Trucking and pay

Yeah no doubt. My previous (non-union) employer, I was basically their only local guy in a small OTR / Regional focused company. I hired on when they decided to try and "Wing It" with attempting local / relay work. You could say I was extra-board as well, since I was basically on-call. But there, I was abused. Greatly varying start times (7AM one day, 2AM the next was normal), sub-standard pay ($15/hr and no overtime), wasted No time every day to keep under 14hrs (used my 16hr exemption EVERY week), so on... Aside from driving pretty, nicely maintained equipment, left a bad taste in my mouth...

 

I think you're pinpointing more towards the difference between a professional driver and someone who just drives for a living. There's a difference between the two, and I'll agree that "wheel holders" are plentiful. The market favors anyone with a strong work ethic, whether or not they are a O/O. The harder you work, the longer you stay at it, the more you learn, the more you'll make.

 

Like most other jobs, you aren't going to make the big money off the bat, especially if you're a 1st generation driver walking into this job without knowing anything about it. More money comes with more experience, and experience comes with exposure. In other words, you have to earn it. It won't get handed to you on a platter.

Even as the baby boomers retire, you have to earn their seat.

 

Source it then; otherwise I'm just gonna assume you're biased and talking smack.

http://truck-driver-salary.org/class-a-cdl-truck-driver-salary/

http://www1.salary.com/Truck-Driver-Tractor-Trailer-Salary.html

 

It's cheaper than 10 to 20 because you and the ol' lady want to end each other after 15 minutes of cohabitation!

 

you can lose your shirt out here

or you can make more money than you thought

it all depends on how you position yourself in the industry

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...drivers/247509-new-old-150-1500-8hrs-all.html

 

I see pay going up all over, I get calls once a week from companies telling me how much more they're paying and asking if I want to work for them...

After you put in your 2yrs, the real doors open up and you can make good money and be home...Took me 2yrs but I make over $70K now( I could make way more, I just like hometime more(semi-retired now, of course right after finding perfect trucking job LOL), home every weekend and a couple of nights a week, paid medical, paid AFLAC, no waiting around, no pay issues, truck issues are handled ASAP as if they actually realize the truck makes the money and more miles than you can legally drive...And there are plenty of these jobs out there, it just won't have a 1000-10000 truck fleet, and I like that too.. Current company has 50-60 trucks, perfect size!...

All I'll say is as you drive around your town/area you'll see trucking companies that never advertise, or rarely as they don't have to, THEY are the ones you want to talk to...Good luck, there's money to be made, you just have to find the right company...That can take time and trial and error, but persistence will pay off, it always does!

 

I can explain that. The gig still attracts people, and the reality only drives ~half away.

Truck driving should start at $50K/year, and those who adhere to some standard of professionalism should expect to earn $10K more every year.

Yeah, I got a bad case of the "shoulds".

 

Well, it's not perfect, but I've worked it out to $30/hr while driving, or $15/hr all time spent away from home.

Not mad keen on 60 hours a week and being away 5 days at a time, but its still the best job I've ever had.

I'll never go back to 3 weeks out at a time - I have respect for those that do.

 

Wrong...both of you.....your math is wrong......"if" you run your total 70 hours in 8 days that is that is an average of 8.75 hours working a day....now you know that you're not actually working all that time...so let's try this..... If...after every 14 hours on you must take 10 off...that means that "if" you work the maximum amount allowed each day you still only "work" 14 hours a day... that equals 420 hours a month not 500...you just can't figure a truckers work schedule like a regular guys...there is no comparison...but let's get the numbers correct..please...so...you aren't a driver.....why not walk a mile in a drivers shoe's...then we'll have a discussion...since you don't know anymore about what being a drivers is than you know how to figure a drivers pay.....