Am I Crazy To Quit $58k Per Year Job To Become A Trucker?
Topic 25285 | Page 3
You will be nowhere near $90k. No one is. You should be around $45,000 - $50,000. Here is some good information about truck driver pay
Brett wrote:
You will be nowhere near $90k. No one is. You should be around $45,000 - $50,000. Here is some good information about truck driver pay
Ricky, no one makes 90k their first year. Not sure where you read that, but it sure wasn’t here.
Brett is absolutely right. 90k is at the very tip-top of potential income and something most drivers will never get close to.
There is a lot of good information on first year pay found in the Trucking Truth forum and blog. This article link addresses the reasons why first year pay is substantially lower...
Surviving Your First 6 Months of Trucking
The above article and some of the links within it, will help to ground your expectations.
Good luck.
On previous page, Solo claimed....
I quit a 90k/yr job to become an OTR driver.
I'm on track to make just shy of that my first year.
So would I quit a 58k/yr job to do what I'm doing? Without hesitation.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
On previous page, Solo claimed....
I quit a 90k/yr job to become an OTR driver.
I'm on track to make just shy of that my first year.
So would I quit a 58k/yr job to do what I'm doing? Without hesitation.
Thanks Rob...didn’t see that. Solo has a very short time out here.
I’ll leave it at that...
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Solo posts show a very hard driven young man:
Sleep:
Sun: 2h 21min Mon: 3h 52min Tue: 4h 14min Wed: 2h 5min Thur: 1h 54min (first time trying to sleep in a moving truck during my 10) Fri: 2h 57min
Miles drove: 3391 (was dispatched for my first load last Wed night for this past Monday morning delivery)
Total out-of-route miles: 31 (or 4%)
Total Rev to the truck: $6632.70
Apparently, these numbers are not what TMC sees for first week rookies, and in fact...I received a call from a West area VP yesterday morning that advised me that these aren't numbers they see from the first week through week 4 rookies. That whatever my trainer and I figured out, I need to keep doing it.
33% pay
1st out of 40 drivers under my Fleet Manager 2nd out of 328 drivers under my Safety Mgr 13th out of 1398 drivers in my Divison (presumably that means linehaul) 19th out of 2189 drivers in the Fleet
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.Fleet Manager:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Solo posts show a very hard driven young man:
Sleep:
Sun: 2h 21min Mon: 3h 52min Tue: 4h 14min Wed: 2h 5min Thur: 1h 54min (first time trying to sleep in a moving truck during my 10) Fri: 2h 57min
Miles drove: 3391 (was dispatched for my first load last Wed night for this past Monday morning delivery)
Total out-of-route miles: 31 (or 4%)
Total Rev to the truck: $6632.70
Apparently, these numbers are not what TMC sees for first week rookies, and in fact...I received a call from a West area VP yesterday morning that advised me that these aren't numbers they see from the first week through week 4 rookies. That whatever my trainer and I figured out, I need to keep doing it.
33% pay
1st out of 40 drivers under my Fleet Manager 2nd out of 328 drivers under my Safety Mgr 13th out of 1398 drivers in my Divison (presumably that means linehaul) 19th out of 2189 drivers in the Fleet
No argument he is off to a great start. Please read this thread and the reply Old School made to Solo found on page 2...
Reality check.
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.Fleet Manager:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Reality check.
Exactly: just because the planets aligned for a hard driven rookie driver, doesn't create a reasonable expectation.
I'm planning for the lower end: $45,000. If I make $60,000 I would be happier than pigs in ***t.
Exactly: just because the planets aligned for a hard driven rookie driver, doesn't create a reasonable expectation.
I'm planning for the lower end: $45,000. If I make $60,000 I would be happier than pigs in ***t.
That’s a most realistic expectation for year one.
I quit a 90k/yr job to become an OTR driver.
I'm on track to make just shy of that my first year.
That's total BS. Good grief.
I'll say one thing for ya - you're only a rookie but you're already telling lies like a veteran. You must be a blast in the trucker's lounge.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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Good stuff Ricky! Along with the High Road training, read up on Daniel B.'s pretrip pdf. It has visual aids & will help identify what the permit questions are referring to.