what should my friend do

Tell him to RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH and then RESEARCH some more and if decides trucking is something he'd be interested in doing then i'd tell him to go for it. BTW What is he worried about with his asthma? I have it and during my physicals I inform the physician that I have it and I take albuterol during a attack and i've never been turned down for a job or medical card. I don't know how severe his is but with mine Idon't have it as severe as I used to but it never interfered with me working but I always have a inhaler in my pocket just in case.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor and the I.R.S. the average O.T.R. driver declared $43,500 on their taxes in 2012 and an average of $10,500 in deductions. This is a 1.3% decline from 2011 and 2.7% decline from 2010. This is based on 3 million W-2 forms.

The U.S. Treasury Dept. shows there has been a steady decline in the U.S. Dollar over the past 10 years.

All this means the OTR Driver is making less now than they did 10 years ago.

Tell your friend to look up these facts for himself. I know a lot of companies and even drivers claim their are making $70k - $100k a year. I guess the IRS would be very interested in seeing these W-2 forms.

I have 56 drivers working for me and their average W-2 form last year (2012) was $58,150. But, I pay Hub miles, a few CPM more than the mega-carriers, and all of my drivers have more than 5 year OTR experience.

Last year my ex-wife's neighbor who is a city bus driver asked to talk to me about going OTR. We went to lunch and by the end to lunch he was 100% sure that he didn't want to drive OTR. He could make more money getting a second job.

Driving OTR is like working two full time jobs, not being able to sleep in your own bed, not being home when you want to be, and being treated with disrespect by shippers, receivers, dispatchers, truck stop workers, and even the general public. My two older kids were ashamed that I was an OTR driver and were even harassed and looked down on by their peers and the school districts. Now that I own a small company the younger kids are not treated like that mostly because I'm home everyday.

 

Depends on what you call/hour. A driver that is not a trainer will make between 40 and 70k per year, but will work 14+ hours per day at least 5 days a week.

3640 hours per year

@40K per year thats 10.98/hour
@70K per year thats 19.23/hour

As an OTR trucker your away form home 24 hours a day, not just the time your on duty. Is it a great career....YES, but there are sacrifices, and the per hour is not a great as it looks when you consider how many hours we actually work.