Realistic look at new driver pay?

15 an hour is #### good digging holes. You can drive a cement mixer in Jonesboro at 14.70 to start. But not much more than that (You don't need that much anyhow as it's close to a thousand per week over time net)

Your pay is going to be feast and famine after the training school is graduated, he has to find a company that will send him wherever across the USA to get to orientation. If he passed orientation he gets a few hundred dollars paycheck and a truck to start.

From that first day, payroll will kick in approximately 3 weeks or less. UNLESS... he is with a big outfit like JBH where he will be paid the moment his fifth wheel goes CLICK onto his trailer. A message will show on the satellite the gross, net, taxes (All of them) deductions and the option to direct deposit to your bank account or take it cash with a comcheck fuel card, Comcheck goes to First Kentucky Bank of Loiusville which is a national if not also international industry way of moving money... you can also borrow against future pay but expect 0.00 paychecks until that loan is paid, and... expect to be fired after the second or third loan because companies think you are a poor risk and irresponsible and dispose of you. YOu want to be a profitable driver not a begging halfwit asking for money every few days from dispatch. (They really hate that)

Make sure your truck has pre-pass Tolls on the GWB at NYC on I-95 is 95 dollars a truck now. Your man is going to carry huge amounts of cash to feed the bridges up there if he aint got that pre-pass.

Also you are going to have to settle down, put a portion of money that comes in against the bills. Take a little bit for yourself. THEN. SHUT. UP. on the phone to your man about money. He is already under ENOUGH stress as all of us and your nagging and anger about money will destroy his ability to keep his mind clear and sharp for the job he has to do on the road with that 18 wheeler.

The best trucker is a supportive wife or good woman behind or with him. On the road or at home.

 

He is better off with the $15 plus overtime!

 

If he currently grosses around $600 per week working 40 hours in a warehouse or whatever, he will do much better in even the worst OTR trucking job. He should be able to average at least $800 - $1,000 per week in his 1st job. The reason people will say he's better off with his current work is that the pay can be less than $15/hr when you count all the unpaid waiting, and can be less than minimum wage when you factor in all the time spent in a sleeper truck often for weeks at a time. So there is a tradeoff.

But the truth is that trucking is one of the few ways to improve your current financial situation. I think it's a much better option than drug dealing or prostitution.

 

I don't know about that. If I could get women to pay me to have sex with them, I wouldn't be driving a truck.

 

Why not a two income household?

 

Why not 3 or 4 or more?

 

Big part of money in trucking, especially OTR, is how much you do or don't SPEND. Eating and trying to manage excess idle time, some can over-spend. In the OTR game, excess idle time is a double whammy and has sent many to exit the new job before it ever started.

Also, there are casinos in practically every state. If he has a video slot machine or blackjack problem, be advised.

 

Heck, stay with $15 an hr job....once you take into consideration living on the road expense and low pay the first year. OTR Trucking is NOT a job but a Life-Style....and the odds of a family man being successful away from wife and kids for 4/5 weeks at a time are slim to none. My 02 cents !