The very best choose Swift - 5 raises in one year!

I think he means 100% as in more drivers leave than were brought on annually, but the OTR industry as a whole has more than 100% turn over rate.

IMHO I believe that OTR is a shock to a lot of people and the lifestyle just isn't for everyone and since most of the time you have to pay your OTR dues for about a year a lot of people leave before they see the good money in trucking.

To address the original topic though, you really can't make that great of money just being a nobody on the OTR board. You have to stand out and perform and land a dedicated account or become a mentor, lease operator or combination of the above.

I drove on the low starting pay scale for less than a month i was offered a dedicated account before I finished training and as soon as my co-driver was finished training (a few weeks after me) we started running a dedicated account making $1,000 a week.

So it is very possible to make good money you just can't be lazy. It isn't that hard to get a dedicated account. Just ask if the account needs help then perform well and you will usually be asked to stay.

I do agree the scale is kinda low but I wouldn't expect someone with zero experience in any industry to start out making good money. In the Marine Corps I started out as a Private and got paid crap pay, but as I gained experience and got promoted I made really good money. You really can't just walk into wal mart with no retail experience and say that you want a job as the store manager.

On the other hand (as you can see I'm slightly torn about the subject) this industry asks a whole lot from a driver and someone who works this hard and gives up a lot of basic comforts should receive adequate compensation.

Most drivers I see complaining about pay are usually lazy drivers though and have very little professionalism and work ethic.

Ok I'm done debating with myself now.

 

i've taken home close to a thousand a few times.

 

After taxes.

 

The thing I don't get with the 100% turnover rate being more drivers leaving annually than were hired is...
That would mean a net loss of drivers for Swift each year, and that just isn't happening.

And the industry can't have a 100% turnover rate without every driver of every company leaving for 'greener pastures'.

Sorry, but it just can not be.
If it was, I would be with my 3rd trucking company by now.
Not to mention all the drivers that have many more years at whatever company.


I don't know where these bogus figures come from, but they are not accurate in the least.

 

"Turnover rate" is a bogus term used by marketers to make their company look better than others. *All* starter companies have a high turnover rate.

Say a starter company has 1000 positions. Each week (50 weeks a year), they hire 20 people. A third wash out in training. Others quit, or go to other companies after six months. If just *one* of those 20 each week makes it to a year, replacing one "old timer" that retired, that company has a 100% turnover rate. They have 1000 positions, and have had 1000 people leave. It doesn't matter if 600 of them have been there for years...

 

JB Hunt was paying .40 cents a mile in 1984. Now here we are 30 years later and truck drivers are making about the same, if they are lucky.

Minimum wage in 1984 was 3.35 an hour, now it is 7.75 - double.

Most jobs pay double what they did in 1984.

Truck drivers should be getting .80 cents a mile if they had kept pace with other jobs.

Reason # 5698 1/2 why trucking is not exactly a great career choice lately and turnover is higher than it has ever been.

 

Still, I am making more as a company driver with Swift than any job I've ever had.
That may not be saying much, but then I've never been one to put $$$ first.
I simply want enough to live and pay my bills, while doing something I like and am good at.

 

Truck driving is also a lot easier than it was in 1984 and life on the road is more comfortable. And you can't compare minimum wage between then and now because of inflation. Minimum wage is probably lower today than it was in 84. I don't think truck drivers should make more money than nurses because it takes less skill, it's less work, less stressful (IMO). And yet we come very close, even us Swift company drivers.