Starting school, forgive me if this has been asked!

It's even easier to figure a trip against your hours.

Dispatch says this trip to Vegas from boston pays 2500 miles. Divide by 35 miles per hour. You will be there in just about 3 days and nights from now. 71 hours. If your appt time is not until say Monday 6PM you have more than you need to do this trip right now and be there monday afternoon.

Keep in mind this figure is from my Team days, singles will need longer. About two more days.

Fleets without fail monitor all trucks currently loaded and in transit. By 6 am every morning without fail there is a printout of a computer list. Anyone not able to maintain 45 mph or better 24/7 during a trip will fail a check against all appointment times currently valid in the fleet system.

Those are the drivers running late. They are the ones who get the dreaded call me message on sat comms. For some it will be the last day with the company.

 

i will just add that there is such a wide variety of different types of hauling. there is consumer goods, fuel, milk, building supplies...... everything is shipped by a truck and i mean everything.

personally i am currently in a dump truck because it gets me home at night. there is allot of work in that industry as well, both tractor trailer and dump truck. i am grossing $900-$1k per week average.... working 55-60 hours per week. im doing ok money wise doing this type of work in the northeast but its been reported here that other parts of the country dont do well with this type of work money wise.

fuel can pay well but its like hauling a bomb and you have to have a hazmat. my advice is just to explore all of your options and find out what fits.

 

Home isn't necessarily 100% where the heart is. Some of us have to find a balance of home and job satisfaction. Millions have done this and are doing it today, such as truckers, merchant seaman, military, commercial fishermen.
If I'd been stuck in my one horse town all my life I'd probably have died years ago. Look at it this way, you can run long haul and if you get tired of it, switch to local.

 

I always made more money doing OTR. Some of those Magnum Ltd. drivers make a $1000 to $1500 weekly. @ncmickey may still work there and can give better info on pay.

 

i think allot of it depends upon your family situation. are you married and do you have children. these are two huge factors for me. when i went out on the road for that short period of time leaving my 6 year old son and wife of 13 years behind was extremely painful, i could not sleep, i would cry myself to sleep in fact. lets just say i suffered from other "frustrations" being a married man. my wife is not an outdoors type of person and there are certain responsibilities around the home that i generally tackle like plowing the driveway and these things did not get done.

my 6 year old son, whom i love very much was also very much confused by the whole thing and missed his dad. he started to act out in school and it generally wasnt very good for him to be without his father. he ended up just about living with grandma for this time period, as my wife also works full time.

finally i would miss simple things like showering at home, sleeping in my own bed, and spending free time at home. you never truely have a day off while on the road, a 34 hour reset is not really a day off. in my opinion a day off is one the you get to do things around the home..... mow the lawn, clean the pool, fix the cars, do home repairs, ect ect.

also remember that you MUST subtract your living expenses while on the road from your pay. truck stops are going to OVERCHARGE you for everything. you are going to have to pay for things like laundry, you may have to pay for parking spots, showers ($10 every shower), food, wifi access, little things you would normally buy at walmart at discount prices are going to cost an arm and a leg.

since i am trying to be unbiased about this, there are some good things. you get to see the country, all of the wonderful sights, you get to be involved in providing consumer goods (its an important job........ BUT so is local trucking just in a different way). you see allot but only from the front seat, dont expect to be able to take time and wander around town. i went to places that had museums that i would have liked to have seen, but i was there only to do a job.

consider ALL factors including family and living situation. if you are young and living with your parents with no significant other OR kids then go for it. think long and hard before living a wife or kids at home. some people do it successfully and its good for them........ i, however on the other hand will pass on it.

i love leaving the house in morning, pre-triping the truck, and going out in the morning and trucking around towns that i call home, and returning at the end of the day. i also have the famalairity with home that i like, im not usually COMPLETELY lost, i know allot of the areas i travel. i had the opportunity to haul blacktop to a road about 2 miles from my home. i really enjoyed that, drive on that road regularly. every-time i take wethersfeild rd in north java, i think YES i helped fixed this road. it has its satisfaction for ME.

 

Actually, showers are free with a fuel purchase and charge for a parking spot is paid for by the trucking company. Drivers that pay for this out of their own pocket either drive for a junk company or don't know what the company benefits are. Some truck stops have shower cards and can get shower credits to use added to the card to be used in the future. It's a good system to use.
Meals can be expensive in truck stops, but usually drivers don't eat 3 meals a day there. There's usually another restaurant within walking distance and many drivers prefer cooking in the truck. There's threads about cooking in the truck on here; use the search engine.
Some drivers carry a folding bicycle in the truck and use it for excercise and looking around or going to restaurants.