Is Making $800 a week as a NEWBIE possible?

Ya know if everyone had that idea run in there head we would have a lot less mess here in the good ole USA

 

The game they all seem to play, is run your tail off, and make great money....... at first. Then, little by little, time out gets longer, and longer......... then your miles start dropping. Next thing you know, you're out 4 or 5 weeks, and bringing home 500 bucks. The philosphy is, "a hungry driver is a happy driver"...... theory is, if you are hurting for money, you won't complain where you go, or how long you're gone.

 

My first year I averaged $925 gross. I started at .31 mile, ran my rear off and never turned down a load nor ever had a service failure. Being dependable and a little bit of a squeaky wheel helps for more more miles.

 

Pay has gone down in alot of companies for rookies. SWIFT was 25cpm when I checked with them recently, JB Hunt was 28cpm, and FFE I am going back to with experience is gonna actually be 31cpm ( I was at 33 when I left).

 

can you drive 500 miles everyday? California? after you get your CDL, Be prepared for a couple months of intense studying and a lot of time away from family. OTR you might not see home for 3 months either. .26 x 500 = 130 x 7 = 910. That doesn't include wait time, sitting, repair, traffic, etc...........

 

and is the life you want to make that amount of money? Not be home, eat on the run, sleep at a shippers, miss showers, pee in a jug, be asked to break the rules (HOS), run junk equipment to get miles?

.......just saying it's not easy and you REALLY need to do your research before you jump out of a job or career that is dependable to driving where you pay week to week may change by ALOT and nothing is dependable except the crazy 4 wheelers!

 

Newbie pay in most industries is low.. Whats cool is even at the low end of things starting out in trucking I would right about where I am working in warehouse anyway. I'm kind of at my ceiling for my position and instead of going up further in logistics I figure that it's not what I want to do with my life so instead of spending mind numbing days going to business school to become a supervisor or manager with the same stress I already have or maybe more, I would rather do something I've always dreamed of doing. I won't lose much money to start which is nice! I think anyone willing to lose money to go into trucking would have to do it with a Passion to do it and not for the money.

 

i work on % so the idea is to drive less miles not more----i am still trying to figure the ins and outs of it---sometimes its better sometimes its not so good--but usually am bringing home--850 <> each week---going out generally monday am and home friday night --its a bit hard for me to tell if it is good or not--recently i did a 5 hr trip and got 360---but also have done a 7 hr trip and got 120--just depends on the rate

 

you have to take everything into consideration tho --such as taxes --cost of living and such as well--my mortgage here is about 1/2 about what my rent was for a dumpy bachelor apartment in toronto---but in general--wages are lower in us in pretty much every sector

 

My first year after being off for 26 years i made 66k