Why do people say the pay is low?

This wasn't told to me in CDL school, this was a chat we had on I57 north bound going to Chicago. I only was with him a week and then got my own truck so he had no reason to lie to me, he knew I'd likely never see him again.

 

and not everyone is cut out to be an electrician. Gotta have great math skills, not everyone has. Starting out, you will get all the grunt work, hanging conduit, working 50' up in the air, crawlspaces, etc.

 

If you got a smartphone you've got the solution for poor math skills and newbies on any job always do the BS work. That's just how it is.

 

Trucking is good money. If you don't have any responsibilities, as in a wife or kids, you can stack money very quickly. If you have a family, it's still good money, but it's the kind of good money in which you can make a living, ot thr kind of good money where you can live like a king and buy yachts or whatever. I'm not sure if that made sense.

Many truckers gripe, complain, and fuss a out everything. That particular group of truckers think they're real smart. In fact, they're so smart, they say you can make more working at a fast food joint. It just grinds my gears when they say that, yet those guys that say that are still driving instead of working fast food.

My personal opinion.....I think some truckers think the pay is low because they spend too much money. They try to live a larger lifestyle at home than what they can really afford. The minute one overspend, then they say they don't make enough money. Trucking is one of the few jobs that will pay enough for folks to live on. Fast food definitely does not.

Another reason that people think it's low pay is because of what one has to give up. You're gone from home, and not really able to always enjoy a "normal life" so many drivers think that they should be compensated for opting to give up the "normal life." In any profession, you got to give more to get more so I don't understand why trucking gets so much heat. For many people, the lifestyle change is just too much of a price to pay for the money.

 

A lot, if not most truckers are underpaid. Even those of us that make good money must put in a ton of hours to do it.

In my previous career, I made as much in 3 days working 12 hr shifts as I do now working 5 days and 12-14 hrs per day. Not complaining though, I’m much happier in life.

 

Dang man, what sub are you getting for almost 20 bucks? You must be getting double meat and cheese lol

 

I’ve posted this before ,maybe in this thread .

but trucking was good to me

In the late 80s , I was working a “good “ state govt job at nearly double min wage , 3 weeks paid sick leave 3 weeks paid vacation and 12 paid holidays

Every opening we had , usually for 300-400 applications .

but I was slowly starving ,
I took home $800 a month after taxes

Living in a trailer park with zero money left over at the end of the month after paying rent and utilities and groceries and car insurance and gas etc

I couldn’t even afford to have the phone turned on .
I had gotten my CDL so I could legally drive the states dump truck and backhoe combo trailer
Lots of employees drove it , but none had the CDL .

Saw an ad for a lease purchase rent to own from a company with their own direct freight .

First month after my truck payment fuel and ins and all trucking expenses I had $5,000 left over .

goo no from $800 a month to $5k a month was life changing .

I kept living like I was still earning the $800 a month , even spent less because I gave up living on the trailer park to live in my truck at the companies terminal .

Young and single I was able to stack cash like you wouldn’t believe .

 

My 1040 at 21 years old a couple years ago was >70k in Kentucky. That's not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but getting to travel the country and making a comfortable living while most of my peers were still struggling was certainly a blessing. If you view it as a lifestyle, it's fairly decent pay. If you view it as every hour away from home being work, it's subpar. Both are valid arguments, but I happen to fall on the enjoying the lifestyle side of the fence.

The only real downsides I see is it can be hard to 'get out'. Online college/scheduling college around a local gig, an apprenticeship, or entrepreneurship seem to be the most common. At least where I live, there aren't many jobs in other fields paying 75k+ that don't require a degree, certifications, experience, etc.. I'd imagine it'd be even harder for someone with a family who truly cannot take a pay cut.