How to make more money other than experience?

It varies. My first year out I met an owner operator hauling cars up and down I5 in California and he told us that he made over $100,000 a year and didn’t even work that hard. That guy had it good. He said he only worked 175 days a year and spent the rest of the time at home but he’s been out doing that for a while and owned his own rig. I met another guy that did heavy haul and I never asked him how much he made but he showed me pictures of his house and it was really nice and he usually had weekends off and carried a barbecue around with him. I don’t know any guys that drive tankers but I do know as far as company driver jobs it pays pretty well and you usually get to go home at night. You’ll find that the more specialized areas of trucking pay better. Anyone with a pulse can haul a van. My wife and I don’t want to deal with tarping and strapping so we chose to go into explosives and that way we can still haul a van and get paid better. Find out what interests you and get the training and save your money so you can get your own truck.

 

typical millenials, always want more money but not willing to pay your dues first,

 

I drove Tractor/Trailer company driver for various companies for 10 years before I bought my first truck. Took forever to make the first plunge but when I did I was glad that I waited..

 

if your going the flatbed route with swift then get on the dedicated chrysler account out of laredo pulling those 3 car haulers if you want to try car hauling it would be a good easy start

 

Heavy haul will be the most lucrative. However, to get there you need to have experience with flatbed. Swift has a flatbed division. See if you can transfer to flatbed. When I was with Swift that required a week of securement training and they didn't pay much of anything for that week. Talk to your driver development manager and see what is required to get on with flatbed. FB pays more per mile plus you get tarp pay at Swift.

 

You know dude, I don't know what about this post that rubs me the wrong way, so don't take this too much like bashing you but ...

I am not bitter, or broke or washed up with low ambition, but I am old and I blew my money on building a company and employing people.

You pay your dues by working.

This isn't a hamburger place where you can jump from the fryer to the cash register and back. it is a job where you have to have a skill or people will die. Just look at the videos on youtube about the accidents with trucks.

I require 5 solid years of driving to prove that a person can actually drive a truck and found something out, many can't even after 5 years. Their skill set sucks, I've had people in road test take out yard trailers and a car in the yard, even had one guy not pull up the dollies and dragged them without figuring out what was wrong. I don't tell people much during a road test when it starts, but their skills matter.

However you don't have to wait to you are 50, you can do this in a few years at the same company. What matters is your WILLINGNESS to learn and take responsibility. Just read some of the crying about getting fired or getting tickets ... something like these'well I was only doing 70 in a work zone in the left lane while it was snowing heavy, I don't deserve a ticket' or better one is 'i was following my gps and it sent me down a restricted road so I tried to cross the bridge and got stuck under the girder, my company fired me, why did they do that, it was the GPS that told me where to go'.

AND about this making more money, I have to ask this ... what if trucking wasn't available to you, how much would you make with your present skill set?

$300 a week gross?