How Much Do New Truck Drivers With A Class A License Make In 2020?

When I left PFG last year they were bringing in an experienced driver from Reinhart to replace me. I made about 85k my first full year of doing that work and he told me made 55k. Reinhart paid per case, stop and a couple other factors, PFG was hourly. I've delivered LTL freight to US Foods (Omaha), Martin Brothers (Waterloo IA) both had signs up claiming their drivers make up to 65k a year. Sysco (Des Moines) has job ads everywhere earn up to 90k. There is a lot of money to be made in Food Service but realistically you can make similiar money doing other types of trucking. As Brett said it all comes down to what you want to do. You may be home every night compared to an OTR driver. You may not be starting at 11pm like a linehaul driver but you're in exchange unloading freight by hand. For some people it's worth it and I applaud them for their hard work and dedication. Personally I've seen drivers who have been doing that work for decades and the toll it has taken on their body and decided its not the right fit for me. I've also seen drivers who have done that work for 30 years and it's hard to believe they're in their 50s or 60s.

I work a 4 day work week but try to work 5 days for a bigger paycheck. Last year I worked maybe 6 months on a 5 day work week and I would've made around 90k. I make great money but the trade off is needing to start work around midnight. To me it's worth it, other drivers I work with would rather complain than admit how good we have it. We also start on the weekend shift. My kids are young enough that I'm hoping by the time they start school I can get atleast 1 weekend day off. I've tried to get a couple friends to come where I'm at but they would rather make 30k less per year than have to work weekends. We all have different goals and priorities. Thankfully with the amount of trucking related jobs there is something that will work for everyone once you find your niche. Chances are you will need to consider what you're giving up to gain something you desire whether it be work hours, handling freight, money or how many miles you drive. Yuuyo had stated in a different thread that as a foodservice guy his job is to unload groceries first. Driving truck comes 2nd so even if he doesnt have any time on his 14/70 hour clock he could be given the keys to a company vehicle to drive out and help other drivers. As long as he isnt driving a commercial vehicle it's legal to work past 14 in a day or 70 in a week. As a local driver whether you are part of a union or not, as the low guy you can expect to be putting in the long hours whether you want to or not if the senior guys dont want it.

Oh my god I have so many stories from that time period where I was always constantly out in vans or in my own car (or coworkers cars) doing random BS late past my 14. Sure there's some "fun" memories there, but I'd rather not do it again. We have some people that would love to be out 24 hours a day, but that's not me.

After I'm put on 4 days a week for the past little while, I've been getting around 40-45 hours a week and my pay for this amount of hours is ~55-60,000$ a year. We also do pay like rheinhart as well, but you get the greater of hourly vs that. For example, last week my Incentive pay totaled out to 27.20$ an hour, so I ended up making about 30-40$ more gross than I would have straight hourly. It's not much, but it's something. The pay is divied out Delievered cases, pickup cases, stops, drive time, pre/post trip. What I don't understand about the delivered cases qty is that one day 605 cases paid $132.53 but another day 579 paid $150.47.

I just want to do my route and go home. Whatever happens happens in regards to pay.