UPS Freight Diary:

But look at where you'll be at in 4 yrs vs them

 

Gotta remember they probably only posting the good.. And they are gone weeks at a time your home every day!! Like another guy said u will be making way more and home everyday once u hit top rate!

 

You can't look at it like that though. For one, with OTR you will have a few awesome weeks where you were running your nuts off. Then you'll have the same amount of weeks where your truck is sitting more than it is rolling. On top of that, you get a lot more luxuries with local work than what OTR drivers have. Or at least depending on how you look at it. You know some people are meant for the OTR and they enjoy every bit of that job. I like my home time, and never having to look at a map, and having a routine weekend, and having the freedom of not being trapped in a mobile office thousands of miles from home. So that all is worth a lot more than an extra $50-100 on the paycheck.

But I mean to each their own .... someone is needed to run them trucks cross country and I am sure glad people actually volunteer for it.

 

@Russian Rabbit -
C'mon, man! First of all, those guys usually make in a whole year what you already have made in 10 months, and sometimes less. Second of all, they are married to that truck and often spend several weeks out at a time away from friends and family to get it. Also notice in the 2nd video the driver said he didn't post his previous paycheck because it was only $350 gross due to being broken down for 5 days. We don't EVER have to deal with situations like that. There are also factors like holiday and vacation pay packages that don't compare, not to mention healthcare and retirement benefits. You have to look at the whole pay package. When you are topped out, you'll easily make $1,500/wk in the city and possibly get into six figures on linehaul. Just be patient.

That guy ran hard, maxing out his 70/hr clock over 7 full days to make that $1,300. He also mentioned that he got lucky that week and that all his runs were drop/hooks. Don't let other people's highlight reels depress you. Trust me: the rest of the footage ain't so hot.

The reason I haven't ever posted my paychecks is that I'm actually kinda embarrassed I make so much money now. I know people with PhDs who don't make as much money as I do driving a truck. But I paid my dues and worked my way up over the years and I feel I deserve it. So do you. It'll be raining down before you know it.

 

I am guessing that you haven't been with UPS very long or your rate would be much higher if you are LTL. As with any "good" job, especially Union job, it takes several years to get to top pay. That Swift driver that made more than you that one week, will still be making that same amount in 10 years, but you will get a good raise every year. Parcel is higher than freight, but not that much and this check was from 10 years ago and roughly $8 an hour less than current rate. I was no where near the top earner at the time. Hang in there and when you top out you should easily earn 6 figures. Oh by the way I quit that high paying job because I hated night work. Now I work daywork for myself and make more, #### the luck.

 

I hope you don't think I was trying to "blow you out of the water"! I was trying to give you perspective to the fact that you can and will eventually be there if you wait long enough. Money most certainly isn't the most important thing in life and the older I get the less important it is, after making enough to provide the basic necessities in life.