thinking about trucking after retirement,but replies here have me questioning

Teamsters broke away from the AFL-CIO in 2005 and are under a different Labor group now.

 

Very few in the industry make $80K a year. The mean truck driver income is $40K. Of course every braggart and BS you meet will make over $80K 'easy' their first year. Every other job advertised will claim earnings up to $80k. But in both those situations, people have motives other then honesty.

Of the jobs getting near $80K, many are often indeed touch freight (where your unloading trailers.).

And those jobs and the mass more that pay around the more realistic $40k often consume 70-90 hours of a drivers work each and every week, thats if the driver gets home at all, and many trucking jobs they don't.

Neither gross or net.---- BS

Many trucking companies pay piece work, so they can claim any fantastic number they want as earnings and blame the lack of earnings on the driver.

None of the megas will count fire driving experience.

Nor will any insurance company insuring a smaller outfit. Not that I agree, but If someone wants to count it for job experience I would be surprised.

While most of the time those medications and issues while under control should not prevent getting a CDL medical card, I have seen instances where that has happened.

I have also seen lots of instances where a driver shows up with a medical card to orientation at a mega, and be denied employment because of medical reasons. All the megas retest the medical card with their own doctor for a reason.

Not to scare you; trucking can be a rewarding profession. But you have to weed through the BS and the unrealistic expectations. For, example just watch some one chime in here to tell us how easy it is to clear $80K no touch freight your first year, and how they did better then that at some training company.

 

We had a fellow that retired after a full career working at an airport. He has been driving truck for about ten years now and loves it.
We go to farms all the time so he enjoys being able to talk to the farmers.
Hopper bottom hauling grain.
I find the more regional work seems to pay better than the open highway , but that’s just my own experience.

 

I just like to drive.
Don't want to do short runs with live loads on each end.
Cpm isn't everything.
Long runs and great lanes is what I'm after.

 

The world of trucking is not as bad as some try to make it out to be. It also is not the utopia others make it out to be. Mostly trucking is what YOU make it.

 

I agree with toomanybikes you are probably not going to make much more than 40k first year. But after that, with the right gig you can do much better.
In 2017 I made 70k working 50hr a week. There are drivers that do better than that. I believe our policy is 18 months experience with accredited driving school, or 24 months without. So it's not like you have to work 8 or 9 years to make decent money.
You have the itch, so jump and get your first year done and go from there.

 

I started out with a flatbed company. Stayed there for 6 months before getting on with the tanker outfit I'm with now. Had I stayed at the flatbed company, based on where I was pay-wise, I would've most likely made $46K or so my first full year --- and that includes the first 6 weeks at training pay.

First full year at tanker company pay was over $52K. Would have been more, but took over two weeks off w/o pay (split up throughout the year) for various things. Been over $63K the past couple years, and I'm rarely gone more than a couple nights in a row.

All that said, decide the type trucking ya want to do, do your research, pick a good company, and making well over $40K your first year is very possible. And easier to do if you go tanker.

 

There are lots of auto plants in TN that are served by trucking companies that will have you on a set schedule and home daily if that's important to you. You pick up a load of parts, take them to the assembly plant, get reloaded with empty racks then go home till you do the same tomorrow. It's not unusual to be paid by the hour or by the trip instead of by the mile on these runs. You won't get rich but it keeps me out of the pool halls and fits in well with my retirement.