New Driver's: How is the pay, really?

I am not making alot of money myself. I am only making about $2500/mo and spending about $20-$25/day. I deffinately chose the wrong company to start my career with, but I am sure others are doing better than me. good luck to you

 

I think you will find that it varies quite a bit. The bottom line comes down to two things. First, the company someone starts with, and second, how hard you actually work.

The company I started with started me out at .30 and I'm not at .32. But I get quite a lot of miles on average. I've been bringing home, after taxes about 4k a month. But I run a lot, an average of 3k miles a week.

 

There is plenty of information on this forum already that would answer your question in great detail.. Use the search option and manipulate the words around a little to get your answer..

 

CR england lease, you'll owe them money.
Most starter companies 20-33K.
Both you'll be working 70-90 hrs a week.

A lot of guys get bored on the road and spend their money on food and/or gambling. Too easy of a trap.

If you want to drive research well, a lot of companies will prey on your ignorance. They'll dangle a carrot but in the end you're in their truck going when and where they say or you'll get the stick.

 

The money is there. Stay away from the truck stops and casinos and your bottom line will look a lot better. My husband made 49K his first year. He puts 10% of his check on his comdata card to use out on the road and never comes close to using it all. But each month we spend at least $200 before he goes out on the road stocking up on food for the month. Sometimes he goes the entire month without eating a meal at a restaurant.

 

49K his first yr. I obviously am not working for the right company.
Mind sharing what company your hubby turns wheels for?

 

Could be any company. That's about 3500 miles / week # 30cpm. betcha one thing though ... he's not on a lease!

Seems like there are probably some caps on what you can realistically earn given your wage but just looking at some of the numbers and some pretty unrealistic assumptions (you'll never be able to run like this) you could do anywhere from 40-70k your first year.

60mph x 8hrs x 7days = 3360miles /week
0.26cpm 3360mi/wk $873.6/wk $45427.2/yr 0.29cpm 3360mi/wk $974.4/wk $50668.8/yr 0.31cpm 3360mi/wk $1041.6/wk $54163.2/yr 0.41cpm 3360mi/wk $1377.6/wk $71635.2/yr
now to shoot this all to ####, is my understanding that realistically you'll spend about as much time waiting at a shipper/receiver as you would be driving. Evertruckerr is in my opinion one of the better veteran drivers and he's pulling down about 60k/yr (check out his postings). I guess though if a person is willing to work hard then they can make something decent. I think that even 40k is nothing to be scoffed at.

What would be cool is this: we continue this thread with all drivers on this site and you just need to post your company and estimated annual earnings. Then we could really get to the bottom of a) Which company gets the most miles, b) who pays the best and c) how much seniority you need to start making some decent money, etc. That way we can have one resource for all of these questions and no double or triple postings asking the same question. Any takers?

 

Man, I wrote this long winded reply that might have been useful, but I hit the wrong button.

Trucking is a lifestyle with so many hrs it becomes a life and then an identity. From all I can see and know its easier to transtion into otr than to transition out. And most don't make the transition (transition doing the job a yr or more).

At a good company you might make top at 40K. Most newbies 28-35K. Of course I don't have any references to back that claim though.

I think most people enter trucking only looking at the "carrot". Or thinking their going to "see the country". I don't think these guys typically don't last long.

Are you think about going to work for Swift?

 

I made 43 thousand my first full year at .32 a mile at Swift doing mostly Costco dedicated regional. Most probably do mid 30's to 40k first year.. I expect I was a little above average.

Now i train 6 students a year and make around $70k