Realistic Expected Avg. Hours Driving Per Day/week

Sam, welcome to the forum!

Trucking can sometimes be a rude awakening for the uninitiated. I'm glad you are facing your doubts ahead of actually getting into it. I'm just going to tell you straight up that trucking involves long hours. I generally work close to eighty hours a week, some of that is not even logged as "on duty." I am a bit of an over-achiever, but that is what I love about trucking; it allows those of us who can produce extra to earn extra. This whole career is totally performance based. It is not anything like a job that gets paid hourly. Productivity is king in this business, and that is a stumbling block for many, because it involves making sacrifices of time, and putting in what sometimes seems like heroic efforts while facing some crazy difficulties and odds.

If you expect to be successful at this you will be putting in seventy plus hours a week. I enjoy working hard, and I enjoy taking a break also. I generally manage my time so that I have burned up my seventy hours and am forced to take a 34 hour break because I have no recap hours to speak of. The beauty of all this is you can learn to manage your time in a way that works for you. I have spelled this out in other places, but I have a friend who drove on this same account that I am on and he preferred to even out his hours so that he always was running on re-caps. That means he generally worked approximately nine hours a day, but he worked seven days a week. That is very different from what I do, but we basically got the same results as far as productivity goes.

You are the captain of the ship, you manage how it gets done, but you just have got to make sure that it gets done on time. Some like to drive at night, some like to drive in the daylight, but we all have got to make sure we meet the dead lines on the load. I find very little "free time" out here. I'm either working or resting so that I can get back at it. As far as "free time" goes, I do enjoy my time when taking that 34 hour re-set, and will do something I enjoy during that time. I don't mean to sound negative, this job is totally enjoyable to me, and one of the great benefits of it is the sheer enjoyment of moving all across the country. I have got three lifetime's of stories and memories to share!

I really appreciate these informative answers that scream "we are a community that looks out for one another". (that in and of itself is a major positive for being a trucker)

Based on your answers I'm gonna go on a limb here and lay out exactly what I am looking for and you tell me if trucking can be a good fit.

1) I want to support my family. $3500 gross is enough for that. More is certainly merrier but I am not necessarily (possibly but not likely) willing to sacrifice other things which are important to me to achieve that. When push comes to shove on the totem pole $3500 is fine and dandy.

2) I can see myself driving up to nine hours a day six days a week. One day a week break is a non-negotiable for me.

3) the rest of my time I need to myself with 'to myself' being flexible - I do not care if I wait at a stop to load/unload even 5 hours heck even 10 as long as I can have that time to myself. To me hours on duty where I have to be at a certain location but otherwise free to do my thing are still my hours. Wherever I am I have what to do.

4) I would like to have a coupla weeks a year I can go and have fun with my kids who are with their mother but I can take them for that amount of time.

I really appreciate these informative answers that scream "we are a community that looks out for one another". (that in and of itself is a major positive for being a trucker)

Based on your answers I'm gonna go on a limb here and lay out exactly what I am looking for and you tell me if trucking can be a good fit.

1) I want to support my family. $3500 gross is enough for that. More is certainly merrier but I am not necessarily (possibly but not likely) willing to sacrifice other things which are important to me to achieve that. When push comes to shove on the totem pole $3500 is fine and dandy.

2) I can see myself driving up to nine hours a day six days a week. One day a week break is a non-negotiable for me.

3) the rest of my time I need to myself with 'to myself' being flexible - I do not care if I wait at a stop to load/unload even 5 hours heck even 10 as long as I can have that time to myself. To me hours on duty where I have to be at a certain location but otherwise free to do my thing are still my hours. Wherever I am I have what to do.

4) I would like to have a coupla weeks a year I can go and have fun with my kids who are with their mother but I can take them for that amount of time.

$3500 per week is doable, especially gross, but if you are only driving 9 hours a day, six days a week, that number might be hard to reach at starting wages.

One day a week off is also doable, but if you are only driving 9 hours a day, that means you may be telling a DM or planner that you want a day off every week when you still have plenty of hours to drive. IF your request for a day of every week is based on religious beliefs, THAT might get you some slack, depending on the religion and the company.

You will have plenty of off duty downtime at shippers and receivers, unless you are doing intermodal or drop and hook. Live loads take time. Some places are very fast. Some are slow. Inspections, load breakdowns, counting, it all takes time.

Vacation time is also doable, but don't expect it in the first year unless it's part of a contract.

People with more or different experiences than me might be able to say things with more clarity, but, in a nutshell, I think that what you really are looking for is a regional driving job, where you take your 34 at home, and you want the benefits that a 1+ year experienced company driver can expect from a decent company. BUT you won't be getting that for the first six months to a year in most cases.

I really appreciate these informative answers that scream "we are a community that looks out for one another". (that in and of itself is a major positive for being a trucker)

Based on your answers I'm gonna go on a limb here and lay out exactly what I am looking for and you tell me if trucking can be a good fit.

1) I want to support my family. $3500 gross is enough for that. More is certainly merrier but I am not necessarily (possibly but not likely) willing to sacrifice other things which are important to me to achieve that. When push comes to shove on the totem pole $3500 is fine and dandy.

2) I can see myself driving up to nine hours a day six days a week. One day a week break is a non-negotiable for me.

3) the rest of my time I need to myself with 'to myself' being flexible - I do not care if I wait at a stop to load/unload even 5 hours heck even 10 as long as I can have that time to myself. To me hours on duty where I have to be at a certain location but otherwise free to do my thing are still my hours. Wherever I am I have what to do.

4) I would like to have a coupla weeks a year I can go and have fun with my kids who are with their mother but I can take them for that amount of time.

$3500 per week is doable, especially gross, but if you are only driving 9 hours a day, six days a week, that number might be hard to reach at starting wages.

One day a week off is also doable, but if you are only driving 9 hours a day, that means you may be telling a DM or planner that you want a day off every week when you still have plenty of hours to drive. IF your request for a day of every week is based on religious beliefs, THAT might get you some slack, depending on the religion and the company.

You will have plenty of off duty downtime at shippers and receivers, unless you are doing intermodal or drop and hook. Live loads take time. Some places are very fast. Some are slow. Inspections, load breakdowns, counting, it all takes time.

Vacation time is also doable, but don't expect it in the first year unless it's part of a contract.

People with more or different experiences than me might be able to say things with more clarity, but, in a nutshell, I think that what you really are looking for is a regional driving job, where you take your 34 at home, and you want the benefits that a 1+ year experienced company driver can expect from a decent company. BUT you won't be getting that for the first six months to a year in most cases.

Granted first year is an outlier. But from year 2 and on does this seem feasible?

I really appreciate these informative answers that scream "we are a community that looks out for one another". (that in and of itself is a major positive for being a trucker)

Based on your answers I'm gonna go on a limb here and lay out exactly what I am looking for and you tell me if trucking can be a good fit.

1) I want to support my family. $3500 gross is enough for that. More is certainly merrier but I am not necessarily (possibly but not likely) willing to sacrifice other things which are important to me to achieve that. When push comes to shove on the totem pole $3500 is fine and dandy.

2) I can see myself driving up to nine hours a day six days a week. One day a week break is a non-negotiable for me.

3) the rest of my time I need to myself with 'to myself' being flexible - I do not care if I wait at a stop to load/unload even 5 hours heck even 10 as long as I can have that time to myself. To me hours on duty where I have to be at a certain location but otherwise free to do my thing are still my hours. Wherever I am I have what to do.

4) I would like to have a coupla weeks a year I can go and have fun with my kids who are with their mother but I can take them for that amount of time.

$3500 per week is doable, especially gross, but if you are only driving 9 hours a day, six days a week, that number might be hard to reach at starting wages.

One day a week off is also doable, but if you are only driving 9 hours a day, that means you may be telling a DM or planner that you want a day off every week when you still have plenty of hours to drive. IF your request for a day of every week is based on religious beliefs, THAT might get you some slack, depending on the religion and the company.

You will have plenty of off duty downtime at shippers and receivers, unless you are doing intermodal or drop and hook. Live loads take time. Some places are very fast. Some are slow. Inspections, load breakdowns, counting, it all takes time.

Vacation time is also doable, but don't expect it in the first year unless it's part of a contract.

People with more or different experiences than me might be able to say things with more clarity, but, in a nutshell, I think that what you really are looking for is a regional driving job, where you take your 34 at home, and you want the benefits that a 1+ year experienced company driver can expect from a decent company. BUT you won't be getting that for the first six months to a year in most cases.

Granted first year is an outlier. But from year 2 and on does this seem feasible?

Maybe. Regional driving jobs, or dedicated account jobs might allow for the scheduling you want. HOWEVER, it might be difficult to get a regional or dedicated job if you are only rolling 50 hours a week as a company OTR driver.

There are quite a few drivers here on regional or dedicated routes. I've never been on a dedicated or regional job, so I don't know all the ins and outs.

My guess is going to be that even with regional or dedicated, your biggest problem (after a year) is going to be the number of hours a week you want to drive vs. the number of hours a week you are expected to drive.

Thank you framer bob. this is very helpful

One second Farmerbob1. 9 hours a day * lets say 65mph = 585 a day * 6 days a week = 3510 miles a week.

Now I know you cant do 65 all 9 hours. But if what is expected is 2500 (is it not?) miles a week - a 1000 miles cusion - is not enough to get to 2500 miles?

$3500 per week is doable, especially gross,

I'm hoping you understood farmer Bob to mean per month, not per week. Otherwise, I'm signing on with Farmer Bob's outfit!

$3500 per week is doable, especially gross,

I'm hoping you understood farmer Bob to mean per month, not per week. Otherwise, I'm signing on with Farmer Bob's outfit!

The line at the personnel office is already a block long.

$3500 per week is doable, especially gross,

I'm hoping you understood farmer Bob to mean per month, not per week. Otherwise, I'm signing on with Farmer Bob's outfit!

The line at the personnel office is already a block long.

;-) LOL.