How Much $$ The First Year??

It's not what you MAKE that matters, it is what you GET TO TAKE HOME!!!
And FWIW, your 1st year, it wont be much!!! Certainly not considering the amount of time spent away from home. $20-$25K, if you are lucky.

I don't know how recruiters consistently find new victims to suck into this industry! Either they are very convincing liars or people are extremely gullible!!!

 

Well, I can't talk for anyone else but my first year I made a little over $37k. I started at .34/mile and when I moved to another company I also got .34/mile. I ran a little over 120k miles my first year. It can be done but not if the company only pays you .24/mile and makes you sit all the time.

My first company: May Trucking. I think they've lowered their starting pay a bit but still, when I was there - which wasn't very long, my average run was in the 1300 mile range.

 

You can make decent money. $35,000 is high but obtainable. You won't see home though if that is your goal. The truckers that make that money live on the road. The miles go to the drivers that stay out there. Ask "American Trucker". The home time frequenters tend to sit more. Your going to get what you make of it. You have to really hustle in trucking. There are some divisions of trucking that pay more such as fuel tankers, flat beds, and heavy haul. They are a little tougher to get into as a new driver.

Welcome to the forum and good luck to you.

 

WOW!...$100/week for medical insurance...that's $4,400/yr which comes right off the top!!

 

you should really consider your first year paid school since you dont learn crap in CDL "school" except how to pass a test and any actual knowledge probably will be erased by the massive amount of crap you need to remember for the test. i've never done OTR but i think its in the mid to higher 20's for gross but maybe i'm wrong? i dunno.

 

Yeah school is pretty much there to get you ready to go with a trainer. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Run Forrest, run!

 

yup and even after that you gotta find your grove. at least with me, someone can show me how to do something but i never end up doing it remotely close to how they do it. if things dont make sense in my head then i end up taking forever to do it. i do it the way someone teach's me, and then i figure out how i can personally do it better and faster. like someone said theres a thousand ways to skin a cat, it doesnt matter how you do just dont cut your hand off lol.

 

won't that be $1200 a year sounds cheap, $100 week is $5200 year sounds about right for family coverage

 

some of the stories i hear on the this board are nuts. if i ever get discontent with my job i just mozy onto the motor carrier section or whatever section that is with the complaints about companies. makes me feel real good about my 31,200 a year salary, along with a 500$ christmas bonus, 3 double paid days for holidays, 3 paid holidays we get off, and i'm home every single night with 2 days off a week.