Crete Carrier Corporation - Lincoln, Ne.

My hat is off to anyone who decides his family is more important than a job at a trucking company that will keep him out for weeks. OTR drivers have a hell of a cross to bear, and the opportunity cost is nowhere near worth it, in my opinion.

 

To each his own. I know flatbedders who say flatbed is the best, I know wiggle wagon drivers that say they have the best job...etc...etc...etc. It all depends on what'cha like. I don't care for local or regional LTL. But if it works for you and you enjoy it, it's cool. I prefer to run 48 states, even if there is an extra stop or two on the load. But that's why I make $60K+ a year(even on a bad year, mile wise, like last year)to compensate me for my time away from home. Which isn't a sacrifice for me, because until recently, I enjoyed the lifestyle I had chosen. As for being a OTR slave? I am not a slave, I compare it to more like a hooker...or in this company's case an executive escort... We are all getting screwed out here, just some of us make better pay for it.

And as for the reason for the increasing turnover rate...It's partially because the recruiting and driving schools aren't informing the students and new recruits that have little experience, what it takes to do this 'job'. It's not a job, it's a lifestyle. Plus many of the company's out here that use to treat the drivers like an important part of the operation have decided to start putting in bigger revolving doors in their terminal and just take the "if you don't like it leave, I'll put someone else cheaper in that truck tomorrow" approach. Which will eventually come back to bite them in the rear later on when their safety record and service failure rates suffer.

 

Agreed. To each his own. But even if I were a single guy, I wouldn't consider living in a truck 44 or more weeks out of the year to be much of a life. But that's just me.

Let's break this down: When I drove OTR, I normally stayed out for 6 weeks and then took a week at home. That averages out to 45 weeks on the road and 7 weeks at home. Most OTR national drivers spend that much time on the road if they are making any money. Let's break it down further: 45 weeks translates into 315 days per year on the road. Let's break it down further: 315 days translates into 7560 hours per year on the road. If you make 60K per year, divide that by 7560 hours, and you'll find that you made a whopping $7.93 per hour. It normally costed me around $100 per week to live on the road, and that's if I was living pretty light. Let's say you're really good with money and spend only $75 of your own money to live on the road and make money for the company. $75 per week to live on the road for 45 weeks translates to $3,375. Subtract that from your salary and divide it again to see that you made $7.49 per hour. And this is a VERY conservative estimate! Is this REALLY ample compensation for not watching my children grow up? Still think you're not a slave?

I'd say it's mostly because of the lies and witholding of information by CDL schools and recruiters. Newbies have no clue as to what they are getting themselves in for, and the schools and the recruiters have no financial motivation to tell them. Once again, to each his own, but I feel that the sacrifices of OTR are way too high, especially for someone with a family... and despite the $7.49 per hour!

 

Ok I just got the impression that is was the "awesome" job from your comments mostly I took issue with the jobs like yours are hard to get, they aren't. I also agree staying out 4 to 6 weeks is rediculous and can't belive anyone still does that. I don't even like staying out a week at a time anymore as I've done for almost 10 years now. For the time being it works though and my home time is better than what most company otr regional drivers have.

 

I probably overstated my case a bit, and I should have been more precise. I just checked the websites of the companies I mentioned earlier and, while there are some job openings, they aren't exactly boiling over the rim with them. I know that my company rarely hires a new employee fresh out of school but, if you have experience and a clean record, you can get hired... but not on any given day, like you seem to be suggesting. Sometimes, we have a full crew and aren't looking to hire new drivers. Think any of the large OTR companies are ever in that position? Call J.B. Hunt, Swift, USA Truck and any of the companies I mentioned, and see who contacts you first.

I only did it for a little over 2 years, so I tip my hat to you if you've been doing it for 10. My posts are not meant to suggest that I do not have respect for the OTR drivers who make major sacrifices to do their job... I have a lot of respect for them. I am simply showing disdain for the trucking companies who are taking advantage of these guys and gals and making them believe that they are doing them a favor in the process. It further dismays me that some of the drivers don't even seem to realize the extent to which the trucking companies are taking advantage of them.

 

US FOOD SERVICE and SYSCO are advertising all the time in PORTLAND OR, those two cant keep enough drivers in the NW region, I think its because they make you chain up plus driver unload. OTR advertisers in Portland- SWIFT, GORDON, wait wait wait, I'm getting way off subject. Sorry, DRIVE SAFE

 

For some reason, it didn't highlight the quote. No problem, I fixed it.

But...You are not on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 4 to 6 weeks. Its like saying, because you have to go to work at 6 am in the morning, you need to be in bed by say...10pm. (for an old guy like me) Then count all the time you have from the time you go to sleep, get up, shower, drive to work, get in your truck, deliver all your stops, drive back to the terminal/plant/warehouse, get in your own vehicle and drive back home. Your time stops as of the time you get home, and restarts again when you have to go to sleep so you can start again tomorrow. If you look at it that way, your pay per hour is a whole lot less. If you divide my pay by the 70 hours that DOT says I can run, but wait, you can't do it that way either, because the DOT week is 8 days long, my pay period is only 7. Let's say 8.75 times 314 (you were close when you said stay out 315 days a year, mine was 314) you get 2747.5 (actual hours may vary, see recruiter for details...). I grossed 63040 last year, divided by 2747.5 hrs. That's 22.95/hr. For a basic high school education, and a 2 yr associates degree in a computer language not used anymore...not a bad paycheck for doing something I normally enjoy. For me, to run a local LTL delivery, or even a regional job, I would have to have 25 - 30 bucks an hour to pay for the medication to keep me from going nuts. But if that's the job that you enjoy, cool...

Plus without you being home, (at least in my case) the grocery bill was less, the gas for the car was less, the electric bill was less (I like the a/c to keep it frosty). Unless you and your wife work at the same place, then you have 2 cars, 2 gas tanks to fill, 2 insurance policies, 2 engines to change oil in....etc. etc. etc. So you have to take that into account when you do your cost analysis. Staying on the road doesn't really cost that much when you look at it that way.

Besides, it isn't the job that enslaves you, it's the creditors. If I didn't want to work my butt off for a few of the comforts of life plus provide my family with a good place to live, everything they need and most of the things they want, I'd become Amish. Those folks work their butt off just to survive.

I think most of the people that have to have 2 incomes to survive screw up their family more than me being gone like I am. I would prefer to have 1 full time parent(my wife), and 1 part time parent(me) rather than 2 part time parents that get to visit their kids between getting home from work, and putting them to bed. At least my wife was there 24/7 for the kids, making sure they were up and fed, dressed properly, on time to school, home and had their homework done and fed a proper dinner. Always there to listen to problems. Plus available to volunteer with the school programs any time they needed. This job has provided a more rounded, better adjusted family life that most of the kids that were in my kids classes. Most of the other kids had mom, step mom, dad, step dad, step sisters/brothers. And played weekend roulette when it was the other parents weekend for visitation. I can't count the number of times my kids were asked 'which parent' they lived with. They were shocked to here 'both'. This job has given my family a chance to see what it use to be like in the old days, where dad went off to work, and mom had the real tough job. The 24/7 job without overtime.(and usually without any thanks) I think I the easier of the 2 jobs.

 

Supersnackbar... I like the way you think!

 

Supersnackbar, great post! It should be a must read for all the people who like to "break down OTR drivers earnings into an hourly wage".

 

Snackbar that was a great response! That is exactlly what my wife and I thought and practiced.