Is it possible to make good money hauling containers (intermodal)?

Ruckie, I just read your "tag line"....I chuckled. First, I commend you on your service to this country. But, second, I am curious to know how truck driver is opposite of soldier? I think they are kind of similar...especially if you are driving someone else's truck...curious your thoughts on the matter, sorry they might be "off topic".

 

Lol I own 3 trucks but me and my friends we always talk about business and we know what each other pay their drivers and i find it interesting that a company driver can actually make 100k when most of the people with college degree might never see that amount. I find military and truck driving opposite for alot of facts including one seem to encourage bad eating habits and the other one doesn't when I was otr it was an struggle to maintain my physical fitness.

 

Ha! Ya...you probably don't see too many fat soldiers! Lot's of fat commanders, I am sure!

Truckers (at least some) tend to be a lazier bunch...admittedly, having been OTR...when your tired, its easy to fall prey to bad eating habits. Its only been in recent years that more "healthy" choices of food are available at most truck stops. But, it's hard not to grab that "King" sized Snickers, especially if you have more miles to go and are already tired. I used to find myself "popping" food...candy, anything I could get my hands on just to keep myself awake. It can be a bad lifestyle, that is for sure! Before you know it, your too fat to exercise!

I'd agree with you, there are a LOT of college grads that can't get jobs making anywhere near 6 figures. BUT...its all about "supply and demand". Try to find 1 suburban parent who looks at their darling 10 year old and dreams "one day my baby's going to grown up to be an OTR trucker!".

Fact is, schools have, for years, brain-washed people into believing everyone needs a college degree, which, as a college graduate myself, I can tell you is no small feat. And now, it is a HUGE expense as well! I'd be showing my age if I told you what my tuition was when I first started college...let's just say, even back then, it would only buy a 20 year old car that was BEATEN. Today, you can buy a nice brand-new car, multiple cars a year for the price of some colleges! Something has gotten out of sorts in the mix.

Where the public school system misses is, in NOT telling kids "Its OK to go to trade school instead".

My son is graduating next week from diesel mechanic school. Top union wage for a Journeyman Diesel Mechanic at a name-brand dealer is around $39 hr and ALL the OT they want, plus benefits! It's hard-freaking work...and hence, shops aren't bashful charging $145 - $195 hr for service. Chances are, your not getting the $39 hr guy working on your truck, your going to get the $22 hr Apprentice or something in between!

Stop and calculate $39 x 40hrs x 52 wks = $81,120. Sprinkle in some OT, 10 hours a week, 40 weeks a year, your adding another $23,400. 20 hours a week = $46,800. However, if the mechanic was smart, he/she would work the minimum hours at their full-time "union shop", and then, spend their OT doing "side work". When I first started driving a truck, independent mechanics charged $50 an hour. Today, it's hard to find one who charges under $100. Take those 800 hours of OT the shop pays $58.5 an hour for and bill yourself out at $100 hr...you've made $160K between the 2 jobs. Now, if someone told me way back when, go learn to be a grease-monkey, you can make "executive-level" pay, I'd have thought they were NUTS!!! But, here we are. And, you don't have to be a diesel mechanic to earn that kind of buck...any mechanic, electricians, plumbers, HVAC, even welders. My son LOVES welding...go find me another 19 year old who loves doing that! And, he is GOOD at it! He's about to turn 21. If he never works another day as a mechanic...he could always find work as a welder.

So, to think a company driver can earn 6 figures is NOT that far fetched. A good, long-term WalMart driver makes that. Many more companies out there to list. What is surprising is, while these company drivers earn this, how many O/O are barely keeping themselves afloat?

So many guys jump into their own truck, thinking..."I'm gonna get RICH!"...only to get a dose of reality. Then, they jump around and say "Well, maybe hauling cans is the way", or "Maybe TANKER"...only to find, they ALL can be good, or, they all can suck! They all have their pitfalls...ups and downs. Its all in what you are willing to accept or not.

All I can say is, the day the last independent O/O goes out of business, ALL drivers are screwed! The industry is pushing hard to get rid of the independent O/O...I'm glad to know you and your buddies are hanging in there!

 

I'd like to give 1/2 of your post s like, but not the other 1/2. Not everybody who drives a truck can be hired by Wal-Mart. Those who do, make a respectable living. For some reason or another, the wages they pay to their drivers is an exception to 2 rules, 1st being the low wages mega carriers pay their drivers, and second, the low wages Wal-Mart pays its workers. One difference in the hiring practice between Wal-Mart and other companies is Wal-Mart doesn't care how much experience, they want to have a stable work history. A job you had before driving, and you stayed there 10 years, plus your 1 driving job, and you've been there 2 years, vs, oh let's say Prime that says they want a "stable work history (for CDL drivers, no more than 3 jobs in a 12 month period)". Yes that was in the Prime website. All the low paying mega also do contract work for Wal-Mart. CR England, Werner, Swift, et al. Yes a decent paying job can be found, no, they're not that common that anybody should count on making that kind of money! The combined Swift-Knight company is purported to have 23,000 trucks, Wener has 7,400, the rest of mega are similar size. Consider, the mega that contract to Wal-Mart are over 5 times larger than Wal-Mart, and we know that no one is getting close to $100k driving for Swift. Do you honestly think you are correct in telling someone "why own your truck for that, you could make 6 figures driving a company truck" when the company paying that comprises few of the driving jobs out there?

 

OK BEAN...first, take a deep breath. Your reading comprehension is truck driver "average" ...that's not good. You need to work on that.

Not sure who you are, what you've been doing the last 35 years or so, but, I have been a professional driver since 1982...most of those years owning my own truck...I didn't start out that way. I drove other people's garbage until I could afford to buy my own garbage. Now, perhaps you have been an O/O for the same time or more...it's possible we have 2 totally different perspectives.

I never said working for WalMart or anyone else was a walk in the park. And, I got news for you, there is NO mystery why they or anyone else pay higher wages. There are very good, very valid reasons they pay the money they do...they want the BEST. It sounds like they excluded you from playing in their "sand box" along the way, again, probably for good reason. They'd probably end up firing me too...I don't like wearing a polyester uniform! But, it is not IMPOSSIBLE to work for WalMart, or anyone else who pays good. It requires discipline. What it shows is that, drivers should STOP accepting the low-ball wages they get...that goes for O/O as well.

If I were to join a fleet operation (BTW, I'd rather do JUST about anything else), I'd qualify as a "senior driver". As an O/O, I earn well over 6 figures...NET...I have for years, but, it's getting harder and harder to make that. There are a few reasons I been able to have the success I do. It mainly because I understand what it takes to do the job, so, when some hot-shot hiring manager starts throwing numbers at me that don't add up, and is snowing me on bringing my trucks to his or her operation, I know what to ask, what the numbers REALLY are and, I'm not afraid of simply saying "no thanks" and walk away versus spending the next 18 months for things to "gel" and, in the mean time, go broke. I wasn't born with this knowledge...no, far from it, it took a lot of pain and mistakes to get here.

But, your entitled to your opinion. If you don't think I have anything valid to offer our fellow truckers here, you can think that all you want...but, leave your comments at home...they frankly show you have NOTHING good to offer. Just a bunch of rubbish and hate....just like a CB Bully...hide in your truck, got lots to say when nobody can find you.

I never said EVERY truck driver can earn $100K...I didn't say that ANYWHERE...what I DID say was, there ARE company driver jobs out there that pay that...this came after I was told there are "NO company jobs making that kind of money", I simply pointed out that, there ARE company driver jobs that do...they may not be in the intermodal world, but, so what?0

What I also said was, an O/O needs to NET well over $100K, because, if you net $1,400 - $2,200 a week on "average", you are not sticking $100K in your pocket at the end of the year. Lots of people eager to "own their job", run out and buy a truck and leasing it to some shlock outfit seemingly FORGET about all the benefits you DON'T get as a truck owner, like, PTO, Health, Life and Disability, 401K or Pension, the EMPLOYERS half of Social Security along with the employee's half, AND pay for the next truck your going to replace this one at. Oh, and let's not forget, the new O/O needs to have a HEALTHY reserve of cash in the bank, just in case that million-mile 2009 Volvo he or she bought suddenly needs a new tranny, clutch, turbo, injectors, 10 new tires, an in-frame rebuild, new crate motor or countless other multi-thousand-dollar repair jobs. Your mechanic isn't going to be all "smiles and sunshine" when you mention you can't afford to pay them more than $100 a week for the next billion weeks...and even if they DID extend credit for these repairs, by the time their paid off, the next big bill will comes and smacks you. Oh sure, there are shifty organizations, like Buchanan Hauling and Rigging in Fort Wayne IN who well "lease" you their worn out 10 year old truck, they'll even finance your repairs in their own shop with their hack-mechanics...there are plenty of other organizations out there who play the same game with unsuspecting newbies...on the surface, that may sound like a "great deal" they are "giving" you, but, as they are shoving it up your keester, they are also the ones handing out the work....so, guess who will be a slave to that outfit for eternity? As long as they have their hands around your throat, they control your next breath.

No, what I said was...if you are only NETTING $100K a year, let's take into consideration paying for all these other little "hidden" things that often get forgotten about. Once you do, you will be left with far less than $100K in your bank account, and more likely, what you do have left is not too much more than what you'd probably have as a company driver.

My point was, from my 35 years of experience, if you want to succeed and be "comfortable" as an Owner/Op, not sweating it out each month as you rob Peter to pay Paul, a NEW O/O needs to set their goals much HIGHER than netting $100K annually. Perhaps it's a good "starting" place to be at for a while, but, ideally, they achieve much better financial gain further down the road. Again, otherwise, why?

Factor in ALL the "risk" you take as an owner op....like, your truck gets stolen, totaled, you get hurt and can't work, some clown runs into you and your deductible is $2,500...you cause an at-fault accident and your deductible is $5,000...your top-billing customer goes bankrupt owing you for THOUSANDS of miles you've already driven, bought fuel, paid tolls, wore out your truck...SUDDENLY, being a company driver making similar money looks kind of appealing.

So, from MY little corner of the world, I am merely pointing out, if someone wanted to HIRE me to drive their truck, it'd need to be a 6 figure opportunity. And, there are SOME 6 figure opportunities out there. However, if all I can earn after I pay for fuel, repairs, tolls and truck insurance is $100K, given the choice between the two, and I had to do it all over again, I'd be leaning towards the company gig. I may not pick it every time, there are other things in life to consider outside of money.

But, $100K net does not equal $100K on a W-2.

 

I took home $1322.97 after taxes, benefits, and 401k last week

Only thing not in there is my stock purchase deduction which comes out once a month.

There is no way I'm ever going back to being an OO - I'll take being told what to do in exchange for security and not ever being one piston away from bankruptcy.

 

I missed that you responded to someone who said "NO company jobs making that kind of money". I have not applied, nor been rejected from Wal-Mart. Btw, I got my license the same year as you did, but did not start in them is industry for another 16 years. All things being equal, if you are a good driver, you should be able to get a good paying job. But you know that not all things are equal. What I object to in your point of view is that the options available to somebody netting $1,400-$2,200 may not be to shut it down and get a high paying company job, it may be that the other option available is to go to a company job that pays $800 a week instead. So now, his $1,400 a week container position doesn't look too bad, does it? Maybe he's a single father who needs to be home in the day, and this allows him to stay at home. Maybe he needs to care for an elderly parent, who knows? His expenses may be lower because he's got an older pre-emissions truck, who knows what the reason is, but $1,400-$2,200 net per week is better than what the vast majority of drivers are making. That's all I'm saying.

 

I get what you are saying, Ben...maybe all of us are not fortunate to Net $1,400 a week as O/O...I feel sorry for anyone that is stuck driving 18 wheels only making that...I know guys running FedEx Ground Stepvans who net more than that, and they don't even need a CDL....and, that is M-F daytime work.

If you been driving 35 years, or even 15 or 20, and can only make $800 a week as a company driver, that's rough too! Should be doing way better than that!

But, the point still stands...$1,400 a week net, even working 52 weeks a year, does not leave you with $72,000 in your bank account. It's probably leaving you with less than $40K after you pay for your personal insurances like healthcare, disability, factor unemployment, workers comp, life, 401K AND still think about putting some money away to buy the "replacement truck" someday.

Now, if the man is happy making that, more power to him. That is HIS decision. However, I will say this one more time...my point to the "wannabies" out there who think there is gold in owning your own truck and that $1,400 a week net means they are making $72K a year, and, let's say they are walking away from a job that is paying $50-$60k, they are actually going to be making less money.

That's really all I wanted to say...I didn't need to debate if someone was "happy" or not doing what they are doing. There are "intangibles", such as taking time off whenever you need (assuming he can do that).

But, I don't think there is any debating, if you want to make the equivalent of what these 6-figure company guys are making, you gotta make way more than $1,400-$2,200 a week!

 

I hauled livestock for 12 yrs b4 I started hauling rail cans.the lift trucks at railyard will blow your air bags out if you don't dump them.had to replace my 5th wheel alrdy and it only took 8 month .most companys pay about .95 to 1.00 per mile.you will b lucky to avg 1800 miles a week.i work out of st.louis

 

How many hours? That's not every week is it?