The six-figure club.

In all my years of trucking, the most common BS story was what drivers SAID they made. Some had check stubs to prove it, I never made that kind of money in a truck, and I had some decent jobs, including a union job, that in 1996( ish) I grossed about $35,000, or $17.25/hr. or about $75,000 today, which was a darned good wage for the 90's. I know what it took to make that kind of money, and when someone says they made twice what I made, I simply can't imagine working any more than I did, hence, the BS factor. A local outfit here was offering a mail route, 8 hours/night. 5 nights a week, pay $32.10/hr. Now, that seems like a darn good wage to drive a truck, almost DOUBLE what I drove one for, and 40 hrs/week, 50 weeks/year, still ONLY grosses $64,000 bucks. Where are you people working that you make $100+ g's /year in a truck? Unless I'm out of the loop that much, I'm sorry, I don't believe you can make 6 figures in a truck. I know, I know, here come all the "oh yeah"? comments, I don't believe it, sorry, a ( phony) image on a computer, that is KNOWN for altered images, you tell me you make 1/3 of what the president makes driving a truck? Mom always said, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Hey Pamela, you folks make 6 figures in the great white north driving a truck ( in the worst conditions known, I might add)? I didn't think so,,,

 

If I had only worked 40 hours a week I would have only made about $##k, but 50 hours is a slow week and my company pays OT after 40. I did say in my post that I had to work alot of hours to hit that amount, but I failed to mention I drive for a small private fleet.

My company doesn't try to make money from trucking, they already make plenty of money from the products I deliver for them, so I believe that makes a huge difference.

If I do get a short local run and am back at the yard after 4 or 5 hours, if I feel like it there is usually something for me to do to get some more hours in like fixing lights on the trucks or doing light maintenance on all the equipment we have. Running trucks and trailers around to the various dealers and repair shops for warranty work or jobs our little shop is not equipped to handle.
Sometimes I will spend 2 or 3 hours just cleaning my truck, there are even days when things get really slow I might get roped into doing some light construction, or electrical work, or plumbing, or concrete work. It's not always fun, but most of the time it's a welcome relief from the road and still pays the same.

I got extremely lucky to land with this company 20 years ago, I didn't even have a CDL. They hired me at less than minimum wage now, and they only had 3 trucks and a van when I started. I drove a non CDL box truck that 1st Spring then the payed me to get my B license in their truck. They purchased their 1st tractor that same year and the following Summer payed me to get my A license again with their truck.

Since then the company has more than quadrupled in size, we now have 12 box trucks and 3 tractors with 4 trailers. Also have a couple of contractors running for us. Our delivery area has expanded from just the Baltimore- DC area to most of the East Coast and out to Ohio.

We also ship product farther using FedEx and 1 way racks, and have an expanding Amazon business as well as our own internet market place for retail sales.

I had to work very hard this year to hit that magical 6 figures, but I am pretty happy about it and I am sure uncle Sam is too!

 

I mean...and this is ONLY because you got a little attitudinal...I ACCIDENTALLY made my best check ever recently. I didn't even know it was going to happen.

$2879.98. I wanted to be exact, so you wouldn't call me a liar over two cents.

You can make a lot at the right company. I'm very lucky and my wife is tired of me singing the praises of my company, but...you have to be grateful when you find a great job. You really do.

I'm sorry you don't believe this thread. And you can add this to the list of posts you don't believe.

But I AM making what I say. As a matter of fact, I tell my friends that I ACTUALLY make what the other drivers they know claim to make, and not a penny more. Lol

So yeah. There are liars out there. But this site is mostly good people. They tell me something, I believe them. I'm simple like that.

 

I didn’t make six figures this year but I did manage to make $81k.
On a 3/2 with way less miles than the run I had in 2020 but I had a ton more time at home so that was a plus.
I can’t complain 2021 was pretty good to our family.

 

its like anything else. There are software engineers making 65k and then there are other software engineers 450k all because of the company they chose to work for mixed with negotiation skills. Same with welding, I had friends who’s first to second jobs paid 13/hr to 28/hr all because they could talk right.

I gross about $1025-1700 a day in my truck, and work between 50-70 hrs a week. Plenty of guys at my company NET 3.5k a week on a normal week. During high ginning season, cotton has fed many of our drivers 5k NET a week. The biggest part is getting over not believing it, then looking at that first check.

I never drove for company, went straight to O/O at 23, ALL I read was you’d be lucky to make any profit your first year. I netted after ALL expenses and taxes 90k. Paid off my 11k truck and fully rebuild the motor the beginning of the second year.

time in a career is a tricky speech to be chained by. Many people who have years upon years of experience in a field surly have a mountain of wisdom, BUT only in THEIR scope of the field and in THEIR normal pay grade. Just like years of “experience” only offers the POSSIBILITY of wisdom, not the GUARANTEE.

 

I believe it.... but they are probably miserable and dog tired at the end of the day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an LTL driver who looks like he is particularly enjoying himself at work. Always in a rush, always looking tired and grumpy, etc.

I make $24 per hour to do local flatbed deliveries, which is way less than most of you, but I love what I do. I load and unload myself, rarely have to see or talk to anyone, never have to wait in line or fight for a dock or any of that nonsense. And no drama at the barn at the end of the day. Sure I could go up the road and work for any of the LTL outfits and make $10 (or more?) per hour more, but I couldn’t take all the bs.

 

Great post! I can only speak for myself on this, but yes, I am dog tired at the end of each day. And I’m only 27. Some nights when I pull into the yard I decide against driving the 40 min home and hit the bed and sleep through ten alarms. Being home everyday and making Otr money is a TOUGH blend. I’ll wake up at midnight, be on the road by 3, be fully done with the truck by 5pm. At home I’m very involved. Cook, clean, more work. Two dogs and three kids to take care of. Asleep by about 9-10pm. My wife also has a work style like trucking. She delivers babies. Yesterday she delivered two. Was gone and working for about 40 hrs, but then she’ll have 3-7 days with no babies to deliver. We both picked careers were we can make a ton of money young and fast, so we don’t have to work by 40. The absolute hardest part of balancing this sacrifice without sacrificing giving our babies a good, loving, involved set of parents. I put my girls to bed almost every night.

a lot can talk about the money, but the work behind the rewards is the most interesting part imo.