Truck Driving Job Without Experience?

I know every job is hard at the beggining but its not just about the money. Its more about freedom too. You just talk to dispather he is giving you load , fill some papers, and you are driving. Its not like you have someone on your head all the time. Plus i can do better buying my own truck, i know a lot of people from this forum are against O.O. but i think if you buy a truck and not lease it and work the right way you can do really good. Thank you for your time

Have you added up all the costs of owning a truck? Most O/O either go under or just break even with company drivers with more work required to run the business. Do you know how to find a good truck to purchase?

People in this forum are against O/O because they are experienced enough to know what they'd be getting into. So, what will make you different from the experienced drivers? Please note I'm not trying to sound rude, I'm actually curious.

As far as that pay, Prime pays a decent starting CPM to rookies if they'll take you. They pay more for driving a lightweight truck and have some decent bonuses for fuel plus per diem pay. But, I agree with Brett. I wouldn't leave a job paying $700+ a week hoping to make more in trucking because it's just not going to happen consistently.

Try this on for size.

Daniel B's First Year

I know every job is hard at the beggining but its not just about the money. Its more about freedom too. You just talk to dispather he is giving you load , fill some papers, and you are driving. Its not like you have someone on your head all the time. Plus i can do better buying my own truck, i know a lot of people from this forum are against O.O. but i think if you buy a truck and not lease it and work the right way you can do really good. Thank you for your time

Have you added up all the costs of owning a truck? Most O/O either go under or just break even with company drivers with more work required to run the business. Do you know how to find a good truck to purchase?

People in this forum are against O/O because they are experienced enough to know what they'd be getting into. So, what will make you different from the experienced drivers? Please note I'm not trying to sound rude, I'm actually curious.

As far as that pay, Prime pays a decent starting CPM to rookies if they'll take you. They pay more for driving a lightweight truck and have some decent bonuses for fuel plus per diem pay. But, I agree with Brett. I wouldn't leave a job paying $700+ a week hoping to make more in trucking because it's just not going to happen consistently.

Try this on for size.

Daniel B's First Year

Of course i consider most of the things. Fuel, insurance, maintanence, inspection, the monthly payments for the truck, but still after all those things you can make a lot of money. Im pretty sure i can get 0.48 per mile when i start driving in Chicago, and when i buy my truck it will be plus the money for my loads from the company, it should be really good. I know sometimes there will be problems with the truck and its a big cost but you can never start a business if you think just about the bad things that can happen to it. Yes 700-800 its not that bad for work in restaurant, there are some good sides too, but you cant go up,,(im just not one of those people who only work at one place and stay as a regular employee for years and years) here you can always do better, one truck, two trucks, you can open company, while to open a restaurant you need a lot more staff to do and a lot more money. Btw i think i will never drive for a big company like Prime, Swift or similar not cause they are bad companies but cause they are big companies and they dont really care, if you want to drive for 0.30 drive if not you can leave.

Kopan, all I can say my friend is that your guesses and assumptions are pretty much coming out of left field or the clear blue sky, I'm not sure which. Maybe there's a clear blue sky in left field. I don't know. But I do know they're based on absolutely no real knowledge or experience with the subject matter and would fall under the category of wishful thinking or would be considered wildly presumptuous at best. I'm not trying to insult you. I'm just saying you're making things up in your head and then choosing to believe them because they seem plausible. For your own sake you really don't want to do that.

To say the profits in a business "should be really good" when you're totally guessing, or to say you won't work for a big company because "they are big companies and they don't really care" as if that's a proven fact is no way to make decisions about your employer or a business you're thinking of starting.

Do your research and use proven facts whenever possible to make decisions. Don't go buying trucks or applying at small companies because you think things might be a certain way. Dig deeper. Test your theories. Learn from the experience of others.

Kopan, all I can say my friend is that your guesses and assumptions are pretty much coming out of left field or the clear blue sky, I'm not sure which. Maybe there's a clear blue sky in left field. I don't know. But I do know they're based on absolutely no real knowledge or experience with the subject matter and would fall under the category of wishful thinking or would be considered wildly presumptuous at best. I'm not trying to insult you. I'm just saying you're making things up in your head and then choosing to believe them because they seem plausible. For your own sake you really don't want to do that.

To say the profits in a business "should be really good" when you're totally guessing, or to say you won't work for a big company because "they are big companies and they don't really care" as if that's a proven fact is no way to make decisions about your employer or a business you're thinking of starting.

Do your research and use proven facts whenever possible to make decisions. Don't go buying trucks or applying at small companies because you think things might be a certain way. Dig deeper. Test your theories. Learn from the experience of others.

My assumptions are not coming out of the blue. Its true i dont have personal experience in driving truck but I have at least 10 really close friends driving trucks, few of them have their own. I have a friend right here in Florida who is working dispatcher for his brothers company. Tell me whats so wrong about my assumptions? I cant start driving for my friends company in Florida because their company insurance would be a lot bigger with drivers without experience and they are 1 year open now so they cant afford that. Just to let you know they are paying 0.5 for all drivers so there is now way i will start driving under 0.4 like a lot of people here. Ive seen their reports, im talking to them every day, its not everything milk and honey but you cant change my opinion that being O/O its better then being just driver. You are driving your own truck, you will care about it more than your company truck and how come when you drive company truck most of the time everything its fine with it and now sudenly if you have your own it will be for repair every week? Every business has ups and downs but i just dont see the problems that big as you are showing them to me. About the big companies, I know that for sure because a friend who was driving for Prime quit because sometimes he'll be stuck somewhere and needs dispather help they will leave him waiting there with hours and hours and whenever im with my friend( the dispatcher) he always anwser his phones to the drivers because its his company and he cares about the trucks and driver problem its his problem which is not the case in the big company where dispatchers are just employees.

Kopan, I'm not sure why you are even in here - You already know way more than any of the experienced drivers who so freely give of their time on this forum. We can't help you, we've tried repeatedly - you are so much smarter than any of us, that I wish you would start your own forum so that we could come in there and learn from you.

It is an absolute joke that you think drivers in here are working for .04 cents a mile - you have got to be on some other planet or just willfully ignorant.

I wish we could help you, but every once in a while the folks who come in here render us completely useless, and you my friend have done an excellent job at that.

Try this website:

[Link removed by moderator. Sorry. Turns out it's pirated software.]

you cant change my opinion that being O/O its better then being just driver

That's fair. I won't waste my time or yours trying to then. Besides, there's only one way to find out for sure, right? Buy a truck.

About the big companies, I know that for sure because a friend who was driving for Prime quit because sometimes he'll be stuck somewhere and needs dispatcher help they will leave him waiting there with hours and hours and whenever i'm with my friend( the dispatcher) he always answer his phones to the drivers because its his company and he cares about the trucks and driver problem its his problem which is not the case in the big company where dispatchers are just employees.

Couple things. First of all, to say that all big companies don't care about their drivers because one friend of yours one time didn't get immediate help from one dispatcher at one company with one situation is overgeneralizing a bit wouldn't you say? I've worked for big companies and for little companies over the years. The larger companies had by far the better perks for the drivers.

They had nationwide accounts setup to make service, towing, repairs, fueling, and hotels a lot easier to deal with. They had hotlines you could call and speak with marriage counselors, psychiatrists, and registered nurses 24/7/365 to help you with any problems you might be having. They had gigantic recreational buildings at their terminals complete with a cafeteria, all sorts of games, multiple rooms with big screen televisions, showers, and bunks to sleep in. They had rental cars and shuttle buses you could take to get something to eat or go to the mall while you were waiting for repairs. The list of perks goes on and on and on. Ask your buddy if his little company has any of those perks for the drivers.

Listen, I'm just saying things aren't as simple and clear as they may appear on the surface. You're taking a few small examples of things and making broad, sweeping generalizations and assumptions. Dig a little deeper, especially with the owner operator thing. Everyone thinks owning a truck would be cool as h*ll. Everyone would like to be the boss and call all of the shots. But as they say if it was that easy we'd all be doing it and we'd all be rich.

Look at the change over the years in the percentage of trucks on the road that are driven by owner operators versus company drivers. It's gone way down. If owning a truck and hauling freight is so lucrative then why are fewer and fewer people doing it as the years go on? There are very good business reasons behind that trend.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I worked for a company with only 11 trucks for a year one time. I ran my brains out and averaged about 4,000 miles a week and a couple of times even hit 5,000 miles solo! It was borderline lunacy to do that but this guy was pushing us hard because he was going broke. I was young and figured what the heck? I'm making great money. So I ran two logbooks and ran and ran and ran.

Just as I was approaching a year with this guy I went home after six straight weeks on the road. I got home on a Friday and he called me Sunday and said he had a load for me to pickup on Monday going out West. I was like, "Have you gone completely mad??? I just drove 23,000 miles in 6 weeks and you're going to give me two days off? No way. That's just insane."

So he told me I could either go pick up the load or turn in the truck. I turned in the truck. He tried blackballing me on my DAC by claiming I abandoned the truck. I had already landed a job by that point and I disputed the claim. He didn't fight the dispute, the claim was removed from my record, and his company went bankrupt three months later. The fact that he was borderline bankrupt is why he pushed us so far beyond what was reasonable.

So if you're under the impression that small companies care about their drivers and big companies only care about their profits then how do you explain what I've told you about my experiences at large versus small companies?

That's why I say you need to dig a lot deeper before you draw conclusions. Don't just look at a few situations and make sweeping generalizations.

Kopan, I'm not sure why you are even in here - You already know way more than any of the experienced drivers who so freely give of their time on this forum. We can't help you, we've tried repeatedly - you are so much smarter than any of us, that I wish you would start your own forum so that we could come in there and learn from you.

It is an absolute joke that you think drivers in here are working for .04 cents a mile - you have got to be on some other planet or just willfully ignorant.

I wish we could help you, but every once in a while the folks who come in here render us completely useless, and you my friend have done an excellent job at that.

Im sorry i didnt mean to offend anyone here. Just to make sure i called my friend who is in Chicago and i told him that a lot of people are telling me there is no way i can make 0.48 as a begginer and he took a picture of his last check after 2 mins and sent it to me 0.48 per mile and he is driving alone for almost 3 months, and he said come here you will get a job in the same company right away. You will be one month driving with another person like a training and then you are alone in a truck. About the example with Prime that was not the only one. One guy cant quit a job just because of not answered call, there is a lot more a heard about that from him. But as you said you cant judge one company because one bad dispatcher. About O/O, I guess i just have different view of life, I always try to do better. I dont want to offend anymone i said but i think a lot of people dont have the g**ts to try it cause you have familys and lifes you dont want to put on risk. You said there is one way to find out I will let you know after 3-4-5 months and we'll discuss again. Thank you for your time

Old School:

It is an absolute joke that you think drivers in here are working for .04 cents a mile - you have got to be on some other planet or just willfully ignorant.

Mr Kopan was thinking about ten times that:

Just to let you know they are paying 0.5 for all drivers so there is now way i will start driving under 0.4 like a lot of people here.

This should have been clearer with the added zeros:

Just to let you know they are paying 0.50 for all drivers so there is now way i will start driving under 0.40 like a lot of people here.

I was talking 0.30/0.33 with him earlier today.

Koban, you said in one place your friend's company requires 1 year experience and they pay "0.5 for all drivers". There's a contradiction here. You haven't even got a license yet and are set on that 50¢, but you can't work there without one year's experience. How will you make 50¢/mile before your first year is up?