How much should an OTR driver earn? Here's my opinion!

yep, time for HOURLY PAY!!! and OVERTIME!!!

you can't predict how the weather, or traffic will be, why should your pay fluctuate? because the owner's does? who cares, he shouldn't be running rates so thin that he can't comfortably pay you a good hourly rate with overtime, and compensation for being in a sleeper.

 

a nurse or doctor might be on call and not paid during that time,but they arent locked in a closet 2000 miles from home either..

also, w/ your trk being loaded etc your company expects you to keep the trk and load safe,within reason...(call the police if somethings happening,or move to a different location). that right there is enough by itself to be paid during that time,the trk itself is an asset that is worth alot,let alone the trailer and the load...

drivers SHOULD be paid for every minute theyre out,including sleeping,layover, etc etc. if most drivers had more education and had access to a community such as this to share info and communicate w/ others it would lead to higher pay by that in and of itself. imo this guy is out of touch w/ reality and isnt a driver,likely either an owner who profits off of drivers or some type of management official,maybe owns a few trks and used to drive like someone else stated.

 

every company ive been w/ has a policy against this,it is common sense. they dont want someone parking the trk somewhere near the house UNGUARDED (95% wont be able to park AT the house,local laws in most any non rural city prevents this,whether there is space or not).

w/ that said,most companies wont do anything unless something happens,but if something happens,youll likely be out of a job.

 

Aha! Because your mileage rate is supposed to include security 24 hours a day.

 

AMERICAN SUPER TRUCKER
" 1st you missed the point i was trying to make, you were trying to make it sound like its impossible" Go REREAD my post , never said IMPOSSIBLE , I wished them LUCK.


Read the posts on here , guys crying about low miles , too many trucks not enough freight , factor all that in and it is HARD to do the 140,000 MILES / year SOLO.


Fleet averages for 2010 show its HARD to do today as a SOLO driver , Millis average 101,282 miles per truck per year , CALEX 102,000 miles per truck per year , PRIME with over 2500 TEAM trucks their fleet average is 137,253 miles per year.

 

I agree. That's why when I got enough experience, I got a local job that pays by the hour with OT after 8.

I actually sometimes miss OTR and may consider going back to it someday if they ever fix the compensation.

 

Me too. Last holiday I worked and made $500 for the day. yipee!

 

I think that you and a few others would like to see this industry move toward an hourly pay rather than performance. I don't see that happening. I think most would not want to move away from performance pay to hourly. It would mean a pay cut for some. What could be more fair than paying people based upon how well they perform? One reason this industry moved away from hourly pay for otr drivers is the lack of supervision. Even with logs books and all the electronics, companies cannot be certain that their drivers are doing their jobs. With all the intricacies of otr it would be difficult to effectively plan and establish rates based on hourly pay. If there was a serious move in that direction I would expect a strong push toward importing drivers from outside the country.

 

I still drive. I have not forgotten anything. I don't know where you got the idea that I don't like drivers. There are some crybabies, but there are also a lot of good, hardworking drivers in this industry. I never said that I had money, yet you make an assumption that I do because I ques ion why any one should be paid for not working. I am not sure what you think that I could do to help your cause. If you think that it is such a "rotten business" I don't understand why you are still in it.

 

Supervision or lack thereof is why the pay is crap? Wow. Imagine all those people out there who would do so much better if their boss was standing beside them as they work. Believe it if you will.