Why does LTL pay more?

Its also by the mile depending on if your a road driver/line haul

 

Okay, rookies and wannabes, read every post on this thread. You will hear drivers say, "Trucking is what you make it." And that's true. Why don't the mega truckload carrier gigs pay as well as LTL? You hear about night runs. Most drivers are solar powered. You hear about strict schedules. Many mega drivers are slackers. You hear about multiple stops, backing up off city streets, wiggle wagons...etc. You actually have to be able to drive and drive well. Many mega drivers just drive well enough to pass the CDL test and they never get any better. That's the bare minimum for a driver.

Why does LTL pay more? Why does tanker pay more? Why does car hauling pay more? Why des cattle hauling pay more? Because part of the package is for paying you a driver for what you know instead of what you do.

If you want to be a driver and make money, don't just be content with just getting a CDL and a sunshine injection from a recruiter. Apply yourself to becoming a skilled driver. Your wallet will thank you.

 

Drive me nuts when someone mentions the words Teamsters or Union, and then the vehemently anti-union guys break out there talking points. We can pretend unions don't exist and they have never done anything beneficial, but that would be ridiculous. We can't erase facts. Why can't we just have an intelligent conversation based on just that, facts?

 

Here is a breakdown of an LTL linehaul run I did on Friday for anyone who is curious. This was an on call run, meaning I got the call @ midnight with two hours to make it in. I am making 90% of full rate (Full @ 3rd anniversary), 47cpm and something like 18.50 / hour. The run was Denver - Billings, starting @ 0230. Total mileage each way was 562. This includes an overnight stay in a hotel as we run daycabs. The return trip was a set of empties as all freight had been picked up by previous driver.

Total Mileage Pay: 1124 miles = $528
Total Hourly Pay: .75 hours for d&h, .5 hours for fueling, 1.5 hours for closed highway (wreck on I-25 in Cheyenne) = $50

So for two days of work I received $578 dollars. If I was on this bid I would be doing this 6days a week.

 

You brought the Teamsters into the fray. There are LTL jobs that pay well without representation. And there are Teamster companies that, well, aren't the best to work for.
As stated before, it takes a better skilled driver, for the most part, to hook a set of doubles, drive 7-8 hrs overnight in a snowstorm, sleep during the day in a strange bed, haul cars,etc.

 

I've been a teamster for nearly 20 yrs. That said the Central states is diverting our pensions and other underhanded methods of stealing our money. I quit my last union job because of these unethical standards. Sounds like the U.S. Gov.

 

The non-union LTL companies paid well, historically, to keep up and stay competitive with the unionized ones. The OP asked why LTL pays better that TL, I gave him the answer. If you go back and examine what happened in 1977 and after, it all kind of makes sense. Things went one way for LTL and the opposite for the "low-wage special" TL segment since then.

 

YRC's troubles came from bad business decisions by execs followed by a recession. Teamsters did nothing to bankrupt YRC.

 

Nope! Had nothing to do with them buying Roadway and USF, financed 100% by debt, which they couldn't afford, then went on to poorly manage all of it. You're just a Teamsters mouthpiece!!

















*Sarcasm*