Okay - lets be serious here... Salary for a newby

You will make about half of what they pay at the "Golden Arches"....can you say...would like fries with that???

 

If your smart and not lazy, you can run about 130,000 miles your first year. Maybe even more. This is from personal experience. NOW, look at what companies are paying per mile for the first year. This can run anywhere from 25 cents on up into the thirties. then do the math.

If you have a stable work history, and clean backround you can get on with some of the better carriers. Good luck.

 

You're home EVERY night>what's that worth to you and your family? The grocery job won't be as great as it sounds...there's a reason why they're always looking for help. The average driver in America makes the meager sum of 36K>that's average.

Do you want to be gone weeks on end for 40K a year? I couldn't imagine it.

 

I work for a small company (2 trucks). I went to work for the company right out of CDL school. I've been here 6 months and I'm looking at close to $60K for my first year if things continue as they have been. I book my own loads from load boards, sometimes unload and collect lumper fees, and I've been home 4 times in 6 months (my choice, not the company's). I'm paid on percentage as an independent contractor (1099)

YMMV

 

before you consider otr you mentioned you had a family. you should have a long and hard discussion with your other half. things like is she ready to b home alone 2-3 weeks, gone most holidays, if you have kids her taking them to all there school things alone, just to name a few. if you decide to do this dont move her away from her mother for any dumb trucking job. being away from your family is one thing you can never replace. i drove for 44 years and its was hardest on my wife and kids. lots of luck with your decision. jon

 

If he's working 3 jobs I don't think he's home much to begin with.

 

But, he is still home MORE than an OTR driver would ever dream of being.

 

I always think its a bad idea for people who already have money issues. Coming into this industry. Thinking it will solve there problems. Not only will it not solve your problems. Now you add to it the expense of living on the road, and yes you can go to Walmarts and do all your cooking in the truck if you have inverters and grills etc. But what you don't count on is the lack of help from the companies who could care less if you or your family starve. Because of bad load planning, bad equipment, bad communication etc.

Truly should sit down and right a budget and cut expenses the best you can and if you are coming out not to count on the 1 hit wonders who made it big with getting a gig in the oil field or planning their own loads off load boards right out of trucking school. Most don't have pictures to back up what they are saying. Yes there are always exceptions to the rule. But if you come out with high expectations you probably won't last 6 months.

Nobody is throwing away money in this industry. So if you see big numbers you better believe you are going to be working for it to get it. Truckers love to tell trucker stories. Usually they involve black helicopters, and a bunch of zero's added to their pay.

Hope you make a wise decision.

 

You sound like a planner to me, three jobs and keeping them all? Plan this the same, go for the facts, not just what you want to hear. Ask where you'd go for loads, see the specific equipment youd be operating everyday and trailers.Ask about slip seating,
Ask about the turnover, often times that same person like who you mentioned as a trainer become real aholes after the fact. Ask if they will show on paper what avg pay was for least seniority drivers from previous wks...really have to have all this in hand to legitimately decide..likely this is not OTR? if the store chain owns the trucks? Then it'll be probable over night hauls out and back

 

I'm right at 10 months with SWIFT, and I'm on track to make a WHOPPING 19k GROSS for the year! I'm counting down my last 60 days with this "company", then it's off to landstar! I can't wait, can't even afford to live on the road most weeks right now, let alone pay my bills back at home. I'd trade you my OTR job for your 3 jobs that pay twice as much any day.