AARP July/August issue, "Hit the Road"
 

" Retirees find second careers behind the wheels of big rigs."

I found this article to be extremely misleading. They quote 68 year old Schneider driver, Tom Burns, 12 years experience. In the article, he says that paychecks increase with miles, so he drives 1775 miles a week. The very next line states, "Drivers with Tom's experience can earn $ 60,000. new recruits start at around $40,000."

While I don't question that a 12 veteran can earn $ 60k a year, or that a new driver could possibly make 40k/year. It won't happen by driving 1,775 miles a week. Furthermore, I think these potential annual earnings
figures are the exception, not the rule, and far from average.

If you're a young senior such as myself (55), don't believe the, "new recruits start at around 40k, especially driving 1775 miles a week.

I'm in my first year, and will only reach 40k by averaging 2500 miles a week for 51 weeks. For a 5-5.5 day work week, averaging 4-500 miles a day is possible, but anyone who's been at it for a while knows that in OTR you gotta have perfect dispatch, along with on time shippers and consignees.

In the real world, 'perfect dispatch', and 'on time shippers and consignees', are fallacies, if not oxymorons. Those older folk entering OTR expecting to start at 40k /yr, best be prepared to hustle their butts off..

BS and lies. This "news" article was written by a paid company shill who made it look like a regular story, to avoid having it look like another blatant recruiting ad. With those miles, that 12-year company driver is making around .85/mile. :lol:

The article should be titled "Schneider so desperate for drivers they're now preying on old people."