Are truckers really make enough money?
 

Hello All,
I am interesting to become a truck driver.But, i am wondering about how truck drivers make money or how you feel? Are you guys happy with what you earn?I am not asking new drivers or even driving solo. How about driving with team or being owner operator. trucking job may hard for married people.

if you think starting out workin 70hrs a week for 35k a year is good money more power to you. Wants you know what your doing and get some exp. maybe like 60k a year for 70hrs. Thats why i drive local get 18bucks an hr. and home everynight and work around 50hrs a week with OT after 40.

x2. Once you sit down and calculate the hours you put in to it,you really arent making very much money at all.Along with all the frustration,weeks spent away from family,and at the end of the day youre rewarded with the prize of sleeping in a space no bigger than most peoples bathrooms.

I don't know, the last truck I drove that had a sleeper was small then my bathroom at home. Good thing I only used that sleeper twice a week on two different trips. :D

You guys should speak for yourselves, haha!!! I work 40-50..... every now and again I close in on a 60..... but I BRING HOME $900-$1200 A WEEK!!! It really boils down to finding that right company..... that isn't afraid to treat you like the bread winner drivers really are..... because without us...... there would be NO company! I know its hard to get that right job..... but to be honest, it CAN be done..... and only takes a strong mind/willed person to see through all the B.S. and get in where they fit in! Oh, and a local or LTL gig seems to always be the best compensation for your time... :wink:

Re: Are truckers really make enough money?
 

What you really need to look at do you enjoy the job or not. If you enjoy it the money will come in time. If not all the money in the world will not be worth it.

People seem to make the assumption that everyone has a family waiting for them at home, and that being away from the house is this horrible thing. Not everyone has a wife and kids. Not everyone needs this big huge room to sleep in. I actually prefer to be out on the road for weeks on end. I have no problem with sleeping in a place no bigger than my bathroom. I don't need all this crap in my bedroom to live. I am not a trucker yet, but soon I will be working at getting my cdl so I can become one. Yes, local wouldn't be too bad, but I would like to be able to travel.
The money all depends on how you feel about everything that trucking entails. You have to ask yourself that question.

"Good money" is a highly subjective term.

What is good money in one area may be starvation wages in another.

Around here 20-22,000 gross is considered excellent wages for non college educated workers, and that is often factory work with overtime.

So making 35-40k per year is fairly big money.

Likewise I fully understand that in some areas of the country a full time burger flipper will make 20,000 a year and there are many "blue collar" type jobs that pay $40k or more per year.

SO how good the money is in trucking really depends on where you call home and what the job situation is there.

The poster is looking to get INTO trucking,which chances are he's going to end up starting out as OTR or regional at the least.And that usually requires the driver to run those long hours.Do you have ANY OTR experience?Probably not...Not talking down to you,I still consider myself a rookie,however the reason the trucking industry has so many drop outs is because alot of students are caught up in this fantasy that trucking is this romantic rebellious profession without any hiccups along the way.I have a cushy LTL job now,and I could of easily of just elaborated on that,but people looking into getting into this industry need to know what it takes to get to that point.And also,Im curious to know,,do you get paid a percentage on the load or CPM?Or both?Because you said youre making 900-1200 a week with 40-50 hour weeks AFTER TAXES?Im interested to see how you're accomplishing this.Please elaborate.

My god man,could you do yourself a favor and wait till you actually get a CDL or go through it?I mean please.Until you go through the shit that a trucker does,then you can have the CHOICE of having an opinion on the subject.It's people like YOU who think youve got it all figured out and you havent even gotten your FEET WET.Truck driving isnt just a job,for most people its a way of life.Truckers arent made,theyre born.IT takes a certain mindstate,patience and personality to become half way successful in this industry.Do yourself a favor and show some respect for the industry by not trying to comment on something you havent been through and only THINK you know about.

Wait until you become an OTR driver and reality hits you REAL HARD!

Now come on LostProphet, quit scaring the newbies. We're spoose to them how wonderful it is driving up and down the hiway all day, sleeping in truck stops, rest areas, customers lots at night. How lovely the traffic jams are, how much fun it is to get bad directions to customers and deal with customers that have bad additudes. How fun it is to sit 8 hours to get loaded or unloaded(not paid) and then have to drive 500 miles by the next morning to get the next load there. How fun it is to be waken up 7-8 times a night by "commercial company" at the truck stops. How much fun it is to deliver to customers that do not access for big trucks. How much fun it is to deal with the DOT and all the regulations that we must fallow. How much fun it is to have to "chain up" on the side of the road with the temp being 10 degress. How much fun it is to drive in a blizard because dispatch said that the load must get there and that you can not be late. How much fun it is to have someone looking over you 24 hours a day and knowing you every move(qualcom).

None of the above is personal experience. In the last 9 years, I have driven local/regional for HHG and foodservice compaines. All the above comes from many driver that I have known in the past 9 years and thier experiences with OTR trucking.

OTR trucking is what YOU make of it. It is not all fun and games and you are not a paid tourist. You are paid to do a job, deliver the load.

Foxoreo, good luck, because you are going to need it if you think that it is all fun and games out on the open road.

x2.Well put Double R 8) And if hes going reefer,cant forget about getting those lovely trailer wash outs after every other load,delivering at odd hours and dealing with those lovely creatures god created,known to you and me as the "lumper". = )

I know alot of drivers are going to bash me but I do not care. First I drove for Swift for 7 years and I averaged 42-45 thousand a year and I really enjoyed the company and the experience. I know some think that is nothing but it is enough for me to live on. You can make good money out here its not impossible. Some drivers turn loads down, wont go to certain parts of the country and so on. My job is to drive and thats what I did no matter the miles or the area, if I don't turn the wheels I don't eat. I have been driving trucks for 18 years and I am only 36 years old. I started driving when I was 18 with my grandfather running peanuts and grain local and I average 30-35 thousand. I went over the road to get more experience about the trucking industry because one day I might decide to buy a used truck ( do not need a new one to make money) learned that from grandpa. Think about this a teacher works 10 hours or more a day and only gets paid for eight so truckers are not the only ones that don't get paid for all their work. I know for a fact about teachers -my wife is one.

Search my other posts/threads... :wink:

truck driving is like any other job. it is what you make it. you wanna be miserable otr then you will be. you wanna be happy at home every night amking 18 bucks an hour, then you will be. to each there own and until you try it you will never know. just because someone else does not like it does not mean that you will also. life is full of choices and chances that we can take, but if you never take one then you will never know.

I don't know much about the trucking industry. Yes, I don't have a cdl. I did not say that it would be roses and happy fun times. I am just saying that it seems that most people who reply to posts from new people asking about certain aspects of trucking life assume that the person is just like them. That they have a family at home, and they don't like sleeping in small places, and other stuff. I have traveled most of my life. I have slept in tightly enclosed places at rest stops (such as the car). I have gone a week or so without eating a "normal" meal. And you know what? I absolutely enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to travel around, and not be tethered to a single place. I have delivered pizza for 2 years, so I know about angry customers, and people with bad attitudes. Working minimum wage, driving your own car, using your own money to buy fuel, and hoping that the idiot you are delivering to isn't some cheap a$$ who will either expect the exact change back or give you a $20 bill for an order that cost $19.95 and say in a sarcastic voice "keep the change", seems to be a hell of a lot worse than what I have heard some people on here complain about. So trucking seems to be paradise compared to what I used to do.

Why ain't you driving?

Why am I not delivering pizza? Or why am I not driving a truck? If you mean the first, it's because I got in a huge argument with another worker who was the manager's favorite, so she got me fired. And now that I have a house to pay for, minimum wage for working 25-30 hours a week won't pay it. And driving about 100 miles a day and getting nothing for it won't hack it. Otherwise, I would deliver pizza because that's what I liked doing. If you meant why I wasn't driving a truck, it's because my credit has gone to crap and I can't get a loan for a cdl school without a cosigner, and no one will cosign for me because their credit is crap, it makes it a little difficult to get a cdl. I could go with company sponsored training such as Schneider or Roehl, but there aren't many companies that offer company training that will allow me to take my dog. And I won't drive a truck unless I can bring my dog with me. Even though I said delivering pizza was a crap job, I loved it because I could travel and I wasn't confined in the store all day.

With all due respect if you wouldn't even leave your dog you think these guys enjoy leaving their kids and wives?

Re: Are truckers really make enough money?
 

I went to a local CDL school back in September of 2006 and was hired by Swift for OTR in November of 2006. Did that for about 4 months and decided OTR wasn't for me with pay being one of the reasons. I made an average of $475 - $500 gross per week.
Worked for Pepsi from March 2007 up until August 2007 until the constant physical work aggravated my synovitis (a form of rheumatoid arthritis) to the point I could barely walk most days. The pay on that was decent, usually around $900 - 1000 gross per week but the physical problems / injuries and long (12 - 14 hours unloading Pepsi case by case) days made it not worth the money.

Went back to Swift on their dedicated Wal-Mart account...that was fine and dandy as far as pay goes...was bringing home about $500 per week but I was still gone 3 - 5 days per week. It wasn't as physical as Pepsi, but I hated being gone from home for even a few days so I left trucking entirely.

Now I work for Comcast as a CommTech II making $13.20 / hr + commission, 4 days on, 3 days off and home every night.

I spent $3000 on the CDL school and other associated costs, so it was an expensive lesson. If you're thinking about getting into trucking, think long and hard about it and make damn sure you want to do it.

There is money to be made in trucking, no doubt about it, but it takes the right kind of person to earn decent money.

:lol:

And how do think these guys(and girls) feel when they have to leave the family at home? They can't take them. No company is going to allow you to take the dog with you when you are out with a trainer which could be as long as 8 weeks. So even if you get your CDL from a school, the dog will most likely have to stay home for a few weeks. If you are so worried about taking the dog with you from the start, then forget about being a driver.
FYI, once your out of training and the dog is with you, they will be some places that will not allow you to enter the gate with a pet in the truck. You would have to leave the dog at the gate with security and they are not responesable if anything happens. And if you want to flatbed, then there is a good chance that the dog will have to stay home. Alot of places that flatbeds pick-up and deliver at have a not pet on the premises policy.