Comments By Ron Wells

Did you check to see if they deduct taxes or will you be a 1099 employee?

No benefits for that amount per day is not what I would recommend to anyone.

No tax will be deducted.I will have to do my own taxes at the end of the year. Also after training is done I will be getting 200 min per day.

Welcome Ron!

Personally, I don't think well of either of those options. I don't like to see new drivers starting their careers as local drivers. We've seen so many people do this and a very high percentage of them end up crippling their trucking career prematurely. It's also not a great idea to start your trucking career at a small company.

Local driving in a big truck is a tough way to learn for a new driver. The maneuvers in a big city require adequate skills and experience. It can be done, but few do it without having a few incidents of property damage.

Let's say three months in and you ding somebody's car while making a tight right hand turn in an intersection. The small company can't take that hit on their insurance rates so you get canned. Now you are a new driver with an accident on their record. You are also considered to have no experience by the big OTR companies and you've been out of truck driving school for so long that they consider your license stale. Nobody will touch you at that point. Your career has been aborted.

I always recommend one year of OTR driving before going to a local CDL driving position.

Here's some additional resources for you to consider...

Why Small Trucking Companies Are Often A Disaster Waiting To Happen

Why You Should Not Start Your Driving Career At A Small Company

Yes I agree it tough riding around the city in a Semi. That is one of the drawbacks of the job. However the otr job I was offered was to be a car hauler. I just needed to learn on a hot shot for a few weeks. I would have been making close to 3 grand a week. I am not money hungry and I am looking for what makes sense to me. I need enough to get by and with experience I am sure I will find something right for me. I appreciate what you said and I think OTR would have been great to learn . But I had some connections to Local jobs and did not really consider doing OTR. It will be tough for sure for the first few weeks driving around in Good Old Seattle.

Yes I am guaranteed 175 for the first 3 months. If I do more work I get paid more. Yes i will be 1099 independent contractor. So no benefits.

Hey everyone thank you for the replies!!! I really appreciate everyones advice. I am leaning very hard to the local job the minimum I will make is 175 at first after a while I will be bumped up to 200 a day minimum and 250 a day is for the veterans at the company. I would be content to get to 225 after 6 months. However If I figure out how to be a good driver and the container business will be flourishing I don't doubt I could clear 200 much sooner. I took what Pacific P said to hart since winter is coming and I had an uncle doing Snoqualmie daily I know he had a few accidents over 20 years I believe he had 2 accidents on the pass since he did it Mon-Fri. I am feeling more comfortable making less but not dealing with the pass daily in winter. Going to a mega would have been my last resort , luckily I have quiet the drive and some connections to meet smaller companies with owners I can talk to. I do understand where mega's have a draw they have health insurance , retirement accounts and such. Again thanks to you all.

I am a new driver this will be my first job. I have 2 options I can make 175 dollars a day minimum doing local port containers in the seattle area I have driven with a trainer for a few days and think its pretty decent its mainly just going to ports and warehouses within 30 miles of seattle. My other job offer is making 275 dollars a day hauling apples (produce) from seattle port to yakima or vice versa. What job would you take and what job do you think I should take as a new driver. Some pros for each job the local one which pays 175 a day I will eventually get up to over 200 a day minimum . They do pay by drop , pick up ,live and what not but 175 is the minimum . I did it with my trainer and its pretty much waiting in lines at the port or at a warehouse waiting for an unload. Its not hard and a lot of sitting around and waiting. Pros from the Yakima job is that I only go to the port 2 times a day at most and that it pays better also the trucks are much nicer in my opinion. This job is a small company I believe they have 4 trucks but the equipment and trucks are very well taken care of they also have their own chassis so I can get into the port quicker. The downside is that I have to wake up at 3 am to go to yakima then go back to seattle to the port. The other lower paying job has regular hours sort of I would wake up at 6 am and work until 5 with trainer have been getting off around 2 or 3 pm. Guys I need your help , what is better? What would you do? Any advice or experience is welcome to be shared. Thank you