companies have been making, every week we have more and more drivers chasing a shrinking amount of freight. The unemployment is getting higher and higher. That directly affects us. When people aren't working, then freight isn't getting produced to put in our trailer.

 

Mr mustard,

Please stop spreading the truth.

They will NOT accept it, .................

 

Thread Hijack warning....

Hey Mustard,

i've been in that Pilot (Newburgh, NY) since noon on Thursday. I was out there, chickened out in the storm, and after 2' of snow, I have been stuck here since. I plan to get out of here early tomorrow morn.

94nole

hijack over.

 

Look, first i want to say i can't believe i need to say this to grown adult's and forgive me if this offends you because that is not my intention! But seriously, look around at all the old timers that drive, the ones that grew up in the depression and came out. They've seen bad times and learned to roll with it and realise that life is not just about money, it certainly helps but it should not be the focal point of anyones life. I believe (just MY opinion) that if you live beyond your means you are setting yourself up for failure. It's all about being responsible with your money and what you are able to actually get, keep, maintain. Did you know that your monthly rent should only be 1/3 of your monthly income? Nowaday's i bet because everyone feels they DESERVE to live in a expensive house or rental, that their rent is 1/2 or even higher of their monthly income. Because you made great money a couple of years ago and started living at that level, buying things you did'nt need but wanted because you were keeping up with the joneses and friends or could'nt tell the misses NO when you should have put it away for times like NOW. I stated all this for this point..................The Industry as is, because of the demand low or high (seasonal) and the consumer demand at anytime is not a good thing and it's not a bad thing, IT JUST IS! and Companies running are just trying to survive how they feel fit, nothing more. No one told you to buy, buy and buy again, and now when the work drops a little OMG "The industry sucks", Well i believe if you stop living above your ability the idustry will magically not look that bad, and you might be able to lessen your stress.

Again, look at the old timers, some have NEVER bought a brand new car because they know how fikle life is and the economy can change on a dime YET THEIR STILL POSITIVE AND HAPPY TO BE HERE. So i happen to think it's unfair to tell newbies that this industry BLAH BLAH BLAH............

Be realistic in life, live SIMPLY, i know it's hard in these days and times because everyone buy's new. But the more you buy the less you enjoying your fruits of laybor and hometime because you have to work more to keep it all up! It's not the industries fault, You bought them or it.

My hat is off to the old timers and i for one have learned from your experiences and prudence of finance and say thak you for the lessen

 

That's right, but only if you have it.

 

only if you find a company that will pay some crazy amount per mile or some large salary per week.

i'm gonna say not a chance in hell.

 

It's Monday, 9am March 1st. I just got dispatched to go pick up a load in Carlisle, PA and take it to Cleveland for tomorrow morning.Got my 34 hour (and then some) restart. Been here since Sat morning. Going to run in here and get a cup of that hazelnut coffee and finally hit the road.

 

Sir, all my intentions were to warn people who are layed off, sitting in their pajamas and see the infamous ads on their tv about how great the trucking industry is and how with just four short weeks of training you can be making $40,000 a year. It's crap. In most cases, it's simply a trap to get you to sign up for a student loan that you'll be stuck with.

Trucking has been good to me. And I expect when the economy picks back up, it will be again. As for my bills and my house, the only thing my family is struggling with is a mortgage payment, that's worth more than the house is, by the way. I wanted to just simply let it go, my 50 year old wife would not accept that, and she went out and got a job sewing Army fatigues together. It's the first job she's had in 30 years. My daughter and son in law live in my basement, which I converted into an apartment, and they help out. My son in law works, waiting on tables at the local Big Boy. My daughter stays at home and watches her two children, as well as the other two children my wife and I have custody of. My income is way down right now. My son-in-law has made more money at Big Boy than I have trucking in about half the weeks since the first of the year. That's the reality. A year ago, I was pretty much supporting everyone. My son-in-law was working part time and going to college full time.He can't do that anymore, and I've never heard him complain about it. Nor am I complaining. All I'm saying is you can't make it out here with a great attitude alone. You need freight to put in the trailer. And thanks to all this HOPE and CHANGE you all voted for, that freight is hard to come by.