How much $$ am I really going to make 1st year..??

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Sami, Nov 9, 2006.

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  1. Sami

    Sami Bobtail Member

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    "if you want to "expect" more money, then go OTR for a long haul company, get your experience, and be done with it."

    So if i went OTR I'd be able to make more money than local??
     
    Sami, Nov 9, 2006
    #11
  2. Truck Vet

    Truck Vet <strong>NRA AMA Libertarian</strong>

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    Way too vague a question. How much is a JBH driver
    makeing when they lay him over in a truckstop
    for the weekend and not paying him for his time?
    I made more my first year as a LTL driver home
    every day than you will make for Swift your first
    year OTR. I just got lucky. Later my luck ran out.
    You need to figure out which you are suited for
    and start putting in aplications and if you can-
    network. It mostly depends on you.
     
    Truck Vet, Nov 9, 2006
    #12
  3. pro1driver

    pro1driver Heavy Load Member

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    yes but.................

    LTL drivers can work many more hours than the average OTR driver too.......

    this is why i won't do P&D for any LTL company in my area. linehaul, perhaps, but i won't do layovers either.

    so, you may be home every day, as an LTL driver, but after that 10 hour off, you could be back to work feeling very tired, especially if you lumped freight all those hours the day before........
     
    pro1driver, Nov 10, 2006
    #13
  4. Aligator

    Aligator Light Load Member

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    How much will you make?

    I got lucky. I was licensed last Nov, went to work for a furniture manufacturer and will make 57,000 this year.

    My advice: Talk to lots of people and use your imagination. Stay away from the freight companies with recruiters if you can. If the ad says they want two years experience, call anyway; I did and got hired.

    Look around your home area and notice what trucks are operating at terminals close to you.
     
    Aligator, Nov 11, 2006
    #14
  5. MACK E-6

    MACK E-6 Moderator Staff Member

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    But they are still subject to the same rules.

    But $24 an hour is hard to turn down.I started a city run last month in a rural area. I'm finding it fairly straightforward and getting easier as I learn the regular customers. Once you get a little wiggle room on the trailer you can modify the route as needed to make it more efficient, such as for deliveries on different sides of the street.

    Some days you'll get a workout, but you'll get used to it. When you have good freight it makes for a pretty easy day, good freight meaning standard size pallets. That way you can move it around in the trailer as needed.

    Where I work they use all liftgates. While this scares some people, the liftgate is your friend. For anyone who doubts that, they need only to consider the alternative, which is to break the pallet down and unload it by hand, as opposes to simply rolling it out on the lift gate with a pallet jack, lowering it down, dropping it, getting your bill signed, and leaving. This usually takes me all of 5 min.

    Now who I really feel sorry for are those who peddle freight in New York, Manhattan in particular. I couldn't take that.
     
    MACK E-6, Nov 11, 2006
    #15
  6. joshleb

    joshleb Bobtail Member

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    Anybody know anything about Transland out of Springfield, Mo?
     
    joshleb, Apr 9, 2007
    #16
  7. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Medium Load Member

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    For an OTR driver...

    A simple way to look at it is just putting numbers to it.

    Say you make 30 cents a mile. If you run 2200 miles per week as an average all year, that comes to just over $34,000. Can you run more than that? sure you can. Will you? depends on how quickly you adapt to the job, how well you plan you work time, and how much time you spend out on the road.

    2200 miles per week is attainable average in your first year(360 miles per day average for 6 days, and 1 day off). 30 cents per mile is just a number to throw out. you might make more per mile, you might make a little less per mile in your first year.

    Each penny per mile above or below .30 will change that yearly total by $1100.00 in one full year at an average of 2200 miles per week.

    Nobody can tell you how much to expect, as much of it will depend on how hard you work.
     
    Bullwinkle, Apr 9, 2007
    #17
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