Do you OTR reefer guys really make a good living?

Reefer otr gross 10k+ weekly in Nov-Jan

 

Owner op or company driver? Is it only about the money? You’re okay with the oilfield life, otherwise?

 

If they were doing so well in reefers, why did they quit?

 

Life, there is more to life than sitting in a dock.

 

True, but he's saying reefer drivers make more than oil field drivers, yet, they quit pulling reefers. Can't be any better working the oil fields and living with a bunch of men. I'd rather be in the isolation of a truck than in a man camp & making less money.

 

In reefer work I do well with Medicine. They unload you within the hour and reload with cardboard bales return to shipper in Memphis. Or it's drop and hook supporting western based teams in Little Rock so they don't have to double back 400- miles to do the drop and hook in Memphis. They could be almost past OKC going west in that time. By the time you get back to Memphis your next load is already in a sealed trailer waiting with 30 others or so for the next day's support around the USA.

As long you know your gross, withholding, taxes and so on each load you can manage your expenses and add to savings no matter what you are pulling. The basic problem in this industry is that for some the pay is the same as it was 40 years ago. (30's per mile) or has too many gotchas or minimums.

The big problem is time lost on the dock or waiting for same. The abuses by Shippers and Recievers continue as well as losses to lumping. You would think with pallets they can custom build a load per layer however many layers it needs to be on how ever many trucks it needs to complete a order for a given region or city.

I hate to be difficult however in some ways it's better to be doing something else like flatbed or tanker. You get more driving in within the same amount of work days total instead of losing it at the dock waiting excessively.

 

Maybe if you work 5 days a week
Overachiever..

 

As a company driver, hauling reefer isn't the best. It can be lucrative as an owner operator. There's a few decent companies that have long average length of haul and you don't spend a whole lot of down time at customers or between loads. The better paying loads are shorter in length. But you spend more time in docks, doing paperwork, not full days of just driving. I like it, as an o/o.

 

I actually miss it somedays, it is all just a waiting game. Problem is been gone for a couple of years and the industry has changed with stuff like e logs and more regulations.