Realistic Look At New Driver Pay?

We are a one income household and my husband is planning on leaving for cdl school in the next month. We know his first 3-4 weeks won't be paid and know the numbers the recruiter has told us but I'd like to have a better grasp on what kind of pay to expect and if we are getting in over our heads financially. I know there is the potential of making good money in trucking and he's really trying to break out of the $15/hr cap he's hit being a laborer.

For the first few months, he should plan on running 1800-2200 miles per week. Multiply those numbers by his CPM to get a rough figure. Pay day cut off dates make it difficult to plan on consistent weekly pay checks. Figuring Monthly or Quarterly miles will give you a more realistic "weekly pay" number. For example: 30,000 miles per quarter @ 40 cpm equals $12,000. Divide by 12 to get weekly average. In this case $1000 +- per week.I used round numbers to make the math easier. Just plug in the appropriate figures for your situation. Keep in mind.....This is Gross income. Everyone's tax situation is different, as is take home pay. I hope this helps. Good Luck to both of you!

Erin, typical first year income is on average 35-40k. It's important to factor in the first couple of months for lower road-training pay, overall it averages out for the year. Try not to use an hourly figure when calculating/comparing a truckers wage, Cents Per Mile (CPM) like Tractor said is how most of us are paid.

You did not specify so I assume he will be going with an OTR job.

You should be able to get the specific CPM from the company he is signing with, but a lower example would be 30 cents per mile. Figure an average of 2000 miles per week, a reasonable ask for a new driver. That is $600 weekly. That is the same weekly pay as a $15/hr job working a 40 hour week.

Obviously he will not be working just 40 hours per week in trucking, but those are rookie numbers. He has nowhere to go but up. A couple years from now he could be making a considerable amount more.

Even being a rookie, keep in mind that in trucking he has that option to work more hours. He doesn't need overtime approval, he just needs the loads and the hours on his clock to push for more miles each week. You should also make sure to find out when raises happen as some companies will give raises after just 3 months. There are also quarterly bonuses for safety and fuel to consider, along with potential bonus pay for hazmat endorsement.

He will be working more than he would in a 40 hr/wk job, but he has a much bigger upside with trucking as he gains experience, gets better at time management, and starts seeing pay raises. If he was capped at $15/hr before, as long as he takes well to trucking he shouldn't take long to start earning more per week than he was capped at before.

Erin, I believe the below link is perhaps the best gauge for first year pay expectations. Although there are other examples of similar information written by experienced drivers, this is one of the best. Let us know what other questions you have.

Truck driver salary, first year breakdown

After u get your CDL training with Prime is a guarantee of $700 per week GROSS.

from Nov to feb that is what I made. Going solo I cleared $600 per week on avg. The past 6 weeks or so I have been grossing $900 to $1100 gross.... my take home over the last few weeks has been between $750 to $980.

Sure wish I didn't have to pay taxes and insurance lol