What is good pay? And what’s fair now in trucking?

So 'they' are controlling wages so 'they' don't lose control.
And if 'they' didn't control wages truckers would be making way more money, but everyone including truckers would be paying a LOT more for everything.

And that would cause a civil war because.... Why?

If there are a group of 'them' that control wages, why would 'they' ever have a meeting with open doors?

 

I do the same thing. I use CL and Indeed. It's normal to start seeing an increase in job ads this time of year though. We're almost out of the 1st quarter so many places are gearing up for the busier time of the year (2nd and 3rd quarters.)

 

He’ll I’d go to Walmart right now if they had openings near me. And I had hazmat. Working on it.

 

Kwik Trip has a job listing in Waterloo and Davenport, IA right now for Mon-Fri fuel haulers. Days are Mon-Fri, 4pm-4am. Home every day. Advertised pay range is 70k-135k. I don’t know how it’s that broad, but anyways…

I don’t know anything about driving for Kwik Trip, but from my recent research of homes for sale in Iowa, 100k in Iowa is a true 100k lol.

I’m not saying move to Iowa, but I am saying that anything online revolving around trucking has such a wide array of variables. Home daily could mean 4 days of day shifts or it could mean 6 days of night shifts. Someone in the Bay Area is making 120k right now and living with roommates and someone in Iowa is making 120k and on track to retire by 50. Meanwhile, someone in the holler of eastern KY is probably making 50k and living the dream cause home daily is a big deal when the nearest LTL terminals are 100 miles of two lane roads away.

As others said, keep your living expenses to a minimum and just find whatever fits for you. From your posts I’ve seen, it seems like an APU, fridge, and decent CPM will be life changing for you. With a year of experience, you could easily find these amenities and make 80k+ if you’re willing to stay out. Pretty easy to become well-liked by a company in OTR if you just keep your head down and accept every load, which is great for job security.

Also, take the time to truly think about your life goals and what you’re in this for. After a wife and kids and a very normal home everyday life? Work towards getting seniority at a solid LTL carrier. Wanting to stack money, buy a house, and load up a retirement plan? Live in a truck basically full time and cut your expenses down close to zero. Wanting to become an O/O or company owner? Start figuring out your long term niche you’re interested in and get a foot in a door somewhere that’ll get you that experience. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Could just be refrigerated. But, don’t wait til you’re in your own truck to realize that 34 degree produce set on start/stop might get an entire load rejected.

 

Anyways, to answer your original question. For general OTR: stick to mid size carriers. Crete, GP Transco, Climate Express, Schuster, FCC, Heyl, etc. Midwest stays busy and mid size is the right balance of newer equipment with amenities like APU without quite as much babysitting as the larger ones. Much higher chance of a consistent experience than smaller companies.

Local: Fuel hauling, LTL, and food service. Pick your poison based on whatever’s available and whatever you wanna do/what shift you wanna work. All fluctuate in pay, but will all pay a respectable or good living. Plenty will hire with a year of experience when the market is decent and you have your endorsements and a clean record

Regional: Gets a lot more spotty. Walmart is obviously king of regional overall, but there are unique tanker gigs, private fleet gigs, general freight, driver unload, etc., etc. that can get you 100k+ a year. Just don’t fall into the “get home more, make the same” BS. Everyone’s different, but why make 60k/yr to get home for a 34 when you can just wait out a Walmart opening and make 100k getting home 2 days a week? Don’t put yourself in financial strain for a 34 where all you’re gonna do is run errands and sleep. If you have kids or medical reasons, that’s understandable though. But as a single person, I think the stay out 5-6 weeks and take a mini vacation when you’re home is better financially and for happiness. It’s all subjective though