I have many random questions on Truck Driving

There is a lot of variation in this field. But generally speaking, most carriers will give you one day of hometime for every 7 on the road. Stay out 3 weeks, get three days off.

However, smaller regional carriers will sometimes get you home for a 34hr reset every weekend. Depends where in this industry you end up.

Look at most drivers in the truck stop. No, most do not get anywhere near the amount of exercise needed. But then again, after a 14hr work day you are usually too tired to even think about it. Especially if you only have enough time in your schedule to take the minimum 10hrs off and get rolling again first thing in the morning.

UPS and such often start you as a casual. However you won't make enough to live on part time unless you have a working spouse.

Many times your next availability is up to you. However, the more time you are off the less money you will make. If the wheels are not rolling, you are not earning.

And if you are thinking about sightseeing on your down time, be aware that many companies frown on excessive "out of route" mileage on their trucks. You'd need to find other transportation to sightsee unless it is near to the truckstop you are at.

Absolutely. Many have air cards thru their cellular phone companies for internet access. Others here can tell you more about that. What I do is use WiFi at the truckstops. Some smaller places will have WiFi for free. Pilot, Love's and Flying J have it for a fee. I use the WiFi from Petro and TA. I use the points I get on my frequent fueler card to purchase time. 15,000 points buys you an entire year of WiFi for free from them.

I started in '03 and made $40k my first year with a training company. When I left them 4 years later for a local regional carrier, I moved up to $60k a year.

That will vary widely. By law, your work day can not be longer than 14hrs from the time you come on duty and you can drive no more than 11 of those hours.

HOWEVER...

Some outfits who still run paper logs (and especially if they run looseleaf) may have you run much more than that on occasion. One carrier I've heard about would have folks run a 30hr workday at least one day a month. Places like that are the exception though and becoming rarer as CSA kicks in further. Just be aware there are still a few cowboy outfits out there.

Good Luck on your decision-making process!

 

Welcome to the TTR Forum. I'd say average first year OTR pay is around $36,000 - $40,000. On the exercise question, if you can do it on your own without a gym, I imagine you would make time to do what is important to you. A cellular aircard will get you online when you want. If you want to make money you will have to run miles. I'll give you my standard advice and you can take it for what it's worth to you.

You need to research and find out what the important questions are. You can make an above average living but you will make sacrifices that other jobs don't require. Read the "good companies" and "bad companies" section on this forum and get an idea of what company you want to work for and what kind of trailer you want to pull. Don't just go to school and then try to figure out where to go.

I don't know your financial situation. Don't take training from a company if you can afford it or get it with financial aid. You will be their slave for up to year. If you leave they will trash you DAC and credit record. Check out your local community colleges and employment office.

Just know that most training and trucking company recruiters will do nothing but lie to you. They will let you talk about what you want and then tell you what you want to hear. Trucking is about moving freight to make money for the company. Your home time, family, paycheck and everything else comes second.

It is not like any other job. Local is usually backbreaking delivery work 10+ hours a day, 6 days a week. Often you unload dozens of times a day or you are a salesman. In my area most dump truck jobs pay less than a good factory job. Regional is lots of loading and unloading time, fewer miles than OTR and not as hard as local but will wear on you and push your HOS limits. OTR is out 3 - 5 weeks with 3 - 4 days home, less manual labor and more miles.

You'll probably have to pay your dues before you get the gravy job. Weekends off, if you are lucky enough to get something like that starting out, may be home Thursday afternoon and leave Saturday night or home Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. Loads deliver on Monday early and you leave in time to get them there. Often your home time will be in the middle of the week.

Regardless of your driving choice, after school you will go through company training. For OTR this can be six weeks to three months with little or no home time. The first phase is usually $400 a week and the second phase is $500-550 a week. Some pay less. One company pays 12 CPM for training.

One last thing, you don't want to wait around too long after training or you'll have trouble finding a job. If you get out before you have a year in, when you try to come back a few months later you will find they want you to start over.