Some questions, any input appreciated.

if your making 50k now you better stay where you are
your home all the time
your record wouldn't hold you back
first year drivers most dont get close to 50k
no matter how many say they do

 

Driving record should be OK. Do yourself a favor and don't opt for the company sponsored training programs. Find a community college program; they're a lot less expensive, and you're not stuck in a contract working for a company that you might end up hating until you've paid back the cost of your training.

With Swift, you'll be lucky to break $35K your first year. And don't plan on seeing your home for any significant amount of time. You'll do a lot better if you can find a smallish, local outfit that you can sign on with. Based on your stated area of interest, you may want to check with crane and rigging companies; you'll be able to do much more than just drive.

 

Breaking 50K might be tough. 35K +/- might be more realistic your first year if you grind it out. Hauling logs won't pay any better.

 

I just finished my first year and made 45k and some change first job out of school, home every night. So people absolutley do. My buddy who I went to school with does the exact same job as I do (Beer Distributor) and makes 60k but he lives in a more expensive area than I do (also a diferent company) and his area covers DC which sucks to say the least. I will never understand how people go to these comapnies and go OTR for 35-40k SCREW THAT! Now that I've hit my year I'm looking into comanies in my area that will take people with 1yr and most of them are paying in the Mid 50's to low 60's.

To the OP, I doubt a decade old accident will be an issue, assuming it's even on your driving record anymore. Get one and see what shows. Here in VA a driving record for employement only goes back 7yrs and if there are accidents the driving record does NOT state whether it was your fault or not, employers have to base stuff on your points. Different states are different of course but check into it.

 

Well.......looking at your avatar............you should be making 50k.........at least in my book. Go Sox!

 

Well how much YOU earn is well, UP TO YOU!

there are some types of drivers out there, that just do not want to work. They want to stay at the truck stop, shooting the breeze, playing video games or doing other things that take valuable road time away, that you can NEVER make up.

So, if one were to be a "hustler" an old term for "go-getter", then one CAN EARN more than an average newbie can make. But if you were to accept a load, the you darn well better have the time to deliver or pick it up. If you are late, and DO NOT notify the company for why you might be late, you will get hit (with many companies) what is known as a service failure, which, if some load planner, or dispatcher, or driver manager, is ticked off at you, then you WILL SIT for several hours or even days not earning any money.

So how much one CAN EARN, is totally dependent on how one wants to work.

Wanna sit at the truck stops, or hey, be a truck stop trucker, which also means that you WANT to stop at a truckstop, cuz you just cannot wait to see what's in the trucker's store?

Or do YOU WANT to keep your butt moving?

YOU WILL EARN, as much as YOU WANT to earn!

 

Wait for Chinatown to show up and give you the names of tanker companies that hire new drivers. You might be able to make that kind of money starting out if you pull hazmat tanker.