Tribaltalon
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- Sep 24, 2003
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Jaspheth--
I make about 40,000 a year doing what I do. If i stayed out and ran weekends, I would make more money, probably up to around 50-55k. The local jobs usually dont pay hardly anything at all, think 9-12 dollars an hour at best. The GOOD local jobs that pay 40-50k+ want experienced truck drivers (usually fuel tankers or hazmat type companies) that have 2-5 years of experience at least. The reason is its cheaper for those smaller companies to insure drivers that have alot of experience driving big rigs.
I would say at least 75% of first year drivers make around 25k their first year. Alot of the "student driver" trucking companies like Swift, Werner, Schneider, Etc. only pay their drivers .25 cents a mile (i make .40 cents a mile, in comparison) There are some good companies out there like KLLM, Crete, Central, etc that pay around .32 cents a mile which is not bad for a new driver. But remember, the miles are NEVER guaranteed. one week you might run 2,500 miles and make 700-800 dollars that week, and then the next week only run 1,200 miles and bring home 300-400 dollars that week.
Truck driving is NOT for everyone, there's a reason why most truck drivers never make it past their first year. Its frustrating at times, boring most of the time, and you're all by yourself for basically (in my case with being home on weekends) 261 days out of 365 days a year. OTR (Over The Road) guys usually only come home every 3-4 weeks for a few days, so their percentage is even less! they're only home maybe 50 days out of a year. All you do is you sleep in the bunk, wake up and drive, eat, load/unload, stop, sleep, and repeat. The hardest part for alot of drivers I think is that for those 10-11 hours a day that they're driving, all they can do is listen to music, radio, or think about themselves, family, friends, and life in general. It wears down on people to constantly be thinking about stuff like that,and when thats all they do is think about the mistakes they made, they cant handle it after a while and need to get out of the truck and do something different. Personally, I would like to get a job with a local company that still pays as well as what i'm making now, and be home every night as well as off on the weekends. that would be more of a "normal" job.
Don't get me wrong, though, there are definitely some perks. No bosses looking over your shoulder, no annoying co workers to deal with, you see different parts of the country, etc. It is MUCH better of a job to have when you're single, when you're married, not so much!
Oh, and as far as tickets and CDL, absolutely TRUE. If i get a ticket for unsafe lane change, reckless driving or a speeding ticket for 15 miles over the speed limit (even in my PERSONAL vehicle) I LOSE my CDL.
I make about 40,000 a year doing what I do. If i stayed out and ran weekends, I would make more money, probably up to around 50-55k. The local jobs usually dont pay hardly anything at all, think 9-12 dollars an hour at best. The GOOD local jobs that pay 40-50k+ want experienced truck drivers (usually fuel tankers or hazmat type companies) that have 2-5 years of experience at least. The reason is its cheaper for those smaller companies to insure drivers that have alot of experience driving big rigs.
I would say at least 75% of first year drivers make around 25k their first year. Alot of the "student driver" trucking companies like Swift, Werner, Schneider, Etc. only pay their drivers .25 cents a mile (i make .40 cents a mile, in comparison) There are some good companies out there like KLLM, Crete, Central, etc that pay around .32 cents a mile which is not bad for a new driver. But remember, the miles are NEVER guaranteed. one week you might run 2,500 miles and make 700-800 dollars that week, and then the next week only run 1,200 miles and bring home 300-400 dollars that week.
Truck driving is NOT for everyone, there's a reason why most truck drivers never make it past their first year. Its frustrating at times, boring most of the time, and you're all by yourself for basically (in my case with being home on weekends) 261 days out of 365 days a year. OTR (Over The Road) guys usually only come home every 3-4 weeks for a few days, so their percentage is even less! they're only home maybe 50 days out of a year. All you do is you sleep in the bunk, wake up and drive, eat, load/unload, stop, sleep, and repeat. The hardest part for alot of drivers I think is that for those 10-11 hours a day that they're driving, all they can do is listen to music, radio, or think about themselves, family, friends, and life in general. It wears down on people to constantly be thinking about stuff like that,and when thats all they do is think about the mistakes they made, they cant handle it after a while and need to get out of the truck and do something different. Personally, I would like to get a job with a local company that still pays as well as what i'm making now, and be home every night as well as off on the weekends. that would be more of a "normal" job.
Don't get me wrong, though, there are definitely some perks. No bosses looking over your shoulder, no annoying co workers to deal with, you see different parts of the country, etc. It is MUCH better of a job to have when you're single, when you're married, not so much!
Oh, and as far as tickets and CDL, absolutely TRUE. If i get a ticket for unsafe lane change, reckless driving or a speeding ticket for 15 miles over the speed limit (even in my PERSONAL vehicle) I LOSE my CDL.