So, I currently work for a 1099 dry van carrier, but it's pretty good: I don't have to run illegally because it's all regional short haul loads (and mostly lightweight work), I get a full weekend off, each day I'm available for work he pays me a daily rate of $320, so $1600/week because it's Monday through Friday work. I don't have to worry about breakdowns and getting stuck in traffic because of the daily rate, and he treats me right, pays me very timely (sometimes early even), and is very fair. However, it's all brokered freight, there's no benefits, and I do my side of taxes of course, although the taxes aren't too bad at the tax bracket I'm in. Also, there's no real way to increase my earnings here.
I recently had an offer from a very small milk hauling company, and he is willing to train me not only on smoothbore tankers but also help me get rid of my auto restriction, since he runs Freightliner Columbias with glider kits. And they don't run brokered freight. However, he starts all drivers at 55 cpm, which seems a bit low. They are ag exempt, so I could probably run enough miles to make at least as much as I'm making now, and there's other things in the payment plan at that job ($30 per load/unload, $20 for washouts if the plants don't wash out the tanker, bonuses, weekend work bonus, etc.) so it isn't just cpm pay, plus it's a w2 job with benefits and some paid time off. However, because now breakdowns and traffic cost me money, there will definitely be weeks where I'll make less than $1600, and I know I'll have to run way harder than 2000 miles per week to really make money. He is flexible with hometime, but to maximize my pay it would be cost-effective to work over the weekend, so I would be more likely to run a 10-days on 4 days off there. Without knowing how they would run me and exactly what is involved in milk hauling (like how long it takes to load/unload and how often I can stay on site at the place to save my clock) it's very hard to guess if I would make more money overall at this job vs my current job. But I do know I'd have to run a lot harder than I am right now.
What job would you all do? Stay at the steady, all-brokered regional dry van job or try out the milk hauling place? Both are small companies where I can run a truck without sensors and collision mitigation and both let me keep the truck during hometime, so those are the same regardless. My long-term goal is to save up money for my own truck in hopes of moving towards being an owner-op, so I don't mind being 1099 to get used to the taxes and lack of benefits, but the other might open me up to being leased on with a food-grade tank hauler later on (or with this milk hauling company if they'd let me be owner-op there) instead of just doing dry van work indefinitely.
Should I leave a good dry van job for tanker milk hauling?
Discussion in 'Tanker, Bulk and Dump Trucking Forum' started by cdubose, Aug 30, 2026.
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Western Dairy Transport seems a decent milk company.
WDT - Western Dairy Transport
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Over the Road Company Driver
This one looks ok, but need 12 mos. tanker experience.
cdubose Thanks this. -
Heniff Transportation Systems, LLC.
http://www.heniff.com
2222 Camden Ct, Oak Brook, IL 60523
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-content.duckduckgo.com%2Fiu%2F%3Fu%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fd2r0eic16r3uxv.cloudfront.net%252F1628869057034254.png.resize.png%253Fwidth%253D1024%26f%3D1%26nofb%3D1%26ipt%3D60524a63a26f219475035e3b1e0b33af80990596dcb4cf778e2b937974b9d707&hash=7812f842fcc4eb8d848737e28dd9eaa1)
Heniff has company drivers, owner-operators, lease-purchase drivers. -
Two other factors to consider:
- The milk hauling gig would give you an opportunity to expand your skill sets (assuming no prev tank hauling); having exposure to different trailer types is always.... ultimately, a good thing (voice of experience
). Plus -- there you would also get rid of that pesky auto restriction. - Milk is a much more recession-resistant gig than what you have now. Should the economy later tank (pun intended ) -- you would be in a MUCH BETTER position with the milk opportunity in question.
- The milk hauling gig would give you an opportunity to expand your skill sets (assuming no prev tank hauling); having exposure to different trailer types is always.... ultimately, a good thing (voice of experience
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