making a decent wage

All depends on where you live...30-35k in Massachusetts is BARELY enough to survive. Avg house cost is 300K. Thats for a ranch with 1/4 acre if your lucky. locality is key. forget it if you have a growing family....combined income needs to be over 60

if you wanna be sick...lol check out the list

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Massachusetts_locations_by_per_capita_income

 

For some people $30k -$35k is a "decent" wage. For others, anything less than $75k isn't. So, it depends on your lifestyle and financial needs. I'll just say that for the most part, trucking pay provides more money than mechanic pay.

 

In looking at Hammadown's location , for Detroit these days 30-35 is pretty #### good.

 

exactly....i hate where i live...its stupid expensive to live here. i still dont know why but it is.lol...working for the government i make enough to get by...thats about it...lol and me and my wife both work full time. its still barely enough.

 

Move.............

Checking my pay stubs. We're getting by on about $38k this year. Not including what the wife makes. My wife works 8 hours a week.

Cost of living, marginal here. As well as a lot of other places.

Sure, we're in the arm pit of America (not my description). But it beats the hell out of the pay check to pay check lifestyle enjoyed by others.

 

Finding any job where you can start at $30-35,000 your first year is not that common. It is higher than most other jobs, especially when you consider that you can start this career with only a few weeks training and don't need a college education. No matter what career you decide to pursue, you will not usually begin at the top of the pay scale. If you need to start at $60,000 your first year, then you will likely need at least a BS and probably an advanced degree without having any experience.

All careers require that you pay your dues. In this business you are actually paid while you learn and hone your skills. Few will earn $60,000 or more in this industry. Those who do will usually find a niche or specialized segment in which to work. There are segments of trucking where there are opportunities to earn in excess of $120,000/yr, but none start at that rate. Most will remain in the $40-55,000 pay range.

Freight rates and available workers determine the starting and average pay in this industry. If average freight rates were significantly higher and there was actually a driver shortage, then carriers would be forced to pay a higher wage. Until that happens, wages are not likely to go up significantly higher than they are now.

The truth of the matter is that most drivers want a bigger paycheck. Few are willing to do what is necessary to add value to the service they provide to justify the bigger paycheck. But, you will need to decide whether you can live on the average starting wage or need to find a different career that can offer a higher starting wage.

 

My travel agent tells me it's gonna be white on wednesday, thursday, and friday. No matter where I go.

So much for a scenery change

 

I used to believe in that too. Then I actually did it. I changed careers to a job (not trucking) doing something I enjoyed. Lets just say that I no longer believe in that quote.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go into trucking or that you won't enjoy it. But I will caution to you be very careful when making career choices and base those choices on as many cold hard facts as you can get rather than some BS quotes that make you feel warm and fuzzy.