Never drive for a company that starts you out below .40 cents a mile!

The numbers work assuming the driver gets 3,000 miles, which is a pretty good amount; at an average speed of 50 mph, that's 60 hours of driving per week. However, my guess is most new drivers will get 500-700 fewer miles for a while. At 2,500 mpw or less, the numbers don't look so good.

 

it has always been what lies beyond the base rate pay. health, dental and retirement benefits can add up to thousands per year.
another huge expenise drivers dont take into account is their phone expense! and some of us are TTR and facebook junkies. $75/month adds up to a huge amount not coming out of your personal pocket in the end!

 

I don't drive now. That income was from a non-driving warehouse job. I was only commenting on the feasibility of earning 0.21 per mile and not going broke or being homeless. The key is living within your means.

 

Good point.

$525 per week is still a living wage. I don't know where you all live (or how you live), but $2K a month would more than cover the mortgage on a condo, utilities, food and a modest car in South Florida.

Granted none of the above would impress anyone, but the point still stands. A comfortable living is possible.

 

There's many places you can work for $12 an hour and get more with overtime and still be at home everyday and weekends, Hell in rogers city, mn I stopped at a mcdonalds and they were hiring for $15 an hour, full-time!

You don't find it sad, that a driver has to pay for schooling, learn and adhere to many state & federal laws. Learn all the skills to complete the job, be away from for weeks or months at a time just to make LESS than the a guy or girl saying "do you want fries with that?" Regardless of official government definition it's plainly obvious that a truck driver is skilled professional trade and to be making less than a burger flipper is a disgrace.

Any time you work for somebody it's a business transaction, You're providing a service(labor) for x amount of dollars(sometimes for x-amount of time for contracted work). You need to be as greedy as the companies, because you're a business too and you should be out for the maximum amount of money possible. Otherwise you may as well sit at home on welfare and live it up(like Stevens).

 

Well then congratulations on where you live, and the low cost of life down there. That $525 per week ($2K per month),up here in the north east, wouldn't even cover nearly half a month's rental. Then food, then gasoline, utility bills like heating oil or natural gas or electricity, and even some dumb bills like cable, satellite or land lines. A comfortable living as you say is highly dependent on location.

 

burn barrel's make nice heat, and dumpsters make nice shelters, free food year round the restaurants are throwing out, etc no stress, no worries!

 

You guys arguing about money is cracking me up. There ls a ton more then base pay rate. I make .15 cents a mile arunning team at Danny herman.. Everyine says a great comoany. Which most would say is terrible run for the hills. I get great bonuses that are obtainable, and we get miles. Have great insurance and I got a Christmas bonus. My check today was $1320 take home... .15 cents a mile pays great when you look at the big picture.