Question about staying an owner operator or selling my truck

The average pay for a company driver is in the 55 to 65 cpm range, depending on experience. You can gross 2k in a week, but you won't gross that every week. Freight is too inconsistent, even when things are good. Grossing 2k per week at 60 cpm means you'll have to run roughly 3500 miles weekly. No driver runs 3500 miles weekly. On average, I'd say a driver grosses 1500 to 1700 weekly. You'll have a handful that go a little above that, but most don't. Those numbers I laid out come from 25-2700 miles weekly at 60 cpm. They're realistic numbers for an experienced OTR driver with a decent to good company.

 

Doing the math - If you want to gross ( before taxes and other deductions are taken out) $2,000.00 per week, you would need to make .65 - .70 cents per mile and average 3,000 miles per week. If you were to be paid hourly, it would require a hourly rate of $30 -$35 per hour working your full 70 hours per week straight time. This does not include OT. Like others have stated LTL line haul will get you close but most of those jobs are based on seniority with the older drivers getting the consistent long mile gravy runs, and the FNG getting the leftover or extra board runs that may even require doing some loading dock time.

Here are some job suggestions that will get you close to your numbers -

• Grocery Store Private Fleet Driver ( Albertsons, Safeway, Krogers....)
• Walmart
• UPS Feeder Driver
• UPS Long Haul Team Driver - $1 a mile split with an average of 6,000 miles per week
• Cryogenics Driver ( Liquid Nitrogen, Oxygen ) basically rocket fuel. lol
• Anhydrous Ammonia and other poison gases used for industrial purposes - You only get to screw up once. If you survive, they fire you!
• DOD Ammo and Explosives hauler - Gotta have a clean background. And they will shoot you if you even think about screwing up!
• Over Dimension Heavy Hauler - Knuckle Heads need not apply
• UPS Package Van Driver - Buster Brown Jr. but you make great money
• Food Service Delivery - like the N.F.L. - it's Not For Long, your knee's, back and shoulders will be trashed in 3 - 4 years

 

I feel that Food Service delivery driver, review. It is a young mans game, very few survive longer than ten 15 years doing it.

 

I'm 56 and been doing it for over 20 years at same co. also my bid pays around $2200.00 wk before deductions. all pallet drop at MacDonalds. easiest work I've ever done. 5 days a week about 45 hours extra work on days off are gravy.

 

I'm a city driver middle of the board at one of the lower paying areas for Fedex Freight. I consider $2000 an average week with $2500 being a good week. We make $33 hr, overtime after 8 and after 40 and just over .74 cpm on road runs, home daily.

Some of our higher paying terminals pay $36 or $37 and over 80 cpm. We get a raise every October, have an 8 percent 401k match and decent benefits. All reputable LTL companies will be competitive with their pay. FYI.

 

I know of a company that you could average $1500+ a week, but not $2000 a week. But you would have to relocate and be willing to run on average 3700 miles every 7 to 10 days.

Killpack Trucking out of Idahofalls, ID. No idea how the recent down turn in the market has affected them, as I hung up the key permanently about a year ago... And left them about 2.5 years ago.

Good company, family owned and operated, pretty decent pay for thier local area. IIRC last I heard they were paying nearly 50 cpm, and that was over a year ago.

 

That is not the food service I am talking about, no pallet drops, everything off a ramp on the back or side of the trailer 2 wheeler into the back of restaurants, no offense but pallet drops are not food service, not even close, I did food service for 10-15 years and never once did pallet drops. Most of my days were 12-25 restaurants and 20,000 plus pounds of food off the trailer by two wheeler. One job I had was pup trailers so it was a little lighter and days were shorter, but they only did things like that for a short while.

 

the first ten years I was there it was roller and stands at every stop. We had no fat drivers then but lot of long time old timers. it wasent that hard then thou i would not want to go back to doing it that way. the stops would take about 2 hrs now are hr or less.

 

I'll chip in with ODFL at 83cpm solo, 93 cpm team. So 5 days on a 600 mile meet and turn would get you $2400 before taxes/insurance.

OKC is a smaller terminal, you could maybe 'bag run' out of there. I think LTL is tight on hiring at the moment.