What is the REAL average first year income for a new driver

I think on the whole it all pays way too little for what we do but as driverdriver says otr kind of gets in your blood. As you gain experience you make more but I think the real trick is to be always looking. There are some sweet deals out there and you learn about them word of mouth. One time I missed out on a great us mail contract because I had just moved on to something else when my driver friend told me about it. Another will come along at the right time. But I don't know of anyone can say "a truck driver makes x $ " and be definitive about it because there are so many opportunities with so many variables.

 

Speaking of mail there's Matheson that runs mail out a there can't remember what the pay is though.

 

You mean like the ones that only drive when the stock market is open, then wonder why the check is low

 

They post adds on Craigslist every so often. If I remember correctly around the holidays when they get real busy.

 

Forget the income.

Think about how much you spend for that coffee yearly at 5.00 a cup several times a day. Then go buy a inverter, a mr coffee, a stanley thermos or two and STOP frivoulsy wasting your precious income on the retail. 15 dollars in coffee times 365 makes for a hell of a lot of money. You can get coffee brewed yourself for something that works out to 16 cents a cup.

 

You get out of it what you put into it. You wanna make money? Run the hell out of the truck. You want to make less? Drive less.

That's like saying how much can a car salesman make the first year? Well, it all depends, how many cars does he sell?

 

If you want make money do food service. Sysco or who ever is local. The problem is it's very hard work. You have to unload the trailer and delivery the boxes inside. They can't find drivers and pay like $70,000. They start at about 3am everyday.

I did car hauling for 2 years. The pay is good but living in a small truck sucks.

A new driver can plan on running 115,000-120,000 miles a year. I'm doing a guaranteed minimum weekly pay now and I get paid more if I drive over 2,500 miles a week.

You have like being alone I would say and driving. Nothing like pulling out of Fago AND heading west to Montana. It's a great drive no traffic nobody around just set the cruise control and drive all day

 

It depends on what area of the industry you go into. Chemical hazmat tends to pay the most, flatbed and reefer follow, then dry van.

I'm told car haulers make pretty good money, but finding a decent one that will train you im told cam be a pain. My first full year running flatbed I made 53k.

 

Nobody ever mentions the oilfield in these discussions. I know you live in Vegas, so you'd probably have to move. But there's money to be made truckin' in the patch and it really doesn't matter if you're a little wet behind the ears or not. Just depends on how good a company you get with and hard you can run.