Realistic look at new driver pay?

But also understand that there are big differences between many classic OTR jobs, and the various regional and local opportunities that are available. Differences in pay expectations and lifestyle realities.

 

$1000 a week driving a truck, but dont expect to see him often.

 

Been driving for 18 years. Would gladly give it all up for a $15/hr. 40 hr. week job.

 

My current ytd with Werner is 23,600
Net after taxes and deductions is 16k
4 days a month off.

 

After accruing the $5000 bill for trucking school for 3 weeks, expect him to earn $70-$90 a day in training. That is about $50 take home.

After 4-6 weeks of training, pay usually drops when a driver goes solo. It depends on the time of year. At most mega-companies $300-400 a week take home is common off season.

The good news is after one year of trucking hard with maybe 12 full days at home throughout the year, if he applied himself he might have grossed $35,000- $40,000. If he didn't and only worked 8hour days and came home enough to enjoy a family, he would only be good for $20,000 - $25,000.

When you break the pay down in trucking OTR by per a hour, it is often less then minimum wage. But the good news is he can forgo his family life and work hard enough to make up the difference.

After a year or two on the road lots of drivers at the mega-training-companies look forward to working local for the same companies. That gets them $15 and more home time.

 

As a new driver he will averaging around ten dollars an hr..Truck driving is far from consistent.One day he could drive all day and the next two days he could be sitting.He's better off where he's at.At least the hrs and pay is consistent.

 

As you can see by the wide range of replies, it varies. But starting pay is usually around .30 - .36 cpm with 2000 - 2800 miles a week Over The Road. After 6 months to a year or so, it can ramp up quickly to .50 cpm. Local jobs usually pay less.

If you post what company he's looking at people can tell you more.

 

15.00 is his cap now = 600 With trucking that will be pretty close to his minimum ( mcelroy pays 500 a week during training which is what I did) I ran for 1 yr as a company driver, then became an O/O and $$ was closer to 3k per week after all costs. Then my wife got cancer and I hired a driver and he has averaged 2450.00 per week (1099) his part. This week I added 2 more trailers and 1 more truck hoping to duplicate what first driver is doing.

So 600 a week is tops now as a laborer, you have a much bigger upside potential in trucking than that depending on the route you guys take with a similar pay floor.

In trucking, it will be longer hours, so per hourly wage won't be any better.

 

What kind of laborer work is he currently doing?

 

Regardless of what he gets paid, be sure he watches his pay like a hawk! Keep a personal log of all miles, drops, hooks, loads, unloads, stops, detention hours, etc. They will and do screw you over constantly. I call payroll almost every week it seems. They screw it up more than they get it right but to their credit they fix it... Usually.