I was just wondering...

Best Of Luck and Welcome to the forum

 

It is not just a job, it is a lifestyle. For some, they couldn't imagine any other life. Or when they give in to the temptation of the greener grass, they quickly regret it and go back to the road.

The pay is relative. Yes if you have a family at home to raise, no amount of money is worth missing that if that is where you want to be. But if you don't mind being on the road, the pay can be pretty decent.

 

Well, a lot of the negativity is coming from several sources: people who got into this industry with no idea what it actually involved, people who got into this industry thinking they knew it all, and part of it is just the nature of people. We do complain about things. Did you ever vent after work about some idiot at the check out that just drove you nuts?Vent about some BS that came down from corporate that was obviously set up by someone who doesn't know how things really are on the front lines?

$1,500 a week? Not likely that someone in this industry is going to see a paycheck like that unless it's local with a lot of overtime (dump trucks maybe). Once you get through the training, and breaking in period, you can make a decent living at trucking as long as you did learn how to get the miles and run them.

My hubby doesn't bring in $1,500 a week, but he usually does good enough to take care of expenses and have some fun money left over. We don't have an overboard lifestyle either though, so it works for us. I'd say he averages about $800 a week give or take.

 

I cant vouch for OTR work/pay, but a 10 year+ driver in the dump truck industry out this way with lots of overtime still wont see $1500/week. More like $1500 every 2 weeks.

The only way to guarantee more is to get on with a larger aggregate/dump truck company and cross your fingers for the prevailing wage jobs. Then you're talking $45/hour. Thats a big check. I have seen guys take home $3600 in 2 weeks and thats more than most the managers make. But I haven't seen one of those jobs since 2006/07 and I wasn't on it.

Other than that, really do your homework on what company you want to work for, and what part of the industry you want to be in, whether it be local or OTR. I thoroughly enjoyed my short time on the road every day, but I can't speak for everyone.

 

It's not as bad as things actually sound. One thing to remember is people are more likely to tell more people about a bad experience than a good experience.