Why would you want to do this for a career

First year sucks, but where else ,are you going to make $1000,a week,without a useless degree,of some kind?
Since joining JB,Ive only had personal contact,with the orientation department,along with drivers Ive met,along the way.
They leave you alone,to do your job,and get me home,every two weeks,when I ask them.
Great gig.

 

I'd venture to guess that perhaps only 4 in 10 who decide to enroll in a CDL school has looked deeply into all the different aspects of trucking before pulling the trigger. Desperation makes people do things they would not ordinarily do. The trucking industry thrives on desperation, the same as casinos. Without getting too political, this new economy is driving many to giving up, or into jobs they have no aptitude to engage in (trucking chief among them).

I feel sorry for kids anywhere in the world graduating high school today, but I suppose the "good news" for them is, you can't miss what you never had. So sad where we have ended up as a nation, all at the hands of a few leaders elected by their parents who were too self-absorbed to think beyond their lifetime and what their kids would have to endure, to satisfy their "instant gratification lifestyle" they have become accustomed to ... dam the consequences that won't be felt until after they are dead and gone.

 

With flat deck it's not a career it's a passion.

Oh and your numbers, you can live on the road and support a family for 750 a week unless there are spending issues on your end. Don't need two new cars with payments. don't have to have the largest fanciest house.

The obsession with the need to impress others is what is hurting people, not the wage. Friend of mine makes $15 an hour driving locally. No other jobs except that he now owns 75 Pete dump truck, tag trailer and JD 4x4 backhoe all paid for. He also has 4-5 4x4 pickups all paid for. He is doing this while being married and raising 3 kids. No his wife does not work.

 

Agreed on your whole post but to this one point, when my back forced me out of my construction business, a friend asked if I thought I could drive a truck. I said I know I could drive one but not sure my back would handle it? I ended up going OTR for a month to see. I did everything but drive it and found I could do it. That month showed me a LOT of what the "lifestyle" was about. Never even considered driving a truck before that.

I liked it and went in with my eyes wide open. Didn't learn everything of course but I saw enough of the typical problems, delays, frustrations etc... etc... and talked with any experienced driver that would give me the time. It was enough for me to decide.

I've always told anyone who asks, if you get a chance to ride along for at least month do it! It's a great "primer" for making a decision for the long haul.

 

Back 30 years ago trucking was a job that paid well and a job that commanded respect. Not everybody could be a truck driver back then. Now days trucking seems to be a job of last resort with drivers coming in who have kind of flunked out in everything else they did. Now im not talking about every trucking job out there or "real" owner ops, or certain LtL, and others. Its alot of the people coming in to the megas.

 

Not a bad analysis, JimmyJohnTexas. However, I question this statement:

When I got back into the industry in 2012 the starting pay at Swift was $0.25 per mile. Then they started boosting the pay scale and other carriers followed suit. I think somewhere around $0.32 to $0.36 is where you will find the average starting pay. Higher if you do something other than pull a box for a mega.

That being said your post went on to correctly note the depressing numbers for being a lease operator. You didn't mention any other career path, like becoming an owner operator leased onto a decent carrier that pays on percentage or getting your own authority or becoming a fleet owner.

Those are career paths that represent opportunities to make serious money, especially if you are willing to pull a flat deck, tanker, or other specialized freight. In other words to put in some physical work.

While many drivers are content to be a company driver for years or be a lease operator under the umbrella of a mega, there are choices in this industry that compensate you very well if you are willing to pay your dues.

Have a Plan. Work the Plan.

 

Only 10 years ago when i started i showed up for my first day of training at the mega and i was surprised at alot of the people who showed up as well. I mean, it could have been mistaken for the gathering at the soup kitchen. No joke. 3/4 of these people washed out by the end of the day.

 

Not many will ever get the opportunity to "ride along" for a month but I agree it would be good if such a program existed. But for some they'd see you back into a tight spot for instance, and see how "easy" it was, never going to understand it wasn't easy, it was a skill and a certain internal gift, the some have and some don't. They need to see and experience the lifestyle, but they also need to assess their skills, if they have any, to see how much difficulty they are going to have early on and a ride-along won't generally provide this unless you and your company want to assume a lot of risks.

 

Which is exactly why you can stand out as a professional from day one. I did the mega thing for two years. My last year at Swift I was a trainer, made about $70K.

Loved training, but moved on to running flatbed to the oil patch. Now I made $65K my first year here, with the downturn in oil, paid on a percentage of revenue to the truck. Scratching together the coin to buy my own truck.