Experience...Does It Really Matter Anymore?

Maybe some if that is due to all the job bouncing?
A lot of truckers move around and complain a lot so there’s always a replacement?

Maybe a guy who has really worked hard for the same company for years without any issues is being quietly rewarded and the company just doesn’t make it known?

 

It sounds good man, but it can't happen. @Catmando had the best answer in my view. It's about revenue brought in. A driver has to run a lot in order to see better pay. These jobs aren't like professional sports where you are compensated based on being the best, being tenured, etc. Professional sports have multiple revenue streams. Trucking companies pretty much have 1 way to draw money and that's to haul loads. Maybe if we had spectators pay to watch us bump docks or tarp loads, maybe those vets could get more for their longevity. When I began, my trainer told me, "Whatever a trucker puts into the industry, is whatever he gets out of it." To me, it seems so entitled when folks think longevity deserves the highest reward. I think the best deserves the highest reward and it don't start and stop with longevity. There's a fella I work with now who has 26 years experience, but there were several months he didn’t even run 10k miles. I've got 13 years and in 2021, I ran 153k miles, no accidents, and delivered all my loads on time. Over the course of 2021, I brought in more revenue than the guy with double my experience. So what we talking about? Should my company reward him just because his CDL didn't expire? Should they find him more valuable than me?

 

If you have 10+ years and don't feel valued at your company, then maybe it's time to go owner op. I only have 3 years, but I don't expect to make significantly more money if I had 10+ years. the industry just doesn't work like that.

In fact no career or job boosts your pay majorly from experience alone. You typically have to move up the ladder into higher paying positions. Those 'higher' positions don't exist here.

 

This industry is not filled with professionals like some would want to believe

As someone posted. It’s easy to get into and there are a lot of skaters in all job markets. Trucking included

I’ve been out here about 15 years and I know guys who make way way less than I do and have been here since the early 70’s
Why?
Is it that they don’t run it like a business or even know how?
Is it they don’t want to do any physical labor?

I don’t know the answer but did run into a guy leased on to the same company I was and said he was slow
What?
Then I find out he won’t tarp. Won’t go to ports as he gave up his $200 twic card. Won’t go east. Won’t go to California etc etc

Have also heard guys on the phone yelling at dispatch
I never yell at dispatch or anyone on the dock. Not their issue and they go home at 3
Every load thinks what they gave me is the best run I’ve had to date. if I have an issue I bring it to the person signing my check

There’s a reason why some make less and I’d bet many times it’s on them

 

If I'm hiring a new driver for my new truck I want a newbie running it...lol

We just got in a new Argon trailer and tractor.
Combined value around 375K.
Full contents are valued at 300 to $500,000 dollars.
We go once a week to IN to fill. We are union so all get paid the same but only 5 experienced drivers run it.

Same w difficult customer stops or tight runs.
If something happens were out a rig and a driver cause if you crash you are fired.

Jr. drivers will get these after they've proven themselves and not before...
So yes, sometimes experience matters.

 

Everyone here is paid the same, its on them to make the most of it. Because we leave the responsibility on them, there is a wide gap in earnings, where the low end is in the $50k range, and the top is hitting 6-figures. Same trucks, same freight, same lanes. Some struggle to hit 100k miles, while others can surpass 150k.

 

That's a pretty big gap. Doesn't management see that and wonder what's going on?

 

I mean it's trucking, you can make close to, if not more than 100k a year with no formal education or any life skills. If you made it past the two year mark without destroying anything you're pretty much in.

 

Two drivers pull into ABC company lot. They each hook to a preloaded trailer and head out. Three days later they each bump a dock at XYZ warehouse. If one driver has 20 years experience what extra value did he generate for the company over the 2 year driver?

 

He ran the shortest route, he fueled at the cheapest and most efficient stops, he caught a low tire and had it repaired before it became an issue, noticed an expired permit and contacted the receiver about arriving early and was promptly unloaded and well on his way to the reload after stopping for his shower.