Trucking and pay

Money is the only reason I do this,Yea maybe to 1st few years it was," see the country" but not anymore,..once you drive down the interstate and see all the walmarts & home depots,and mcdonalds in one state,they all look the same,,GIVE ME MONEY !!#

 

Based on that spreadsheet, evidently not much? They put truckers in with warehousing? Everybody knows warehouse workers don't work but 8 hours a day? Lot of difference between 8 and 14.

 

I agree that 8 isn't 14, but that's about it. What about all of the guys running recaps at 8.5 hours a day? What about the other industries working more than average? I honestly can't speak to either, because I can't find hard data for warehouse workers average weekly hours or % of recap/reset. The point was, this isn't about singularities its about averages.

 

Aren't people in those minimum wage jobs saying they don't get 40 hours? they only get 20 or less and half shifts etc? Not every job is ideal but when your putting food on the table, paying your bills and gifts are under the tree then whoose really complaining? It isn't ideal but it will get us from here to where we want to be next.

 

better go back to the spreadsheets you have been reading to much mega-crap trucking company propaganda. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportati...y-and-tractor-trailer-truck-drivers.htm#tab-5

Your 45k starting is a long way from reality when the median was 38K for all truckers. That is just above the average of all jobs at 35k and not near college degree jobs.

Factor in the hours a driver works, both on the clock and off, that is chicken feed.

There is no shortage! Never has been. That is once again mega-crap propaganda: Convince people to invest in the occupation, thus increasing the pool of labor and lowering the wage. They don't need people when their turnover is over 100%!

HOS change did nothing to the shortage: More mega-crap propaganda. HOS change only complicated planning for office staff that cannot add and subtract.

 

This thread is bringing me down...

 

I hate to open this inevitable can a' worms but, Teamster jobs are a good route away from this vast indentured servitude problem.
I drive local LTL, set schedule, M-F. $23.80/hr, overtime after 40, company paid (great) insurance, pension, etc... and I'm treated well.

Never got that kind of quality of life with my other companies...

 

I tried local briefly and hated it. Some of us don't understand why some drivers want to be local, but it's really not our business. Personally, I hate regional as much as local. The trucking industry need all of us; local, regional, OTR. Give me the coast-to-coast and keep me at it. I've never put a pencil to it to see how much I make per hour when OTR is broken down because I don't care.

 

To be honest, OTR was a fun ride for me... I do miss aspects of it. But... after buying a house and being single with no one to watch over the place for weeks at a time, paints a big "ROB THIS PLACE" over my back door, so local work was a necessity for me.
Local does get repetitious since you frequent the same areas, but it's also nice knowing what route is best, what to watch for since it isn't new to you, when "X" consignee will or won't be closed, etc...
And sleeping in my own bed every night and having my weekends is nice.

 

One place I worked was mostly Southeast. Every 6 months could bid on regular runs (non-union company), but I refused to bid and stayed on extra board. I listened to other drivers complain about so-and-so got the best paying runs, blah, blah. When the W-2's came in each year, I was always at the top for earnings, always & I was the only driver on extra board.

How that worked, the company kept getting calls from other companies to haul loads they couldn't cover, to everywhere in the country and return with backhauls. I was the only driver not tied down with bid runs, so I got those gravy runs, hauling stuff the bid drivers would never see; tires, jelly, butter, frozen foods, etc.