Upfront article about trucking

All I'm going to say is I like sleeping for 25 bucks an hour. Detention pay has come a long ways!

Thank you Jennie-o and wal-mart!

[Useless]

[quote="ColdFrostyMug"]

Most of the new guys at these big training companies like Swift, Werner, Do the math and that's like 7-10 bucks an hour to live in a truck away from your friends/family for weeks on end.

Some very good points you've made, CFM!!

Another thing to consider is the cost of living when you are driving OTR. Yes, those expenses are tax deductible, but the vast majority of new drivers will only be in the 15% tax bracket, so "Tax Deduction" isn't the magic phrase that some people would have you believe!!

[Frogman]

After reading it It sounds like a story about one of the worst businessmen I have ever seen! The guy has never taken home more than 40,000 bucks and only took home 9k last year but is driving a 140,000k truck with 2k payments. Seriously...Its so easy to make trucking look like crap with a story like that. And once again its another sotry that points out how many 18 wheeler wrecks there are but fails to mention that the majority are caused by cars. Good read but not very accurate if you ask me.

But to make that $40,000, you've got to work about 120 hours" a week, says John Siebert, an official with the group.

"These guys are working 100 to 120 hours a week, and their sleep patterns are all over the clock," he says.

if you ever catch me working 120 hours to bring home 40k just go ahead and kick me in the face.
120 hours per week on a 7 day week is 17.14 hours per day....who is really doing this on a day to day week to week consistent basis?

There you go . . . well said.

This is just another CHICAGO TRIBUNE hackjob . . . two lazy reporters who didn't bother to perform comprehensive research or do wide-ranging interviews . . . and another editor (no doubt from some prestigious Ivy League journalism program) whose only experience with "truckers" is probably limited to the guys who pick up his garbage every week.

As far as I can tell, the two reporters, Franklin & Little, got most of their information from some guy named "Professor Belzer" who's a former truck driver and now a "trucking expert" . . . whatever that means. I'm sure Belzer introduced the two reporters to Siebert (who runs the O/O Independent Driver's Association). The reporters told Siebert they were doing a story on the horrors of the trucking industry . . . and Siebert told them . . . "oh boy, do I have a trucker you need to talk to!"

Hence, Kobernick . . . the driver who never heard of tax planning and my personal choice for The Worst Businessman Of The Year Award.

Economically, the trucking industry is very similar to the real estate industry. The total industry is composed of numerous segments . . . refrigerated, van, flatbed, tanker, auto, LTL, etc . . . then you have long-haul, line-haul, regional, dedicated, delivery drivers . . . then you have the various geographical areas and the various freight routes . . . then you have union drivers, O/O, company drivers, team drivers . . .

Trying to illustrate "truck driving" by relating the misfortunes of this one poor bastard is like holding up one square brick and saying . . . "here, this is what The Pentagon looks like . . ."


Some good points . . . but overall a D- . . . does not meet the standards of professional journalism . . . take it back, write it again and turn it in after Christmas break . . .

[Drakmare]

You might have entry level warehouse jobs out there that start at 12-14 dollars but that is because of your ridiculous cost of living. Here in the midwest, thanks to the wetbacks we now have, you'll be lucky to start at $8-$9/hr.
As to your other erroneous assertion, I only log 15 min for loading or unloading (or for a d&h which is what we do %90 of the time0. And who is to say that every minute you have logged in the berth was actually spent in the berth? Even when I am in the berth at a shipper etc. I'm rarely sleeping. Usually I'm watching tv or some such. In no way would I ever consider that to be "working". Maybe its because I have been fortunate enough to have never had a union job and therefore never picked up the lazy attitude that most union workers have.

Agreed, in my area typical warehouse jobs start at 8-9$$ an hour. Most wont even let you work overtime after 40. Sure if it happens your gonna get paid overtime....but it rarely happens. Your more likely to be laid off around here then work any kind of overtime.

-Drak

[amgiles]

Some good points . . . but overall a D- . . . does not meet the standards of professional journalism . . . take it back, write it again and turn it in after Christmas break . . .

Well said. Just another example of the media doing everything possible to paint a topic in a negative light... find the worst example they can and portray it as representative of the entire industry. They could make Hugh Hefner's job sound bad if they put their mind to it. :?

If this article should be posted anywhere, it should be on the O/O forum, not the Newbie forum. I don't know what kind of newbie will go straight from CDL school to the Peterbilt dealer, buy a truck, and become a completely independent o/o... but that's all this article talked about, definitely not representative of the indsutry as a whole... Nothing about the decent company-driver postions or local gigs. And for the o/o's here, it sounds like it's more for entertainment than anything. If you're a newbie, dont be fooled or sell yourself short for a low paying job... just look harder and be selective. And remember - it's a lifestyle choice.

A few good general points, but mostly defeatist, negative, misrepresenting, misery-spreading jibberish.