where is the money??

[Zen Road Warrior]

hey folks,
i have 6 months in and am averaging $400 per week. I'm always on a trip but with the low pay per mile and 4-6 hour load/unload this is all I'm seeing.

I drive straight through and never take longer that a 10 hour break.

Where is the money in trucking? Does one have to go into flatbed, tanker, become an o/o?

Soon I'll have a year in and will have more options, but....

How can one make a decent living from trucking?

thanks.

[Ridge Runner]

Well to start with, how much is the "low pay per mile" ? Second, are you running out your 70 and having to do a restart each week? Give us a few more details and I'm sure we can come up with some answers to help your bottom line.

[BanditsCousin]

Well, I used to do HHG and did fairly well. Now I do tradeshows and special products like electronics and medical equipment and do better. For a while my Dad hauled cars for FedEX and made some hefty change.

I'd say the first step is to talk to your manager and/or dispatcher. The next step is to start shopping for a new career and/or commodity when #1 step doesn't amount to more $$.

[repete]

your gonna hear a lot of crap from the LTL guys on here and yes you can make money there but you can do well OTR also. We need more info, cents per mile, miles per load, how you log your time,ect post some numbers and we'll try to help. The $$ out there it just depends on who you drive for and how you manage your time

[Double R]

Might want to look into finding a new carrier to work for. Seems whoever you are driving for pays low.

You can make money in OTR trucking. But you will live out of a truck and spend all your time on the job. The trick is to make good money AND have a life outside of and away from the truck. To do that, you've got to get away from the van/reefer dime-a-dozen steering-wheel holders and aim for more specialized work such as oilfield, LTL, oversized loads, car-hauling, tankers, private fleets, UPS/FedEx, etc.

The more skill/experience required, the more money you will make. Either that, or some kind of union influence to prop up the wages. In OTR, these McMega carriers are churning out a new crop of starry-eyed newbs by the week. It's Economics 101...a steady supply of labor keeps wages down throughout the industry.

[GMAN]

With 6 months experience you should be earning more than $400/week. I would think that you should be making at least $600/week. Don't get discouraged. Once you get a year or two experience you will find that your income and opportunities will increase dramatically.

[hoohaa]

With 6 months experience you should be earning more than $400/week. I would think that you should be making at least $600/week. Don't get discouraged. Once you get a year or two experience you will find that your income and opportunities will increase dramatically.

Yes...he'll go from a really crappy job, to a pretty crappy job.

GMAN is right though.
That 400 dollar `figure sounds really low, even for a newbie.

Have you tried organizing a union in your place of employement?.......
Nevermind, what am I thinking?
Low wages, and giving away your time for free, is just part of the job. :rock:

[Snowman7]

Are you saying $400 gross or net? Everyone has different deductions so gross would allow us to offer some better comparisons.

[Colts Fan]

Are you saying $400 gross or net? Everyone has different deductions so gross would allow us to offer some better comparisons.

Either way that is still some pathetic pay.

[VitoCorleone99]

I made more than that as a trainee. Sounds to me like you're getting hosed.

[silvan]

How can one make a decent living from trucking?

Be a trucking company CEO? Be a broker? A DOT cop?

It damn sure isn't from being the pointy tip of the spear anymore. I'm starving to death, and literally ready to go back to Wal-Mart. If I'm going to starve, at least I can co-work with some hot chicks.

[wanderingson]

I think the good money is in flatbed/ over dimensional freight. Car haulers are paid well too. Tanker yankers make good money too.
I started out pulling vans (still do sometimes) but flatbed loads pay more.

I am a company driver, driving local, working for a non-union company. Good money is also to be made at the LTL union companies, like Yellow, ABF, etc. It's hard to get into these companies though.

Overall, the money will be found driving local. OTR incurs many expenses. You can make as much, if not MORE money, driving local. Plus, you will be home in your own bed every night.

For me, this is "Priceless" LOL

Seriously,...if you have a wife and/or kids, you need to be home every night.
Truck driving can be a good career. It has been good to me.

[Uturn2001]

The short, and easy answer is: Specialized freight.

The more specialized it is the more it pays, and likewise (generally speaking) the more the driver is paid.

And yes, LTL is somewhat specialized.

[choperbob]

:evil: kinda wished i made that much a week or even a month the last few months as lease purchase idiot. at 6 mo. exp is sort low tho. as co. driver. am driving for an owner operator and take home $1000 on a poor week now. better send more info and these guys really can give good advise

[Windwalker]

I've heard a lot of people that have little to do with trucking say that truckers make the BIG MONEY. The simple fact is that we, as drivers, don 't do ourselves any favors. Some of us may be trying to impress someone, and tend to brag about how much we make. I know one guy that does this. Even carries his pay stub with him. What he doesn't tell anyone is that he was shorted a couple of weeks earlier, and had an exceptionally good week when he got his back pay. So, $2300 on one pay week really looks good. But when you find out about the rest of his weeks, he's not doing any better than the rest of us. That kind of bragging does not do any of us any favors.

Back when I started, I was making $0.28/mile. According to the way things have gone up since that, I should be making $0.75/mile now.

My brother, with nearly 40 years of driving, was making $0.35 before deregulation, and five years after was only making $0.26. And, I know quite a number of drivers that are making exactly the same now as they were 10 years ago.

Give me all the flack you want, but the money is NOT in driving. What you do have, if you keep your record clean, is JOB SECURITY. Long after you retire, there will still be demand for drivers. For that matter, drivers, as a whole, are a bunch of fools and idiots. Because they can not agree on the same time of day, they will not band together and use any form of collective bargaining to improve things for themselves. Because of that, companies can "THROW THE DOGS A BONE" in the form of $0.25/mile, and keep then happy.

Something else that a number of you may find is that once you have a couple of years experience in driving, it may be difficult to go back to something else, even if you are qualified. Many companies will not hire a driver away from the trucking industry because of the driver shortage. For example, welders make more than I do, and I'm a certified welder with experience on TIG, MIG, A-C and D-C ARC, but 10 years ago I put in no less than 11 applications and was not hired for any one of them because I'm a driver and the industry is short. Never mind that I've also worked as an electrical engineer for 13 years. I'm stuck with driving until I retire or come up with my own business.

[Jumbo]

Are you saying $400 gross or net? Everyone has different deductions so gross would allow us to offer some better comparisons.

Either way that is still some pathetic pay.

I knew one driver who bitched about only taking home $400.00 a week. After getting the rest of the story that was after paying child support on 4 small kids and garnishments from court case he lost. We do need more facts.

i think the answer depends on your lifestyle..which leads to yuor definition of GOOD money. my idea of good money and someone elses will probably be something totally different. i also tend to include my quality of life into the equation, what will you give up in dollars to have more time at home or insurance, etc. most guys here cannot answer that question for you, only you can answer that question.

[ChikinTrucka]

Give me all the flack you want, but the money is NOT in driving. What you do have, if you keep your record clean, is JOB SECURITY. Long after you retire, there will still be demand for drivers. For that matter, drivers, as a whole, are a bunch of fools and idiots. Because they can not agree on the same time of day, they will not band together and use any form of collective bargaining to improve things for themselves. Because of that, companies can "THROW THE DOGS A BONE" in the form of $0.25/mile, and keep then happy.

One thing is for sure, as long as someone is willing to haul it for less, the rate will go down, Until the big companies stop underpricing everyone else and hauling freight for pennies a mile, we'll never get rich like we did back in the 70's. And taking a back haul that "just pays for the fuel" because you want to get home, hurts everybody out there. Just say NO! Demand a better rate.

I am home almost every weekend. I run the northeast from Maine to as far south as the Carolinas and west to Wisconsin. I average about 2200 miles and net about $643/week after taxes and benefit deductions (health insurance). I know I can make more elsewhere, but I like being home weekends and that's the payoff for me.

When you consider that I spend an average of 10 hours a week just sitting in traffic jams, often on the G.W. bridge and/or the Cross Bronx Expressway ("Expressway"? what a joke!), and all the slow miles and time wasted waiting to get loaded/unloaded, the pay really sucks. Let's see; 70 hours a week, plus the fudge factor equals about 88 hours a week, divided into 643 equals $7.31 per hour. That doesn't even take into account all the money I spend on food while on the road. McDonalds starts McWorkers at Ten McDollars a McHour. So I guess I make less than a pimple popin' 'tard who's still in high school. But, I wouldn't change places even if the fast food joints paid $20/hour.

Consider the cost of living for your area and what you are willing to put into the job; ie your whole life, half your time, what you feel like doing on a good day.... and then decide if you want to make money or be happy. For me it is a compromise. I HATE the northeast traffic, but it's where I live and I have to drive through it if I want to get home weekly. I could go longer haulin' and only drive in this traffic once a month, or two months, and make more money. But I have family and a 100 friends that I don't want to lose touch with.



Just a typical day in New York City!

[headborg]

I've heard a lot of people that have little to do with trucking say that truckers make the BIG MONEY. The simple fact is that we, as drivers, don 't do ourselves any favors. Some of us may be trying to impress someone, and tend to brag about how much we make. I know one guy that does this. Even carries his pay stub with him. What he doesn't tell anyone is that he was shorted a couple of weeks earlier, and had an exceptionally good week when he got his back pay. So, $2300 on one pay week really looks good. But when you find out about the rest of his weeks, he's not doing any better than the rest of us. That kind of bragging does not do any of us any favors.

Back when I started, I was making $0.28/mile. According to the way things have gone up since that, I should be making $0.75/mile now.

My brother, with nearly 40 years of driving, was making $0.35 before deregulation, and five years after was only making $0.26. And, I know quite a number of drivers that are making exactly the same now as they were 10 years ago.

Give me all the flack you want, but the money is NOT in driving. What you do have, if you keep your record clean, is JOB SECURITY. Long after you retire, there will still be demand for drivers. For that matter, drivers, as a whole, are a bunch of fools and idiots. Because they can not agree on the same time of day, they will not band together and use any form of collective bargaining to improve things for themselves. Because of that, companies can "THROW THE DOGS A BONE" in the form of $0.25/mile, and keep then happy.

Something else that a number of you may find is that once you have a couple of years experience in driving, it may be difficult to go back to something else, even if you are qualified. Many companies will not hire a driver away from the trucking industry because of the driver shortage. For example, welders make more than I do, and I'm a certified welder with experience on TIG, MIG, A-C and D-C ARC, but 10 years ago I put in no less than 11 applications and was not hired for any one of them because I'm a driver and the industry is short. Never mind that I've also worked as an electrical engineer for 13 years. I'm stuck with driving until I retire or come up with my own business.

I'm sure you weren't hired just because the welding industry is concerned about the Driver shortage- the truth is more like- you've been AWAY from the welding industry and have little or no current work history in a SOCIAL
ENVIRONMENT WITH CO-WORKS-- you've been on your own in the cab of a truck- that's what they SEE now when they look at your resume, application- a sterotypical SUPER-SLAB SLOB with few current social skills(ability to work in a team enviroment- with direct supervision) and probably they visualize you pissing routinely in a bottle, not bathing or brushing your teeth reguarly. Face it-- becoming a a truck driver is like -- showing your pecker in a porn video--- might be fun the first time or too- but if you ever want to be anything else in Hollywood--- you're blacklisted.