How to calculate your equivalent hourly pay as an OTR driver

Any way you cut it, long haul truckers are underpaid. Period.

 

Well, I'm happy for you that age 22 you have reached your goal in life and can sit back and enjoy the fruits of that labor for the next 50 years or so.

 

My way of thinking is,like Too Tall says,he had a goal,loves what he is doing,alot freer doing over the road than local. I have worked local with hardly any sleep or quality time with my family when my kids were young. I was gone two or three weeks at a time,but had a nice house,cars,motorcycle,my kids had great christmases' and my wife didn't have to work either,unless she wanted to. When I came home we would take off for a week and visit friends family or go camping ,fishing etc. My grown up kids said they missed me,but,really my father drove truck locally and worked two other part time jobs,and we only seen him at supper,he was sleeping all the time,on weekends after he rested we would all go out for ice cream together or out to lunch at A&W Root Beer.He and Ma raised eight of us. I witnessed how hard he worked and I don't work near that hard driving up and down the road. If you get 40 cts a mile and you drive 60mph,thats 24.00 an hour,when you load or unload,you can lay down while they load or unload you at most places,I don't count my naps,certainly if you nap locally you won't have a job too long. I eat when I want,leave my home when I want,Get to my stops on time and be dependable.You can run nights or days or both,eat and take a nap anytime you want. Locally you don't have a choice,in traffic at rush hour,alot more stress,on the road i travel in non rush hour times,pick my own times thru Chicago if I go there.I get alot more sleep on the road than local drivers do.To me I get paid to ride around and check out the scenery,houses,custom cars and motorcycles,all types of people,great women and meet nice folks most of the time. You know,when I retire,I will really miss the best times out there.After over 40 years I still for the most part love it. I have nice toys to play with,laptop deductions on taxes,cb deductions,my dogs supplies,even his food,and per diem allowance for days on the road,alot more deductions than local drivers can get if you do it correctly.Your wife can blow more money and still pay the bills and she can drive a nice car,if you get behind or have a bad week,all you need to do to catch up is run an extra run and make another 300 that week,whereas locally you can work overtime if its available but,these days not likely as things are slower than usual and fuel is so high.Everyone to their own opinion,but,really,I don't think I would be in the shape I am in right now if i had drove local all my life,twice as much work,stress,and alot more chance of getting hurt,constantly rushing here and there,in and out of that truck alot more. I guess once a Roadee,always a roadee. Also,remember this most,its not about the money but really about what you and your wife or girlfriend need in life,and above all,you must like your job,if you don't,find one that you do,and enjoy your work,I DO. Good luck out there.

 

I didn't mean to come across as thinking I'm better than anyone else, just because I make decent money for the work I do. Beleive me, for all the grumbling we do around our shop, I know I'm lucky to have the job I have.

Sure, I'd like to not be working afternoons, so I can be home with the kids at night. But on the other hand, I'm there in the morning to see them, get them ready for school and take them to the babysitters before I go to work. A long day for me has me gone from the house for 10.5 hours. My actual shift is 9 hours paid with a one hour unpaid lunch. I do 5 pick-ups in 1.5 hours with a straight truck, all skidded. Drop them back at the shop and hop in the tractor for my 2 hour drive. Then I sit for 2.5 hours to take my one hour unpaid lunch break LOL and do my 2 hour drive home. Not too hard to handle. Of course, I've only got 20 years seniority. Once I move up a bit, I'll get an easy run.

 

overrated imo.

i sleep in my own bed too. but mine is in my truck. i got one at home i see on occasion but my home is where im at. and right now it happens to be in a very cold truck cuz my bunk heater is broken. i asked maintiance if i can beat on it with a hammer but they said itprolly wouldnt help. would make me feel better though

anyways i love otr. right now i sorta got a girl at home that doesnt mind what i do (its a long complicated story, bear with me) and as long as she can call me anytime she wants it works out well. so all in all it works out well for me. i couldnt be happier doing what i do.

in the words of carl edwards: im just living my dream

 

You and me both...

 

"OTR trucking isn't something that lends itself easily to hourly work, plus there is the opportunity for drivers to milk the system (cheat) if pay were hourly."


true - but in my case if you milk it - you get fired for stealing. (period)

we get our mileage rate - and anything invloved not rolling is paid hourly.

** get to the office and punch in - I am now hourly until I turn the key - drive 3 hours at mileage pay then get caught in traffic - I no go back hourly until it cleans up - then back to rolling mileage... get to a stop and go hourly... back to mileage pay drive another hour and get dot'd where I go hourly again - then drive on to destination at mileage pay and wait for a taxi to take me to hotel... (hourly pay after 30 minutes wait) if the company does not get me out of the hotel after 12 hours I go back on the clock hourly pay etc etc etc **

this way of doing things breaks it down so that drivers are beeing compensated for their time not only driving - but also for all the crap we have to go through (traffic jams - dot - breakdown - shipper delay etc)

the only time we are not compensated is when we are OFF duty - i.e. we get to our home terminal and punch out - and are walking to the lot where our car is parked...

but as I stated - you cheat and get caught - you are GONE...

honor system prevails - and you will be completely destroyed if you lie...

the other side of this is it leads us to run a 100% accurate and legal log.

we have to log everything exactley as we run it... no BS... and the tradeoff is that our company would NEVER dispatch us on an illegal run.


might not be for all - but it works for me...

(best part time job out there! hehehhehe)

 

Do the math any way you want.

If I'm gone all week. I worked 164 hours. End of story.

Even making $30 an hour while driving doesn't pay enough for the time I've lost with my family....period.

I can make more money, I can't get time back though.

The truth of the matter is, you are at the beck and call of your employer for the entire 164 hours....but you only get paid while moving.

 

well then it boils down to what I have preached for months...


find a job that gives you more of a home life...


I call mine a part time job because I am only gone for an overnite or two a few times a month -


a lot of companies have guys convinced you have to be "out there" weeks on end to make a living... that is not the case with a lot of jobs...

I know guys who are otr and gone for weeks - who make half what I do being in my own bed 4 nights a week....


look at your situation and decide what is really important for YOU and your family...


my outlook changed once I got married - and I really started looking at the hours I was in limbo (for free)... so I changed jobs.

a lot of guys will keep beating there heads against the wall until their children are already grown up - or their wives leave them...

 

It'd be fine and dandy if everyone could have such a job. Unfortunately, not everybody can just quit tomorrow and go get a cherry driving job that sees them home four nights a week. Inexperienced folk don't have much choice but to run themselves through the grinder to prove themselves (most don't prove themselves), while experienced guys know it takes a connection to get one of those jobs in most cases, so they don't even bother. If I have to know somebody to get a cherry job, I won't get myself all worked up and giddy over the possibility of my landing it, as I would know realistically I won't be getting it. Such is the good ol boy world. Good jobs are carrots for those who play by certain rules. I'm not talking just about those who are honest, either. Those who are of a certain religion in some areas get nice cherry jobs as rewards for staying in the fold. Those who are not in the fold have to settle for the scraps.