I agree that most companies pay 30-35 thousand for a driver's first year. However it is NOT rare to make $45-$55 thousand and companies like TMC or Maverick, it is COMMON.
The poster asked what could he REALISTICALLY expect to earn his first year and the answer should be: "It depends on which company you work for." My advice would be for him to apply to a few companies FIRST and find out which he gets approved by. For example if he were to apply to Swift and Schneider and got approved he could realistically expect to make $30,000 per year. If he applied and got accepted by Maverick and TMC, he could REALISTICALLY expect to make $50,000 per year. It all depends on WHO he's going to work for.

 

I agree with you. I am NOT anything special and NOT a "Super Trucker". I made more than what most people have come to EXPECT from a trucking job and that's probably part of the problem. If you EXPECT to make less, you WILL make less. I credit TMC and my trainer with showing me how to "work the system" to make the most out of my time running with TMC. If you work efficiently, are not afraid to work hard and have a DECENT head on your shoulders, good money is very "do-able" provided you work for a GOOD company.

 

Phillipus_rex
One thing, most OTR drivers don't get a salary, what they earn is based on piece-rate payment, i.e., cents per mile. Salaried drivers usually local drivers. BOL

 

Yes, that's true; The company makes all the difference in the world.

HINT:
Try lesser known companies.

 

Looked on the Maverick website and they say $500 a week training, then .34 to .37 cpm depending on what division you are in. They use the number of 45,000 per year. So if your train for 6 weeks then run the other 46 weeks out of the year you will have to make about $915 per week to hit the 45k mark. Even if you are at the lowest rate per mile of .34 plus tarp pay, stops etc. 45k for the first year should be easy to hit if you are willing to work.

I know that KLLM is paying new guys .34 cpm after training and based on their training pay and all ,you would have to average about 123,000 miles in 46 weeks about 2675 per week.

It is very easy to hit the 45 k mark first year with the right company. There are the drawbacks for both Maverick being flatbed and KLLM being reefer, alot of folks hate to tarp and secure loads and others don't like reefers.

Just do an analysis of each company by taking out the training period and pay then all you need to know is your rate of pay and what the company average for weekly miles is and then do the math you will have a good idea of what you can make. If you want to work hard you can probably do better than the weekly avg on miles.

But I just don't see where a brand new driver will hit the 60k mark first year.....45-50k can be done but if someone promies more than that, really need them to explain the numbers on how.

Good luck to you.

 

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the posts... lot's of good info in there. A few had asked about the school that I was looking at - it is Bevill State Community College in Sumiton, Alabama. The tuition is $900 for In-State students and it doubles for out of state students. I'm not sure if there's any hidden fees in there or not, I haven't contacted the program administrators yet.

Here's the link if you want to check it out:

http://www.bscc.edu/pstd.asp

Thanks again.

 

There's alot to consider in what to expect pay wise. First off, you need to decide how hard you want to work, ie: Flatbeds or slinging meat off the truck, or just driving a dry van. Next I would look at what companies are hiring out your area. Most folks on CAD are quick to toss out names of companies before they even know if you're in the companies hiring area. Call some companies and ask THEM where they hire from and what their starter rates are. Don't let some of these pie-in-the-sky response get you all hyped up about what a rookie will make. Where you live WILL make a difference. It seems like all the cards have to lay just right to get hooked up with one of these sweet deals. In most cases the quote of 30 - 35K is pretty much right on, for average. However you may be in the right area at the right time and get a better score. If you're really serious, start by calling companies that hire from your area and ask THEM the same questions. Once you're satisfied that you will qualify for a few companies then look at school. One thing is for sure...$900 is a steal for school. If I had that opportunity I'd be on it like flies on a turd.

 

yes, $900 is cheap, but like you said there may be some hidden fees. I know the school I went to was something like that, but then they had a (read closely) "mandatory donation" to some kind of "equipment use fund" or something like that. I think that was $300, then something else and something else. In total, it was right at $1,400 which was still a bargain.

That was 6 months ago and I'm still scratching my head on the "mandatory donation" ! LOL I guess they didn't teach us that in Arkansas!

BTW.... I would have to agree with a lot of what's been said here. If I were you, I wouldn't count on more than $30-$35k for the first year. Sure, there is a chance to do more than that and I think I'll have no problem making $45k here at Maverick my first year, but there's no need to count on that. Set your sights on 30-35, then anything over that is extra money you can spend on the better half...or chasing potential better halves! Whichever the case may be! LOL

Good Luck !

Arky

 

My 1st year I made ~32k in LTL land. But I worked about 1/2 the hrs that an OTR driver would put in to earn the same amount.

I was hired on Dec 28, 05. Until late April I was a part time dockworker/driver trainee. I came in at 8am, did 6 hrs of training and yard skills then worked 4-6 hrs of outbound dock. During this time I was making ~$300-400 gross per week.

Once I had my license in late April I was on call and my earnings were all over the place. In a good week I would gross $800-1000 if I ran line every night, in a bad week with little to no line and city work I would gross 400-600.

In early July I got a start time doing outbound dock and some P&D; I'm 85% overpaid dockworker, 10% city and 5% line driver. I gross $705 week with 40hrs. If I wanted to be a supertrucker I could sign up for Sat work and take every line run that gos to the junior guy on my shift.

For comparison the other guy who I trained with got a line bid last October and made 45-50k last year. But he worked more hours, at night and got to enjoy chaining and taking doubles over Donner all winter.

Like Fred says, it depends on how much you want to work. $50k 1st year for a supertrucker is obtainable. For a Dry Van McMegaCarrier with their 3 day 600 HHG mile loads to claim 45k your 1st year is BS.

 

Fred,

Please do not give false expectations to people that are entering the industry. I have more experience driving then you do, and I can tell you that your claims of wages at TMC are far from the truth. The fact is that TMC hauls cheap freight. They lie to the drivers in regards to what the actual rate is. They tell the drivers that the milages is based on HHG short miles when in fact they base all billing on Rand McNally Practical miles. In my short but educational 3 months that I was with TMC, I put over 21,000 miles on the truck and made less the $7k. It was not due to "slow freight" the most I ever waited for a load was over night in Sacramento CA, most of my loads were sent to me with in 1 hour or less. It was not because I was at home too much. In 8 weeks I was home 1 weekend by choice because I was wanting to make money. You can try and paint a rosy picture to the new people, but at least give them the truth and tell them you are trying to get the measly $100 to $300 recruitment bonus off of them.