Do Some Truck Drivers Really Only Make $10/hr?

I stumbled on this article a few minutes ago. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/22/indentured-servitude-low-pay-and-grueling-conditions-fueling-us-truck-driver-shortage

“If you can work construction and get paid $20 an hour and be home every night, why would you drive a truck and get paid $10 an hour to not be home for weeks?”

Do some truck drivers really only make $10/hr?

I stumbled on this article a few minutes ago. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/22/indentured-servitude-low-pay-and-grueling-conditions-fueling-us-truck-driver-shortage

“If you can work construction and get paid $20 an hour and be home every night, why would you drive a truck and get paid $10 an hour to not be home for weeks?”

Do some truck drivers really only make $10/hr?

I don't think he was being literal. If you're making $10 an hour as a Class A driver, you're working for the wrong company.

I stumbled on this article a few minutes ago. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/22/indentured-servitude-low-pay-and-grueling-conditions-fueling-us-truck-driver-shortage

“If you can work construction and get paid $20 an hour and be home every night, why would you drive a truck and get paid $10 an hour to not be home for weeks?”

Do some truck drivers really only make $10/hr?

I don't think he was being literal. If you're making $10 an hour as a Class A driver, you're working for the wrong company.

I would imagine the comparison is being based on running your full 70 plus adding in additional time waiting at a dock while awake etc. If one takes all of that into account and break it down, hourly pay as a new driver can look pretty ugly lol

No, truck drivers don't make $10 an hour. Those who are paid hourly normally make $20+ with $30 being not so uncommon. And for those who are paid for miles, time doesn't make sense: when I drive for one hour on an free interstate at 70 mph I make $49, but when I sit at a dock, for an hour, I make $0. Thrtefore you have to go by weeks or months, although it is hard to calculate hours. Is it driving time? Or any on duty time? And if we talk about on duty, oftentime it means relaxing in a bunk and watching a movie while other people load or unload your trailer - not what you normally do in a construction business :-)

I hear this type of thing pretty often. The problem is people want to compare different jobs/careers in some standard way and assume that “hourly rate” is a fair comparison. It is not. There are also people (often those writing articles) who have an agenda and find that using artificial “hourly rates” somehow bolsters their viewpoint. The truth is many careers can’t be defined by the standard 9 to 5 get paid by the hour concept. I work as an automotive technician - working on the flat rate system, which is basically piecework. I have an hourly rate, but in truth it is almost meaningless because my ability to bill time is predicated on many variables, so my paycheck varies week to week. In addition some days I work 8 hours, sometimes I’ll stay late, and now and then I leave early or arrive late. So my “effective rate” is all over the place, but usually significantly more than my documented “hourly rate”. I also tow part time, again being paid based on what I bill. I’m on call overnight. But some nights I’m home at 5 for dinner, others I run til midnight (or later). How would you calculate an hourly rate for that - by the time I’m in the truck, or on duty, or just loaded . .? Truck driving as a career segment has so many variations in what you do and how you get paid it can be difficult to compare jobs. One thing for sure is you have to find the place that fits what you want to do as a driver, and what you need financially. You can make generalizations, but there are always exceptions, good and bad. Is OTR a good paycheck - yes. Is it a good hourly rate . . welllllll . . . probably not. But you don’t drive OTR to brag about your hourly rate, you drive OTR because you love the job, something an hourly rate can never quantify.

Gregg

If, as a driver, you are only making $10/hr, you are working for the wrong company.... either your not being given loads that keeping you moving, your refusing loads, or your not hustling... Even on my slowest week running regional , I averaged $15/hr, and when I was on my dedicated accounts, the lowest I made was an average of $20/hour, and my highest was over $25/hour ($1100 for 42 hours)...