Getting my CDL soon, what's this REALLY like?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by New_trucking12, Apr 29, 2025 at 9:48 PM.

  1. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    At the end of your day driving you get 10 hours off. If you sleep 8 that leaves 2 hour to eat dinner and breakfast plus take a shower.

    If you started driving Monday morning and work 14 hours a day by Saturday evening you will be hitting your 70 limit. So you will park at truck stop and you do a 34 hour rest to get another 70 my Monday morning. You will have to wash clothes at truck stop and hang out and relax. Unless you get job that get you home every week.

    If you only drive 8 hours a day you can run 7 days a week. It’s not written in stone you have do 34 hour rest every weekend it just an opinion available if you want it or the company run your 70 hours out on 6 days
     
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  3. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    Nope you only get paid detention pay if you make you appointments on time. That why some drivers plan on being 5 hours early if the place has parking they might show up 10 hours early and take that 10 required break at the customer.

    if you have 8am appointment I looked for nearest truck stop to park at hopefully no more then 30 miles away and planned on being there at 7am so you would have leave truck stop at 6am. If you have rush hour traffic you have to leave even earlier. What I did was if I had drive thru rush our traffic in big city. I looked to see if customers had overnight parking. I would stop take shower in afternoon then drive to customer and park for the required 10 hour break. That way I did not have worry about an accident anything making me late.
     
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  4. New_trucking12

    New_trucking12 Bobtail Member

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    As a brand new driver, or soon to be at least, what type of route or job would you suggest? I don't mind the "loneliness" or "missing out on life", I really just want to know if the money makes sense. I'll get whatever endorsement is humanly possible to get, so long as it pays off later. Should I even bother with hazmat if there's other local jobs that don't require it and still pay very well, like you say? Likewise, I'll get hazmat and learn how to sow blindfolded on a unicycle if it means I hit the prerequisites for a higher paying job, as long as that job makes sense - no BS. For example; should I try and get my hazmat, work OTR for a year - look for something local/ haul fuel nationwide (or local) - get my own rig (because it'll pay a lot more and it'll be worth the insurance/maintenance/out of pocket costs/ and the LLC expenses). OR should I simply look for a higher cpm job that will offer stable work? Also what is "decent" pay in this industry, I see a whole lot of crazy numbers getting thrown out there on some job searches, from 100k to 400k a year
     
  5. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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    Wow.
    Why does it seem to me that you are just punking everyone here?
     
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  6. New_trucking12

    New_trucking12 Bobtail Member

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    Don't mean to make it seem that way, I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just trying to get as much info as I can, and these guys have been very helpful. I know nothing about this industry and I want to make sense of what I've been seeing/ reading. It's hard to get a read on people online but I'm not trying to be disrespectful
     
  7. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    You will probably only make $50,000 a year maybe more. Walmart drivers make $120,000 a year that basically top pay
     
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  8. New_trucking12

    New_trucking12 Bobtail Member

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    Thanks for all the info, seems like a lot less is in the hands of my company and more in that way I'd have to plan my days/ routes. Someone pointed out I might have been coming off as rude and I hope I didn't offend you in anyway, might have been very matter of fact with my questions/ responses but I'm just trying to get info, and you gave me tons, thanks again
     
  9. New_trucking12

    New_trucking12 Bobtail Member

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    Oh wow, that's really not what I was expecting, I always heard people brag about bringing in 100k+ and thought maybe 60-70k would be the lower end. Sitting at that 120k seems like the goal then, which is still not anything to scoff at, I was just hoping for a larger income difference than I have now
     
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  10. Chi Town Steers

    Chi Town Steers Heavy Load Member

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    I know people driving Uber bringing in more than a lot of OTR drivers, especially rookies. Seriously just drive Uber 80 hours a week and you’ll probably be close to or at 100k. Which is definitely more than you would gross first year trucking. The money gone man. The only thing that might make sense is having zero bills and living in the truck. You can dump your rent and car payment. Hitting 70k your first year is barely attainable and then you can add about 10-20k a year for 2-3 yrs and then it’s topped out for regular drivers. To make more you have to do crazy things. The only way to do what you want to do is buy your own truck. All the good paying jobs have piles of applications waiting and there’s more drivers everyday.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2025 at 12:22 AM
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  11. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    I think when you say 100k -400k in pay because it so far off. Most drivers quite because of low pay and long hours.

    That’s why I say you can probably drive 120,000 miles a year. That’s not so easy also. They if you look on internet or call trucking company you can multiple the cents per mile rate x 120,000 miles will tell your yearly pay. Maybe you can do 125 or 130,000 that would be difficult in my option but it’s possible
     
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