Tired, not earning as much as they said you would?

I don't think $208/ day...or even $150/ day is anywhere near poverty wages.
That's roughly$800- $1000 / week and 40- $50k / year.

AND...you don't really have to keep a place of residence if you are trucking full time cause you live in the truck anyways....saving you $10-$12k per year.

Now..if you are supporting a family, that doesn't help, BUT ...I don't think one could be a full time ( OTR) trucker AND be a good family man at the same time anyways. You should get a local gig and they pay $15-$20/hr..easy.

You can make good money as an company OTR, you just have to live in you truck...keep that overhead down.

Making money isn't always about what you earn, it's also about what you save.

 

depending on who you talk to,

yes, speed differential IS a safety issue between cars and trucks.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/04156/index.cfm

 

If you count all the hours that you spend at shippers/receivers, broker screw ups, dispatcher screw ups, load cancels... etc etc. OTR driving hourly wage... or work your actually paid for can quickly amount to a meager $6 per hour. If you add up all the hours that your actually working.

 

If I did that for any job I worked at, the pay never adds up to what they claim to pay you.

So what.....

 

I agree. Either you get paid by the mile or hourly (or possibly %). You can't keep trying to compare one to the other.

 

Drty Diesel, appears to be a new driver. I'm just informing him how it is in reality. Not knocking it, it is what it is.... in a manner of speaking.

 

WHAT? Hey, that's not what the recruiter said!!

 

Only 168 hours in a week , so $6 a hr would be $1008 , if you never slept . .33 times 3000 miles , Is $1000 . Im thinking he never sleeps.

 

I am a new driver but the way I was raised is to be a hard worker and not expect a hand out.

If I'm behind the wheel, I consider myself working. If I'm fueling, waiting at a customer, doing a drop and hook, etc. I don't consider that work. Most guys will divide what they make by 24 hours. I just don't believe I'm working 24 hours a day. When I'm driving, I'm working, when I'm not driving, I'm not working. That's just how i see it.

I understand you have a different view, I'm not saying your wrong, I'm just saying I get paid to drive. Layover, breakdown, and detention pay is just a plus.



Ethan

 

Yea it is a vicious cycle. I usually run from Terrell Tx to Carlisle PA and then deadhead to North Bergen NJ and then run back down to Jacksonville TX. Afterwards I deadhead 110 miles back to the yard and park the truck for 2 days. Now I have to reload in Allentown and run up to Newburgh NY before going to Kearney. Takes me a half a day and I earn 100 miles more out of the deal.

Hardly worth it for me. But as a company driver this is where you have to sit back and look at the big picture. I'm sure my boss makes ALOT of money off that 122 mile load and again...I gain about 100 extra miles or 36 bucks. I understand why he does it and I have a job so all is good.

BTW the owner of my company is a businessman. Been in business for 16 years, owns 63 trucks, over a hundred trailers, and seems to have an idea what he is doing from his office. The man wouldn't even know how to climb up into a truck. I prefer it that way. Never wanted to work for a supertrucker.