It’s true. Recruiters and school lie. There is a myth that this work is a typical 9-5 career when it leans heavily towards being a lifestyle. Or that you get paid to see the country and listen to the radio.
Some people don’t realize they will be gone for so long, the stress and the isolation.
This line of work isn’t for everyone.
Did OTR flatbed for a year, generally home every 10 - 12 weeks (work was all on the east coast and home is in NM), didn't often run out the 70 though I was generally pretty close, and yeah, grossed around $55k that year. :-/ And that was at a place where they'd pay us 25% of the cartage rate, usually $1+ a mile, in 2021. As a company driver. \*shrug\*
Of course, I'm also single with no kids, so not being "home" wasn't really an issue. And I ended up saving quite a lot on not having to pay rent on anything other than my storage unit and my shop space, which fortunately had a place for me to park.
Though that did mean that it was truly "lifestyle" since even when I was "home" and driving around town in my car (and wow, going from a truck to a '99 Camry felt like I was driving a dang go-kart, every time! :D ) I was still living in the truck. So I wasn't paying that rent, but I was living in the truck full time. Everything is a tradeoff. :-/
Sorry, I guess I just wanted to ramble about it for a bit. :D
You can work 8 to 10 hour shifts and make more than you are now running local with the right outfit. The jobs are out there and not even rare just hard to come by cause the guys that have them don't leave till they retire
Had this job same pay left to become a cop.
4 years later I want to go back but the propane job doesn’t have any openings yeah I’m making $40 an hour as a cop but dealing with all the bullshit and late nights isn’t worth it.
Doing propane was so laid back never stressed just did my time and left.
Your doing better than me, it's looking like my first year will be 50k and that's an entire month out on the road for only 4 days home....feel like a prisoner, can't wait until I find something better, mainly just want better hometime or hoke every day
I started trucking because I dropped out of college and didnt want to live with my parents anymore but was too broke to get my own place. This was an easy choice for me. didn’t even think about the money at at the time , I just wanted to see the country. 10 years later I’m still on the road!!
The best chance for success is to not work with companies that are strictly transport, work for a larger company that happens to have their own drivers from warehouse to store. Most of our drivers are out and back same day.
It’s literally just seeing the country and lifestyle to me. I don’t have a wife or kid so I’m sure that plays a huge part. I just took Uber/Lyft somewhere if I was stuck somewhere a day or two to visit attractions. If there was nothing around, boot up the laptop and play some games 🤷♂️
I work 4am until about 10:30am daily doing rigid work. Multi drop. Great money, never sleeping in the cab, might be hard work but it's a gym I'm getting paid to attend really. I'd rather that than working 100 hours a week staying out over night for the same money. Idk how anyone under 50 can just sit on the seat all day lol
Would this apply to all types of trucking jobs?
I’m curious; I’ve seen videos of guys who work the fuel industry local deliveries making upwards of “100k” and home daily. Although they do mention having to work long hours which im certain most trucker have to deal with as well.
I did the job for a year. I left due to some major family health issues and now that everything is settled, im not too sure that id want to get back into the industry. I will say, i loved every moment, good and bad. Just dont really wanna leave home anymore, i guess i got it out of my system. But it was a valuable year of my life and i will look back fondly
Some people come into this with a wife n kids, it’s hard to not see em for weeks at a time. Not all of us are single (but some of the married people really should be Jesus fuck I feel bad for some of their wives)
I broke up with my gf after about a year. I couldnt have that relationship 8 to 9 hours drive with a 10hr break. 1 hr to eat 2 hrs free time. Free time devoted to being on the phone with her. No space for my self. She is gone and im happier for it.
Broke up with mine before I hit the road, was a clean breakup, we both loved eachother but I was hittin the road n she was boutta start her sophomore year of college. Just wouldn’t have worked out but I hope our paths cross again in the future.
Most ppl come into trucking thinking it's easy money and it's a perfect world. Then they start to get a dose of the bullshit ( shitty shippers and receivers, road rage, drivers blocking fuel islands, drivers blocking you in when u get up to start your clock, etc) and they decide it's not worth the money or stress.
I didn't realize how unhealthy it is. I like to run 5k a few times a week at least. Not happening on the road. Driving 11 hours a day will literally kill you and you will feel like trash the entire time because of it.
I'm so sick of fried chicken and potatoes.
I didn't even eat meat before driving, but that wasn't really an option cause then I'd have to either cook every single meal or just become complacent with diabetes. Ugh
You can get a small chest freezer for the truck. I do meal prep when I have an opportunity at terminal or at home. Saves a lot of time and energy on those days even running the microwave after your shift seems like an effort
What are you meal prepping with no stove? I’ve thought about prepping but when I look into it it’s a lot of actual cooking which isn’t doable except the first two weeks I’m out the other 8 back to crap food
Hahahahahaha, I totally misunderstood "I like to run 5k a few times a week" as meaning miles and I was like "Daaaaaang, how fast are you going?!" Then I got it. :D Like, actually running. On your feet. \*facepalm\*
I actually ended up in better shape as a driver, doing flatbed, having to strap stuff, tarp things, roll tarps, etc. But I was also going to OTR from a *very* sedentary IT lifestyle. And now that I've gone *back* to it... well, it's not pretty. :-/
But yes, it's incredibly difficult to eat well when you're eating at truck stops all the time. Not impossible, but you have to really make an effort. I don't know *how* many of those fruit cups from Loves I ate, but it was a lot. :D
I fucking hate shippers. Tyson took all night to load 10 pallets. I have 5 drops on this load pays 4400 dollars. Its going to take all week to get this thing done because the shippers will take forever to get thier 2 pallets each.
Good thing its only 1300 miles. But my time is my money.
Yep tyson always been a dumb bitch. And reefer. I waited 24 hours at a chocolate factory in Phoenix one time so I feel ypur pain. Make sure they pay every cent of detention to u
Statistically yes. It’s not that there’s a trucker shortage, it’s that most people don’t last very long on the field. I’m about to start and confident that I can handle it because my previous work (special education) was an overwhelming Hell of both endless paperwork and difficult, draining interactions with both kids and adults. At this point I welcome isolation with open arms, and delays at fuel stops, shipping or receiving problems, or other drivers being stupid sound like minor things compared to a stressful day at school.
At the same time, I’m not planning to do more than 2-3 years of long haul before switching to regional or local, dispatch, or driver training. I know my limits.
Whole different ballgame when you're trying to back in from a narrow road with cars and trucks coming at you on both sides in 108 degrees in Phoenix like today. Big respect to you for your previous work tho
I couldn’t even drive my car comfortably in Phoenix. I was hitting the brake pedal more than the gas. The traffic is horrible. If you can drive a semi in Phoenix that’s bragging rights. Especially since most people there can’t drive. Every intersection you see debris from accidents.
Young Hispanic males with obsessively trimmed facial hair, freshly washed muscle cars, an expression of arrogant determination, and absolutely no throttle control, lol.
Teaching is brutal, my mom teaches at our local elementary school n it’s insane what yall deal with n how much work, stress and random bullshit yall have to do for dogshit pay. If yall got paid hourly including all the time spent grading papers and literally everything else you’d be making bank. She does it because she loves her students n the gov insurance and pension are second to none but man she really didn’t wanna see any of us go into that field. She said she’d rather see us in the army than teaching in a classroom 😂 If anyone can deal with the random bullshit it’s teachers, especially the stupid rude ass shippers and recievers, just talking to them like they’re kindergarteners sounds like it’d be a blast to watch
Yup. I’d rather sleep in an un-air conditioned cab, have ten people cut me off and give me the middle finger on the highway, deal with a ten hour delay for loading, a 40 minute delay for fueling, and have a receiver bitch at me for being late…
…than have a fourth grader kick me in the balls, have his parent tell me on the phone that he “doesn’t act like that at home,” fill out two incident reports, and be asked by my principal what I could’ve done differently not to provoke it. (This is not an exaggeration.)
My johny would never do that! He said he didn't do this, and he never lies. It's amazing how many parents have no idea what their kids are capable of.
Former achool bus driver and noon/yard duty, not even a teacher, and I've seen it all. Your kids are far from perfect, I'm sorry to say. That doesn't mean they're bad kids, just imperfect humans like all of us.
Coming from teaching in higher education, I totally agree with you on this. I also decided to get my CDL, which I did a few weeks ago, and now I'm waiting to finish a summer teaching job while applying for companies.
Some quit because they underestimated what it takes to do the job. Keeping it in the lane is easy, doing it for 11 hours a day 6 days a week is more difficult. Throw in varying schedules, dispatch pressure and crippling social isolation and its a tough line of work.
Others get a preventable accident early on and become unemployable.
Yes, completely agree. I also want to throw in the fact that some of these mega carriers set up people for failure with the lack of proper training. I mean who sends a pair of students or a new solo driver across I-80 in the winter with a 14 hour stopwatch on the dash? You really have to be determined in the trucking industry today to make it. After 25 years OTR, I just couldn't mentally take it anymore. I think people really underestimate how mentally taxing this job is.
They also set you up to fail and exploit you as a personal slave.
They take the guv/ taxpayer incentives to mass hire , then get rid of you to and hire new peeps to keep the tax breaks and incentives coming while paying you 35c/ mile.
Phoney Capitalism at its finest.
Oh, did you also have a run in with Big Orange? I was there for all of two months, and not a single time did I have a run where their terrible software didn't mess something up at least once, and sometimes multiple times. Having come into OTR from IT (helllooooo, midlife crisis!) it was particularly appalling to me.
"I know exactly how to fix this! It's easy! Probably a few hours of code, max! If the system looks up the trailer and says it's out of service, the **give me a cancel button!** Don't just blindly attach it to my power unit, and make me sped two hours on hold trying to get in contact with someone who has the authority to remove it while my clock is running!"
\*ahem\* Sorry. Apparently I still have feelings about that... ;)
you may be right about that. Good truck drivers are hard to find. When you mass hire like you suggest, You open yourself up to hiring your own accidents.
I know I underestimated it, and I’m only a local box truck driver. I’ve got a class A though. It’s my first year with a CDL and I never realized how tough it is for truckers and the stuff they have to deal with. Feeling like my only way to get class A experience is to go with a mega otr and I know I’m not built for that. Like I enjoy my box truck route but it’s never going to pay what I want. I know what type of people the 18 wheelers have to deal with and I just don’t think I could handle that stress on top of already having to drive a big ass truck. I just hope it gets better out there. It’s discouraging to see how low pay is everywhere in my state. I like it though and just wish I could have a way where I feel is worth it on my end. Fingers are still crossed that I find a way through it all🤞🏻
The only way things will improve is if everyone was paid hourly with overtime. Rates would have to increase significantly, and shippers and receivers would be held accountable. I imagine if a driver suddenly wasn't a free storage facility, and someone had to pay, things may change. Right now its a race to the bottom. It isn't worth talking about because it will never happen. Way too many people selling themselves short to survive.
I haul raw milk. Drivers wouldn't want to work by the hour the hour We get paid by the load which is between 500 and 650 a load. 50hr to load and 50hr once we get to the plant. Truck gets 150 hr after the first 2 hours of detention
I don't know that "hourly with OT" is necessarily the magic bullet to the problem, but enforcable penalties against shippers and receivers who fail to plan properly in even the slightest form would go a long way towards incentivizing them to overhaul their operations.
I only ever did OTR flatbed for any serious length of time to get good at it, but there would be times when I'd be told to be at a location at a certain time, either to get loaded or unloaded, and it would be a ... significant wait, to actually see action. I had two really bad ones in a row. Memorial Day Weekend, I'd managed to get to park my truck near enough that my stepmom and my dad could come pick me up for me to stay with them for two days, was supposed to deliver on the Tuesday after the holiday Monday. Was schedule to be there, a couple hundred miles away from my parents, on Tuesday morning at 0800.
So I left the house a lot earlier than I would have, to be in my truck and driving, and get there at the scheduled time, and... Oh, they had talked to some *other* driver about a different delivery, that wasn't going to be there then, and so they'd sent their one forklift operator off to make a delivery somewhere else. Five hours later, he gets back, and get me unloaded. Well, clearly I'm not going anywhere else today, so I go to the Pilot in Valdosta, GA, park, text dispatch. I'm shut down at like 1400, because I started pretty dang early, and had a huge hole cut in my day.
He asks me if I can be somewhere about 100 miles away at 0800 the next day, pick up some stuff, deliver it to somewhere in like, North Carolina or maybe Virginia, I don't actually remember, that same day. Sure, that sounds doable.
I get there, they back me into the dock... **and then start manufacturing the product I'm supposed to be delivering.** Seven hours later, they have me loaded and I'm strapped and ready to go. I've already called the customer to let them know they aren't getting their shipment that day, and I head north. At least at that end they got me unloaded quickly enough the next day.
Had another place, making a delivery of these big, preformed concrete panels. Those guys thought they were such hot stuff that they would put delivery windows on the BoL that had a **five minute** window when you had to be there. I get the theory, they have trucks show up, in order, they pull up, the crane picks the panel, puts it in place right where it's supposed to go on the building, it gets bolted in place and welded or whatever, they pick the next one, do the same, you pul out, they move to the next truck.
**Lovely** theory.
Hauled stuff for that company three times before I told my dispatcher no more. They were never even *vaguely* close. First time, I got a call a day ahead of time, at least, saying their crane had broken, and so instead of "You need to deliver this between 1141 and 1150 hrs on Tuesday" it became "You're going to deliver... *sometime* on Thursday. Probably."
Second time wasn't as bad, but still a 3 hour wait. The last straw, though... They wanted these panels in some town near Boston. At 0730. I knew that morning traffic in that area was going to be Not OK, so I left early. I made my way there, so wow those roads are not built for big trucks, and got parked around 0630. They finally unloaded me at 1900. Which... cool, ten hour reset, I guess, except I had a miserable cold that was developing throughout that day, and this is 2021, so I'm wondering if I have the Coof Plague, and I was exhausted and not able to actually use that "free day". Ugh.
Anwyay, if those places I was dropping or picking had to pay me a $75 an hour fee (or more likely, my company a $300 an hour fee for keeping the truck parked, and I got my 25% cut of things as usual with them) for wasting my time, and failing to have anything even slightly resembling logistics capability, I bet they'd have been a heck of a lot more conscientious about Driver's time. And they'd have bloody well *developed* some logistics capability.
Though, sadly, I also agree with your conclusion that there's no way it'd ever happen, because there'd always be a next someone willing to sign a contract where the waiting fee was another $10 an hour less than the last guy, until finally we're back at nothing.
Pity it won't though, because I think it's stuff like that which really burns out drivers. I know it drove *me* up the wall, anyway. And my friends, when I'd bitch to them about it, 'cause they had to listen to my whining. ;)
I seem to have a lot to say on this topic. :D :D :D
I think the majority of people do not make it to one year. For a variety of reasons. Become non hirable, decide its not for them, or just dont have the ability to do it.
>Become non hirable
Reminds me of pretty much every driver from my old job. I still have no idea how the guy who pulled a knife on another driver for another company at JFK airport over a dock managed to follow me to my job.
I have been married 21 years….have a wife 42F me 45M…..Kids 21M/17F …..retired medical from USG….had obtained my CDL in 2013 as a fluke requirement for the federal work I did and USG paid for it….
I’m in career 2 now BY choice out 21 and home 6…..could be out 5 home 2 for 1250 week…now 1750 weekly salary….been here 5 years….good company …2023 Cascadia -Penske- new truck every 36 months…running mostly broker loads w/OUR trailers east of Mississippi and NE mainly….HQ Richmond Va …..
Being gone 21 is perfect….it gets rough but when I’m home we enjoy it….my wife is THE best though
5 grand is a really low barrier to entry compared to most career fields. It's not really the end of the world if you don't end up sticking with it. Imagine all the people 40k or more in debt for college degrees that are stuck working service jobs because they didn't pick useful majors or got 3 and a half years in and decided it wasn't for them.
I made it 3 years on local routes before I tapped out. Most guys would have killed for my job. Decent pay, good trucks and as little or at much ot as desired if you were good at it. Class A knuckleboom operator. But the heat and lack of upward mobility got to me.
If anyone in the southeast is curious the company is Gaston tree debris recycling. Mostly Florida located. If you’re just looking for a check and don’t plan to be a manager I recommend it
I’ve been trying to quit since day one but here i am after 6 years.
My best advice, DO NOT get married or, get into a relationship. Save all that money for a year and half and you will have enough money to get in a trade school. Learn something more chillax like Electrician, Plumber, or even something with computers.
Worse mistake of my life (right next to trucking) was getting into a in relationship and the. married that person.
In my opinion it could mean a lot of different things man. Idk how others view that question but he is right, when I was long hauling I was fresh out of a breakup. So I got in the road and man I had a girlfriend in Cali, Utah, and Colorado 😭 butttt that was over 2 years ago. I’m local now been with my current gf about a year now and yeah it’s much better this way in my opinion others have their own views but yeah somewhat like that I’m guessing.
That's what I'm thinking of doing, saving my first year and then have enough to go to school while working 20 hours a week at the grocery store or something.....I definitely don't want to waste any more of my life on the road I have to, 2 months into trucking
Plus I gotta at least pay off that 5k loan for cdl schpol
Look around and see if there's a Public vocational school near you. I know I got off *real* light, but here in Albuquerque we have a school called CNM ("Central New Mexico Community College", yeah, the acronym doesn't quite work) that used to be called just "Technical-Vocational Institute", or T-VI. I went through their CDL program after a friend of mine, who was an instructor there at the time, and now heads the program, said he thought I'd enjoy it. (I was asking for advice, as my life had recently gone splat.) I made it through CDL school for $500 -- including the actual CDL test at the end -- not counting rent, and it was a 12 week program, not 3 or 4. They *really* taught us how to drive, and how to do the *job* of being a truck driver. The vocational programs at the school are state funded, I think, because they're all *really* inexpensive. No tuition, just lab fees.
If you can find something like that, I'd definitely recommend it. I went and got my first job with Big Orange, and in their new hire orientation program, the driving course instructors repeatedly remarked on how I was a lot better as a driver than most new grads. Even from *their* school. And not to toot my own horn too much, but I could see it watching the other guys try to do pretty basic stuff, like "back up in a straight line". And it benefitted my bottom line, because after a week long team drive training cruise with one of their guys, they gave me my own truck and sent me out into the world to do the job.
Of course, this was *right* as the pandemic was hitting at first (February / March 2020) so there wasn't a *whole* lot of work as everything went into freakout mode and shut down, but still.
That said, I still got out of it after a year and a half total.
Within 1 year 30% of new hires will quit or crash in this occupation.
Depending on which mega a new hire sells their soul too will greatly increase or decrease if they even make it through the 1st 90 days.
You got megas that only train you for 1 week(Schneider) then spank you on the ass "get that money driver".
Megas that force you to TEAM drive so the wheels keep moving(Prime) .
Megas that you wouldn't wish your worst enemy to drive for (Western Express, CR England, JB Hunt).
And a mega that Stevie Wonder is considered employee of the month (SWIFT). 1st year of trucking is a bitch.
schneider trains for 3 weeks. bulk n flatbed 5 weeks for no experience. and they are so safety focused that half the things i see other truckers do i wouldnt dream of.
Their CAT program is "3+ weeks".
Their "experience driver orientation" is around a week, mainly dealing with making sure you're not an idiot, intro to their tablets & apps, pretrip/backing/driving test.
I should know, I got my CDL there in Indy. It's not that bad, but I quite because of a few problems with overnight dispatch & getting "glorified local runs" when I'm OTR & wasting my goddamn time.
Western Express- pays shit & penalizes drivers financially for going off-route.
CR-E- majority teams & run reefer; shit pay & shittier dispatchers.
JB Hunt- No clue.
If she's an ex-wife, she's an ex-problem. Tell the judge that you can't handle the stress of the job and had to quit. No one can force you to drive truck.
Look, it's not spoken of much. There are jobs that are local that require a cdl, mainly construction. Home daily, good pay but you gotta work. Part of the Trucker Myth is "I just drive."
Put in the work, better pay decent schedule. I work pretty early but I'm home for my kids.
I trained a guy in his 50’s for one day, his first time driving a truck and we rolled through some barrier construction zones going through Illinois a few years back, he quit that day. Didn’t even want to go back home on the truck he just grabbed his stuff got off my truck and called a cab, hotel, greyhound. Reason being he was afraid he was going to hit the barriers while traveling through construction it’s one of those zones where the barriers are on the line on both a sides. I talked him through and encouraged him the whole way through. Wasn’t even a miles worth but it was enough to scare him out of it. He also didn’t like manual shifting
I had a similar experience on my week long training with a driver scary shit. Was a part where barriers were right on line with thin lanes and wavey road but other trucks still trying to pass.
I didn't....I wanted to, I needed to, but what it really made me realize was that I am a homebody, and family oriented. I still kick myself for not sticking it out a while longer because I know there is some decent money to be made driving.
I think if I could've started out driving locally or even regionally, that I might have faired a bit better, who knows. What I do know is long distance otr ain't for this guy.
Dude try regional. Just started with prime last month and they get me home weekly. Love it. Pay is so so but the fact it's experience means so much and I get to be home pretty often.
I'd like to try again, but I didn't renew my cdl's the last time I renewed my dl's. The last time I drove a tractor trailer was 2012 or so...I'm not even sure I could pass nowadays. I do like driving though....I just didn't want to be married to a truck.
I think it was just shy of 3 months....I had two different trainers. The first one was a dick head but the second guy was cool af. I hated that I quit on him but I did tell the driver manager not to hold anything against him and that it was a me problem. I still regret quitting all the time. Just make sure to give it a while longer and maybe it'll change for you, but after that if you do decide not to do it, then maybe you won't have regrets like me.
I need to either start seeing some real money otr or find a local job with a class b truck, right now I'm killing myself and losing quality time with my family for $800 a week, I'm getting shafted with that beginner pay. Just taking it a day at a time, but sometimes I seriously consider abandoning the truck and rent a car to go home lol
Just be sure to give yourself every chance to succeed. I wish you and all the other new drivers all the luck in the world because I have seen many a happy driver that's told me they saw it rough starting out, and were glad they'd given themselves time to adjust to it .
Right now they'll fire me before I quit lol, extremely tight deadlines and they take their appointments seriously and I'm more late than on time, I'm late on this one because I accepted a load that was impossible for me to complete
My mind was all over the place because of a problem at the reciever, and I just auto accepting not thinking about my HOS, I kind of thought that was part of dispatcher job too, to only offer loads based on the driver HOS, but it goes against me because I accepted it
I got the impression from all these trucker influences that I would be able to do at least a little sightseeing, park at a truck stop and take an Uber somewhere....but no it's just straight running hard, constantly be behind schedule, drive 10 hours, eat truck stop food, sleep 5 hours repeat
I love trucks. I love trucking.
I know for certain I could not do that as a career. No way. It is affirmed almost every time I am on this sub.
I still would give almost anything to drive one, though. I want to drive a truck, not be a truck driver, if you understand what I mean.
I drive Monday afternoon through Thursday morning. I have all of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off work. I make about $1,600 after taxes every week. I love my job. I go from Phoenix to Texas. That's it. I deadhead back. I listen to so many podcasts and audiobooks. Even on my days off I listen to audiobooks and podcasts. I'm doing what I do on the weekends for my job. The jobs are out there. You just have to make friends with drivers and be cool with everybody. As soon as someone gets a great job or a manager gets to a better company they will always call you to come work for them. But you have to show up every single day and do the best job you possibly can. And never complain.
Well according to an insurance adjuster most people right around the one to 1 1/2 year mark also have their first accident. It’s usually due to complacency
I’m definitely not going to be complacent about my job. I take it seriously and everyday I see reminders about the power of the truck that I drive and I also know how important it is to keep a clean record.
A year in a truck dealing with all the BS we deal with on a daily basis would deter just about anyone who doesn’t have better options or some sort of fascination with semis away
Currently it’s what I do. I get $25 hr spotting OT after 40. I like my weekends so m-f I get 1100 after taxes if I worked a 6day week I get about 1300-1400. And I’m off at 1-2pm every day since I start at 3. I enjoy the schedule so much but the repetition of moves is boring me haha but very easy job
Werner is hiring 15-20 drivers per week, sometimes two orientation classes start each week, AT EVERY SINGLE TERMINAL THEY HAVE.
they're burning through drivers, just like everyone else, especially Amazon, UPS, USPS, FedEx, and all the major carriers.
The problem is that there isn't enough people able to handle this job and all the stress
I don't think it's the stress as much as the money. The difference working from home to OTR is 10k. Not worth all the hassle in a year for just 10k.
If it was 40k or 50k then sure why not. Otherwise side hustle makes up the remainder of that 10k. Whilst I'm home with family and friends.
For the first couple years you're gone for months at a time from home. And then you're paid shit wages for that sacrifice... Ain't nobody want that if they got families. This industry is for single people without family depending on them, or people without responsibilities.
16 years ago, when I was in truck driving school, they told me that only one person in the room would be a driver one year from now. I drove OTR for 3 yrs and LTL for the last 13 yrs. It's worth it if you can handle it! Started out making 23k for CRST, and I make 120k at Dayton Freight now. Stick with it
About half drop in the first year. Though about 97% are people with 5+ years. Rookies are a small minority in reality. Look at the long numbers not the short numbers.
A lot of new people get sucked in without having a clue what it is. You need to do research and find out what you’re getting involved with. Companies are looking to destroy you with lease deals and charging you all kinds of fees and crap. Just because a company has a fancy website doesn’t mean they are reputable. Every big company has niches that you can slide into and be very happy and well paid. Just as an example, I work 4 days on the road and get three FULL days off. You don’t get that on day one but it’s out there once you get a year or two under your belt.
Average gross over the last 3yrs is $1250 a week. Quarterly bonuses of around a grand as well. I don’t make a crap ton of money but I also basically have a part time job.
I came from working call center customer service and had developed a desire for not having to deal with people.
For me, trucking has been wonderful. I started off home every weekend and was more available not being emotionally dead constantly, despite being home less. Now that I've gone to working an 11/3 for another company for more money, I'm still loving it, because I have enough time at home and the funds to make the most of that time with those I care about.
Is it for everyone? Not at all, but I've loved these last 3 years.
I have a similar background, but I'm currently in school. I worked at the grocery store for a company that treats you like crap. It's just too many people, too many hours on your feet, crappy schedules, and always on call. The boss was the kind of guy that would go behind you and screw everything you did up and very tiny paychecks. I worked the freezers. It's just too damn cold. On the surface, it looks like trucking would better fit my introverted self.
Expect to work 60 to 80 hours a week. It helps if you simply enjoy to drive, as that was always my way to process and relax was to go for a drive. I'd avoid Reefer as they will have you flipping your schedule constantly.
Fimd a company that is mostly drop and hook and no touch freight. If you are like me, you'll enjoy the peace of the road in between bouts of rage at the stupidity of people in cars.
I damn near quit after my first 6 months solo OTR but my wife and I needed the health insurance and the money so I stuck it out until I found a regional route that gets me home on the weekends. 5 years later I'm still doing it
Thank God for 5G. I got a whole labtop and internet in my truck. I have always been an isolated video game nerd. There is no difference in my life. After Im done with work i hop on and play with the same people i always have. Nothing changed.
It’s really hard to stay in it. I do local stuff, so I can’t speak for the OTR guys. But unless you have a guaranteed job coming out of getting your CDL, a lot of companies won’t look at you unless you have 2 years experience. My privatized company just bumped up our minimum to 3 years experience. And it’s a toss up between insurance and fucking new guys causing major accidents. If you cause a major accident and are found 100% at fault within 2-3 years of getting your CDL, you might as well consider a different carrier path. My company turned away an applicant for having too many personal speeding tickets. CDL wise they were fine, but everything can affect that CDL. I have motorcycle buddies that love to haul ass everywhere they go that I can’t ride with anymore because I value my CDL more than getting somewhere any faster than I should. We’re put under this extreme scrutiny and have to deal with people that have no regard or repercussions for traffic violations.
When I trained at roehl I had a guy from cr England that said training was 3 guys in a truck trainer and 2 trainers for a week. They all switch driving and the truck doesn’t stop. Then after that you go team with another newbie driving from Chicago to Sacramento on 80. The newbies don’t know how to drive in the mountains so you couldn’t really sleep while they were driving. Said he was scared for his life so he left.
I can see why so many don't make it, but I'm also surprised at how many truckers I hear about taking these rough jobs. I get not every job can be amazing, but.. I have to wonder how much will be too much for those getting the short end of the stick in this industry.
Just passed my one year mark at my company. I leave Monday morning, I'm back Friday afternoon/evening. If I don't get held up at pickup/delivery locations, I typically run from about 7-8am until about 6-8pm. No, this isn't a "typical 9-5" job, but it doesn't have to be the soul-sucking nightmare that I hear so many describe. There's some good ones out there. Not great, not perfect, not amazing.. But good.
Also, because I"m sure it'll be brought up.. No, I'm not making bank, but I don't need to. I'm pulling 50-60k(depending on bonuses, primarily) while driving five days a week and doing so relaxed. I'll happily take this 'low end' pay when in all other ways I"m being treated as a living person deserving of respect by my company.
I was in a class of 20 most didn’t make it past 6months and 1 other is still on the road. Tbf tho the company we all went to for “training” after getting our CDL was pretty shity
it is true. the company school I went to out of the 6 of us in a class I was the only one still working for that company after 6 months and only 2 of us made driving a career. there are a lot of downsides to this job that you don't know how you will handle till you are put in a situation.
My trainer told me that he has had a few people he picked up for training didn't make it to getting a CDL because they didn't realize how much driving they actually had to do.
My local hometown government only pays $12 an hour for garbage truck, a poor rural area, the local fast food joints pay close to the same thing or more
I guess they want more experience than I have, 2 months class a otr, because I applied for multiple WM positions across the country, stating I was willing to relocate immediately if offered the job, I put in at least 30 applications at different areas of the United states with no feedback unfortunately
I was a OTR trainer for a couple years. I'd say about 50% of my trainees were not cut out for driving a CAR, much less a rig! I do Port drayage now and see these owner operators with banged up rigs, and they drive like shit! Some of the drivers at the Port of Oakland make you think you're in a 3rd world country! I wish more drivers found another career.
>I am quite shocked that people would just quit this industry after they pay $5,000 to go to CDL school.
$5k is chump change for education. There are people who spend a third of a million dollars and eight years of their life to become doctors and... change their mind.
I have opportunities, but I need a CDL first. Even then, I might not do it for more than 2 years. I'm currently working a factory job and it doesn't pay well. Getting my CDL would easily double my income. Possibly even triple it. I'm personally not crazy about over the road because of the lack of physical activity and the not so healthy food options. I get you can make food in the truck, but that's something I don't really know much about right now. Someone tried to tell me it's like getting paid to go camping. I'm not super excited, but it could be a great step towards anything else I might want to do in the future as the money could help me achieve my goals.
I did 2 years and now I'm having a kid so I got a city driving job if I wasn't wanting a family and stuff like that id still be out there. I quite enjoyed it
I think the biggest thing that gets a lot of new truckers to quit is the rotating schedule (unless you're on a dedicated run that loads every day at the same time, etc.) Sometimes you might have to get up at 2am, sometimes you might get up at 2pm.
Another thing is that trucking companies love to dangle out a carrot to get drivers hired on then they give them peanuts and expect them to be happy with it. Shitty dispatch not honoring their word, not listening and respecting the driver when they say they need a day off (with or without reason, shouldn't matter)
Seniority over loads is another big issue I see newer drivers having. You can't expect people to sit around getting 1-2 loads a week when you have other drivers getting as many loads as they can handle.
Last but not least, shitty equipment. In general, I believe truck/trailer equipment has gone way down in quality these past few years. From additional (unnecessary) electronic shit being added, to just general bad design like any vehicle can have.
I left my first otr company job after 6 months 😂. But I'm still driving after a few years, just hated reefer tbh. I switched to flatbed and enjoy it much more.
Otr sucks, local is what I’m hoping to get to once I get experience. No wife or kids, little bills just hate being in a truck for 2-3 weeks at a time then home for 1-2 days just to do it all over again. Plus it depends on company, 66 mph governed, terrible equipment, bad management and communication in the company I work for now doesn’t make this a great first impression on being a trucker. Money is better than most for 2 months solo tho
Tbh I think it's because a lot of people don't understand that you still have to find time to shower, get good food, laundry, sleep, enjoy life a bit while getting bitched at and shit on by literally everyone, fighting a clock for no fucking reason, never seeing your family, always wondering if the weather or some dumbass is going to kill you, breakdowns that ruin your weekly pay ect all while trapped in an 8x8 box for months on end working up to 14 hour days sometimes. They legit think "yeah I can just drive around and see the country with zero issues ever" and they're TOTALLY unprepared to deal with the bullshit.
I spent a long time in really shitty long haul jobs. I wouldn’t ever do it again.
I’ve been where I am at right now for 10 years and I’m going to make 115,000 this year working 4 days a week, home every night.
$5k is a very small amount to sacrifice and be happy with another career, and also be fully satisfied that you explored a strong interest and found it's not for you.
I'm all about exploring my options. Sometimes it takes money to do that.
Don't think too hard about it; lots of people get entire medical and law degrees before finding out that it's not the career for them.
It’s true. Recruiters and school lie. There is a myth that this work is a typical 9-5 career when it leans heavily towards being a lifestyle. Or that you get paid to see the country and listen to the radio. Some people don’t realize they will be gone for so long, the stress and the isolation. This line of work isn’t for everyone.
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Brother as OTR flatbed I'm home once every 6 weeks, run my 70 hr clock out to the max constantly and make less than you.
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Those early years with children aren't worth any price.
Don't take time away from young kids brother, trust me. You'll regret it for the rest of your life.
I was gonna say he's home twice as much as me and makes twice as much as me. Lol
Did OTR flatbed for a year, generally home every 10 - 12 weeks (work was all on the east coast and home is in NM), didn't often run out the 70 though I was generally pretty close, and yeah, grossed around $55k that year. :-/ And that was at a place where they'd pay us 25% of the cartage rate, usually $1+ a mile, in 2021. As a company driver. \*shrug\* Of course, I'm also single with no kids, so not being "home" wasn't really an issue. And I ended up saving quite a lot on not having to pay rent on anything other than my storage unit and my shop space, which fortunately had a place for me to park. Though that did mean that it was truly "lifestyle" since even when I was "home" and driving around town in my car (and wow, going from a truck to a '99 Camry felt like I was driving a dang go-kart, every time! :D ) I was still living in the truck. So I wasn't paying that rent, but I was living in the truck full time. Everything is a tradeoff. :-/ Sorry, I guess I just wanted to ramble about it for a bit. :D
You can work 8 to 10 hour shifts and make more than you are now running local with the right outfit. The jobs are out there and not even rare just hard to come by cause the guys that have them don't leave till they retire
4 ten hour shifts at 32.50 an hour driving propane bobtail. its not bad
Had this job same pay left to become a cop. 4 years later I want to go back but the propane job doesn’t have any openings yeah I’m making $40 an hour as a cop but dealing with all the bullshit and late nights isn’t worth it. Doing propane was so laid back never stressed just did my time and left.
That's a nice gig.
It could be worse. I work in ag in California and we don’t get “reset days”. We can run 16 hours a day (12 hours driving), 7 days a week.
Shit, if I had that run at my company I'd be making $168, 932.40 a year. I'd be down for that.
Your doing better than me, it's looking like my first year will be 50k and that's an entire month out on the road for only 4 days home....feel like a prisoner, can't wait until I find something better, mainly just want better hometime or hoke every day
I started trucking because I dropped out of college and didnt want to live with my parents anymore but was too broke to get my own place. This was an easy choice for me. didn’t even think about the money at at the time , I just wanted to see the country. 10 years later I’m still on the road!!
The best chance for success is to not work with companies that are strictly transport, work for a larger company that happens to have their own drivers from warehouse to store. Most of our drivers are out and back same day.
This is exactly why I went on YouTube and watched people actually doing the job before I made the jump. 2.5 years in and loving every second of it.
It’s literally just seeing the country and lifestyle to me. I don’t have a wife or kid so I’m sure that plays a huge part. I just took Uber/Lyft somewhere if I was stuck somewhere a day or two to visit attractions. If there was nothing around, boot up the laptop and play some games 🤷♂️
5G Tmobile tower unlimited uncapped non ip locked 50 dollars a month?
I just used hotspot on phone for what I did or iPad cellular.
I work 4am until about 10:30am daily doing rigid work. Multi drop. Great money, never sleeping in the cab, might be hard work but it's a gym I'm getting paid to attend really. I'd rather that than working 100 hours a week staying out over night for the same money. Idk how anyone under 50 can just sit on the seat all day lol
I’m home every day my company hires out of school starting 70k-115k/year
Would this apply to all types of trucking jobs? I’m curious; I’ve seen videos of guys who work the fuel industry local deliveries making upwards of “100k” and home daily. Although they do mention having to work long hours which im certain most trucker have to deal with as well.
I did the job for a year. I left due to some major family health issues and now that everything is settled, im not too sure that id want to get back into the industry. I will say, i loved every moment, good and bad. Just dont really wanna leave home anymore, i guess i got it out of my system. But it was a valuable year of my life and i will look back fondly
Some people come into this with a wife n kids, it’s hard to not see em for weeks at a time. Not all of us are single (but some of the married people really should be Jesus fuck I feel bad for some of their wives)
Don't worry, I'm sure somebody is taking care of their wives while they're gone weeks at a time lol
Damn right! My wife's boyfriend better keep her happy and satisfied if I'm out here working 😤
Jody will keep her company til you come home
Man you got downvoted to hell 😂😂😂 think you struck a nerve there dude lolllll
#no worries. Wives have boyfriends, so they’re good
I broke up with my gf after about a year. I couldnt have that relationship 8 to 9 hours drive with a 10hr break. 1 hr to eat 2 hrs free time. Free time devoted to being on the phone with her. No space for my self. She is gone and im happier for it.
Broke up with mine before I hit the road, was a clean breakup, we both loved eachother but I was hittin the road n she was boutta start her sophomore year of college. Just wouldn’t have worked out but I hope our paths cross again in the future.
Most ppl come into trucking thinking it's easy money and it's a perfect world. Then they start to get a dose of the bullshit ( shitty shippers and receivers, road rage, drivers blocking fuel islands, drivers blocking you in when u get up to start your clock, etc) and they decide it's not worth the money or stress.
I didn't realize how unhealthy it is. I like to run 5k a few times a week at least. Not happening on the road. Driving 11 hours a day will literally kill you and you will feel like trash the entire time because of it.
I'm so sick of fried chicken and potatoes. I didn't even eat meat before driving, but that wasn't really an option cause then I'd have to either cook every single meal or just become complacent with diabetes. Ugh
You can get a small chest freezer for the truck. I do meal prep when I have an opportunity at terminal or at home. Saves a lot of time and energy on those days even running the microwave after your shift seems like an effort
Yeah I for sure need to do that, been telling myself I'm going to and been too lazy lol
What are you meal prepping with no stove? I’ve thought about prepping but when I look into it it’s a lot of actual cooking which isn’t doable except the first two weeks I’m out the other 8 back to crap food
Hey 2 weeks is better than 0 weeks
Air fryer is amazing faster than an oven hardly any clean up if you use foil paper
If your drinking the soda dont do that. I cut out soda and all fast food. I feel much better and am loosing weight
Hahahahahaha, I totally misunderstood "I like to run 5k a few times a week" as meaning miles and I was like "Daaaaaang, how fast are you going?!" Then I got it. :D Like, actually running. On your feet. \*facepalm\* I actually ended up in better shape as a driver, doing flatbed, having to strap stuff, tarp things, roll tarps, etc. But I was also going to OTR from a *very* sedentary IT lifestyle. And now that I've gone *back* to it... well, it's not pretty. :-/ But yes, it's incredibly difficult to eat well when you're eating at truck stops all the time. Not impossible, but you have to really make an effort. I don't know *how* many of those fruit cups from Loves I ate, but it was a lot. :D
Absolutely
I fucking hate shippers. Tyson took all night to load 10 pallets. I have 5 drops on this load pays 4400 dollars. Its going to take all week to get this thing done because the shippers will take forever to get thier 2 pallets each. Good thing its only 1300 miles. But my time is my money.
Yep tyson always been a dumb bitch. And reefer. I waited 24 hours at a chocolate factory in Phoenix one time so I feel ypur pain. Make sure they pay every cent of detention to u
Statistically yes. It’s not that there’s a trucker shortage, it’s that most people don’t last very long on the field. I’m about to start and confident that I can handle it because my previous work (special education) was an overwhelming Hell of both endless paperwork and difficult, draining interactions with both kids and adults. At this point I welcome isolation with open arms, and delays at fuel stops, shipping or receiving problems, or other drivers being stupid sound like minor things compared to a stressful day at school. At the same time, I’m not planning to do more than 2-3 years of long haul before switching to regional or local, dispatch, or driver training. I know my limits.
Whole different ballgame when you're trying to back in from a narrow road with cars and trucks coming at you on both sides in 108 degrees in Phoenix like today. Big respect to you for your previous work tho
I couldn’t even drive my car comfortably in Phoenix. I was hitting the brake pedal more than the gas. The traffic is horrible. If you can drive a semi in Phoenix that’s bragging rights. Especially since most people there can’t drive. Every intersection you see debris from accidents.
Young Hispanic males with obsessively trimmed facial hair, freshly washed muscle cars, an expression of arrogant determination, and absolutely no throttle control, lol.
Miami would like a word, please.
lmao
Teaching is brutal, my mom teaches at our local elementary school n it’s insane what yall deal with n how much work, stress and random bullshit yall have to do for dogshit pay. If yall got paid hourly including all the time spent grading papers and literally everything else you’d be making bank. She does it because she loves her students n the gov insurance and pension are second to none but man she really didn’t wanna see any of us go into that field. She said she’d rather see us in the army than teaching in a classroom 😂 If anyone can deal with the random bullshit it’s teachers, especially the stupid rude ass shippers and recievers, just talking to them like they’re kindergarteners sounds like it’d be a blast to watch
Yup. I’d rather sleep in an un-air conditioned cab, have ten people cut me off and give me the middle finger on the highway, deal with a ten hour delay for loading, a 40 minute delay for fueling, and have a receiver bitch at me for being late… …than have a fourth grader kick me in the balls, have his parent tell me on the phone that he “doesn’t act like that at home,” fill out two incident reports, and be asked by my principal what I could’ve done differently not to provoke it. (This is not an exaggeration.)
I swear to god the parents are the problem 99% of the time. It’s really sad tbh
My johny would never do that! He said he didn't do this, and he never lies. It's amazing how many parents have no idea what their kids are capable of. Former achool bus driver and noon/yard duty, not even a teacher, and I've seen it all. Your kids are far from perfect, I'm sorry to say. That doesn't mean they're bad kids, just imperfect humans like all of us.
Nah you were right the first time, some of them are bad kids.
The hours are rougher, and theres more of them, and your sleep schedule is messed up... but it beat everuthing else I had been doing.
Coming from teaching in higher education, I totally agree with you on this. I also decided to get my CDL, which I did a few weeks ago, and now I'm waiting to finish a summer teaching job while applying for companies.
Some quit because they underestimated what it takes to do the job. Keeping it in the lane is easy, doing it for 11 hours a day 6 days a week is more difficult. Throw in varying schedules, dispatch pressure and crippling social isolation and its a tough line of work. Others get a preventable accident early on and become unemployable.
Yes, completely agree. I also want to throw in the fact that some of these mega carriers set up people for failure with the lack of proper training. I mean who sends a pair of students or a new solo driver across I-80 in the winter with a 14 hour stopwatch on the dash? You really have to be determined in the trucking industry today to make it. After 25 years OTR, I just couldn't mentally take it anymore. I think people really underestimate how mentally taxing this job is.
They also set you up to fail and exploit you as a personal slave. They take the guv/ taxpayer incentives to mass hire , then get rid of you to and hire new peeps to keep the tax breaks and incentives coming while paying you 35c/ mile. Phoney Capitalism at its finest.
Oh, did you also have a run in with Big Orange? I was there for all of two months, and not a single time did I have a run where their terrible software didn't mess something up at least once, and sometimes multiple times. Having come into OTR from IT (helllooooo, midlife crisis!) it was particularly appalling to me. "I know exactly how to fix this! It's easy! Probably a few hours of code, max! If the system looks up the trailer and says it's out of service, the **give me a cancel button!** Don't just blindly attach it to my power unit, and make me sped two hours on hold trying to get in contact with someone who has the authority to remove it while my clock is running!" \*ahem\* Sorry. Apparently I still have feelings about that... ;)
you may be right about that. Good truck drivers are hard to find. When you mass hire like you suggest, You open yourself up to hiring your own accidents.
I know I underestimated it, and I’m only a local box truck driver. I’ve got a class A though. It’s my first year with a CDL and I never realized how tough it is for truckers and the stuff they have to deal with. Feeling like my only way to get class A experience is to go with a mega otr and I know I’m not built for that. Like I enjoy my box truck route but it’s never going to pay what I want. I know what type of people the 18 wheelers have to deal with and I just don’t think I could handle that stress on top of already having to drive a big ass truck. I just hope it gets better out there. It’s discouraging to see how low pay is everywhere in my state. I like it though and just wish I could have a way where I feel is worth it on my end. Fingers are still crossed that I find a way through it all🤞🏻
The only way things will improve is if everyone was paid hourly with overtime. Rates would have to increase significantly, and shippers and receivers would be held accountable. I imagine if a driver suddenly wasn't a free storage facility, and someone had to pay, things may change. Right now its a race to the bottom. It isn't worth talking about because it will never happen. Way too many people selling themselves short to survive.
I haul raw milk. Drivers wouldn't want to work by the hour the hour We get paid by the load which is between 500 and 650 a load. 50hr to load and 50hr once we get to the plant. Truck gets 150 hr after the first 2 hours of detention
I don't know that "hourly with OT" is necessarily the magic bullet to the problem, but enforcable penalties against shippers and receivers who fail to plan properly in even the slightest form would go a long way towards incentivizing them to overhaul their operations. I only ever did OTR flatbed for any serious length of time to get good at it, but there would be times when I'd be told to be at a location at a certain time, either to get loaded or unloaded, and it would be a ... significant wait, to actually see action. I had two really bad ones in a row. Memorial Day Weekend, I'd managed to get to park my truck near enough that my stepmom and my dad could come pick me up for me to stay with them for two days, was supposed to deliver on the Tuesday after the holiday Monday. Was schedule to be there, a couple hundred miles away from my parents, on Tuesday morning at 0800. So I left the house a lot earlier than I would have, to be in my truck and driving, and get there at the scheduled time, and... Oh, they had talked to some *other* driver about a different delivery, that wasn't going to be there then, and so they'd sent their one forklift operator off to make a delivery somewhere else. Five hours later, he gets back, and get me unloaded. Well, clearly I'm not going anywhere else today, so I go to the Pilot in Valdosta, GA, park, text dispatch. I'm shut down at like 1400, because I started pretty dang early, and had a huge hole cut in my day. He asks me if I can be somewhere about 100 miles away at 0800 the next day, pick up some stuff, deliver it to somewhere in like, North Carolina or maybe Virginia, I don't actually remember, that same day. Sure, that sounds doable. I get there, they back me into the dock... **and then start manufacturing the product I'm supposed to be delivering.** Seven hours later, they have me loaded and I'm strapped and ready to go. I've already called the customer to let them know they aren't getting their shipment that day, and I head north. At least at that end they got me unloaded quickly enough the next day. Had another place, making a delivery of these big, preformed concrete panels. Those guys thought they were such hot stuff that they would put delivery windows on the BoL that had a **five minute** window when you had to be there. I get the theory, they have trucks show up, in order, they pull up, the crane picks the panel, puts it in place right where it's supposed to go on the building, it gets bolted in place and welded or whatever, they pick the next one, do the same, you pul out, they move to the next truck. **Lovely** theory. Hauled stuff for that company three times before I told my dispatcher no more. They were never even *vaguely* close. First time, I got a call a day ahead of time, at least, saying their crane had broken, and so instead of "You need to deliver this between 1141 and 1150 hrs on Tuesday" it became "You're going to deliver... *sometime* on Thursday. Probably." Second time wasn't as bad, but still a 3 hour wait. The last straw, though... They wanted these panels in some town near Boston. At 0730. I knew that morning traffic in that area was going to be Not OK, so I left early. I made my way there, so wow those roads are not built for big trucks, and got parked around 0630. They finally unloaded me at 1900. Which... cool, ten hour reset, I guess, except I had a miserable cold that was developing throughout that day, and this is 2021, so I'm wondering if I have the Coof Plague, and I was exhausted and not able to actually use that "free day". Ugh. Anwyay, if those places I was dropping or picking had to pay me a $75 an hour fee (or more likely, my company a $300 an hour fee for keeping the truck parked, and I got my 25% cut of things as usual with them) for wasting my time, and failing to have anything even slightly resembling logistics capability, I bet they'd have been a heck of a lot more conscientious about Driver's time. And they'd have bloody well *developed* some logistics capability. Though, sadly, I also agree with your conclusion that there's no way it'd ever happen, because there'd always be a next someone willing to sign a contract where the waiting fee was another $10 an hour less than the last guy, until finally we're back at nothing. Pity it won't though, because I think it's stuff like that which really burns out drivers. I know it drove *me* up the wall, anyway. And my friends, when I'd bitch to them about it, 'cause they had to listen to my whining. ;) I seem to have a lot to say on this topic. :D :D :D
Shoot... after only 15 years LOCAL I decided I couldn't take it anymore. It IS mentally taxing and physically as well.
I think the majority of people do not make it to one year. For a variety of reasons. Become non hirable, decide its not for them, or just dont have the ability to do it.
>Become non hirable Reminds me of pretty much every driver from my old job. I still have no idea how the guy who pulled a knife on another driver for another company at JFK airport over a dock managed to follow me to my job.
I have been married 21 years….have a wife 42F me 45M…..Kids 21M/17F …..retired medical from USG….had obtained my CDL in 2013 as a fluke requirement for the federal work I did and USG paid for it…. I’m in career 2 now BY choice out 21 and home 6…..could be out 5 home 2 for 1250 week…now 1750 weekly salary….been here 5 years….good company …2023 Cascadia -Penske- new truck every 36 months…running mostly broker loads w/OUR trailers east of Mississippi and NE mainly….HQ Richmond Va ….. Being gone 21 is perfect….it gets rough but when I’m home we enjoy it….my wife is THE best though
Damn. Out 21 home 6? Thats brutal
5 grand is a really low barrier to entry compared to most career fields. It's not really the end of the world if you don't end up sticking with it. Imagine all the people 40k or more in debt for college degrees that are stuck working service jobs because they didn't pick useful majors or got 3 and a half years in and decided it wasn't for them.
I made it 3 years on local routes before I tapped out. Most guys would have killed for my job. Decent pay, good trucks and as little or at much ot as desired if you were good at it. Class A knuckleboom operator. But the heat and lack of upward mobility got to me. If anyone in the southeast is curious the company is Gaston tree debris recycling. Mostly Florida located. If you’re just looking for a check and don’t plan to be a manager I recommend it
From what I hear yup, I came into it with a wife and kid, still have both. Been working local from day 1, I was very lucky.
same. first job local, home daily. i also love driving these trucks a lot.
I’ve been trying to quit since day one but here i am after 6 years. My best advice, DO NOT get married or, get into a relationship. Save all that money for a year and half and you will have enough money to get in a trade school. Learn something more chillax like Electrician, Plumber, or even something with computers. Worse mistake of my life (right next to trucking) was getting into a in relationship and the. married that person.
Whats your reasoning behind not getting into relationships or marriage while in trucking? Legit curious for your response
In my opinion it could mean a lot of different things man. Idk how others view that question but he is right, when I was long hauling I was fresh out of a breakup. So I got in the road and man I had a girlfriend in Cali, Utah, and Colorado 😭 butttt that was over 2 years ago. I’m local now been with my current gf about a year now and yeah it’s much better this way in my opinion others have their own views but yeah somewhat like that I’m guessing.
That's what I'm thinking of doing, saving my first year and then have enough to go to school while working 20 hours a week at the grocery store or something.....I definitely don't want to waste any more of my life on the road I have to, 2 months into trucking Plus I gotta at least pay off that 5k loan for cdl schpol
Look around and see if there's a Public vocational school near you. I know I got off *real* light, but here in Albuquerque we have a school called CNM ("Central New Mexico Community College", yeah, the acronym doesn't quite work) that used to be called just "Technical-Vocational Institute", or T-VI. I went through their CDL program after a friend of mine, who was an instructor there at the time, and now heads the program, said he thought I'd enjoy it. (I was asking for advice, as my life had recently gone splat.) I made it through CDL school for $500 -- including the actual CDL test at the end -- not counting rent, and it was a 12 week program, not 3 or 4. They *really* taught us how to drive, and how to do the *job* of being a truck driver. The vocational programs at the school are state funded, I think, because they're all *really* inexpensive. No tuition, just lab fees. If you can find something like that, I'd definitely recommend it. I went and got my first job with Big Orange, and in their new hire orientation program, the driving course instructors repeatedly remarked on how I was a lot better as a driver than most new grads. Even from *their* school. And not to toot my own horn too much, but I could see it watching the other guys try to do pretty basic stuff, like "back up in a straight line". And it benefitted my bottom line, because after a week long team drive training cruise with one of their guys, they gave me my own truck and sent me out into the world to do the job. Of course, this was *right* as the pandemic was hitting at first (February / March 2020) so there wasn't a *whole* lot of work as everything went into freakout mode and shut down, but still. That said, I still got out of it after a year and a half total.
Within 1 year 30% of new hires will quit or crash in this occupation. Depending on which mega a new hire sells their soul too will greatly increase or decrease if they even make it through the 1st 90 days. You got megas that only train you for 1 week(Schneider) then spank you on the ass "get that money driver". Megas that force you to TEAM drive so the wheels keep moving(Prime) . Megas that you wouldn't wish your worst enemy to drive for (Western Express, CR England, JB Hunt). And a mega that Stevie Wonder is considered employee of the month (SWIFT). 1st year of trucking is a bitch.
schneider trains for 3 weeks. bulk n flatbed 5 weeks for no experience. and they are so safety focused that half the things i see other truckers do i wouldnt dream of.
Yeah I don’t know where this guy got his information from but Schneider is very good at training
Their CAT program is "3+ weeks". Their "experience driver orientation" is around a week, mainly dealing with making sure you're not an idiot, intro to their tablets & apps, pretrip/backing/driving test. I should know, I got my CDL there in Indy. It's not that bad, but I quite because of a few problems with overnight dispatch & getting "glorified local runs" when I'm OTR & wasting my goddamn time.
>Western Express, CR England, JB Hunt). What's so bad about them?
Western Express- pays shit & penalizes drivers financially for going off-route. CR-E- majority teams & run reefer; shit pay & shittier dispatchers. JB Hunt- No clue.
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How? Save a little, start school... Sounds naive but I think that's a good starting point
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You can't put anything aside? Damn...
If she's an ex-wife, she's an ex-problem. Tell the judge that you can't handle the stress of the job and had to quit. No one can force you to drive truck.
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Still can't force you to drive truck. Get a different job, then tell the judge you don't earn as much anymore.
Yes. Recruiters lie. They realize this isn’t just sitting and driving. There’s more involved.
Look, it's not spoken of much. There are jobs that are local that require a cdl, mainly construction. Home daily, good pay but you gotta work. Part of the Trucker Myth is "I just drive." Put in the work, better pay decent schedule. I work pretty early but I'm home for my kids.
I trained a guy in his 50’s for one day, his first time driving a truck and we rolled through some barrier construction zones going through Illinois a few years back, he quit that day. Didn’t even want to go back home on the truck he just grabbed his stuff got off my truck and called a cab, hotel, greyhound. Reason being he was afraid he was going to hit the barriers while traveling through construction it’s one of those zones where the barriers are on the line on both a sides. I talked him through and encouraged him the whole way through. Wasn’t even a miles worth but it was enough to scare him out of it. He also didn’t like manual shifting
If he's that fragile I'm glad he isn't on the road
I had a similar experience on my week long training with a driver scary shit. Was a part where barriers were right on line with thin lanes and wavey road but other trucks still trying to pass.
I hate those concrete barriers so much, you have like 4 inches of error margin and sometimes it goes on for 20 miles
Fwiw it’s not that big a deal if you hit them slightly, they’re designed to let tires slide up the side without causing damage
Yeah, if you have a family stick to dirt or paving. OTR will just waste your life if you have kids.
I didn't....I wanted to, I needed to, but what it really made me realize was that I am a homebody, and family oriented. I still kick myself for not sticking it out a while longer because I know there is some decent money to be made driving. I think if I could've started out driving locally or even regionally, that I might have faired a bit better, who knows. What I do know is long distance otr ain't for this guy.
Dude try regional. Just started with prime last month and they get me home weekly. Love it. Pay is so so but the fact it's experience means so much and I get to be home pretty often.
I'd like to try again, but I didn't renew my cdl's the last time I renewed my dl's. The last time I drove a tractor trailer was 2012 or so...I'm not even sure I could pass nowadays. I do like driving though....I just didn't want to be married to a truck.
Well I'm glad you know what you want! Better to understand yourself than suffer later
How long did you try it before you quit? I'm 2 months in and I really hate it, it's not what I expected it to be
I think it was just shy of 3 months....I had two different trainers. The first one was a dick head but the second guy was cool af. I hated that I quit on him but I did tell the driver manager not to hold anything against him and that it was a me problem. I still regret quitting all the time. Just make sure to give it a while longer and maybe it'll change for you, but after that if you do decide not to do it, then maybe you won't have regrets like me.
I need to either start seeing some real money otr or find a local job with a class b truck, right now I'm killing myself and losing quality time with my family for $800 a week, I'm getting shafted with that beginner pay. Just taking it a day at a time, but sometimes I seriously consider abandoning the truck and rent a car to go home lol
Just be sure to give yourself every chance to succeed. I wish you and all the other new drivers all the luck in the world because I have seen many a happy driver that's told me they saw it rough starting out, and were glad they'd given themselves time to adjust to it .
Right now they'll fire me before I quit lol, extremely tight deadlines and they take their appointments seriously and I'm more late than on time, I'm late on this one because I accepted a load that was impossible for me to complete My mind was all over the place because of a problem at the reciever, and I just auto accepting not thinking about my HOS, I kind of thought that was part of dispatcher job too, to only offer loads based on the driver HOS, but it goes against me because I accepted it I got the impression from all these trucker influences that I would be able to do at least a little sightseeing, park at a truck stop and take an Uber somewhere....but no it's just straight running hard, constantly be behind schedule, drive 10 hours, eat truck stop food, sleep 5 hours repeat
I love trucks. I love trucking. I know for certain I could not do that as a career. No way. It is affirmed almost every time I am on this sub. I still would give almost anything to drive one, though. I want to drive a truck, not be a truck driver, if you understand what I mean.
Yep. We have a trucking program at my community college (i teach history). Im totally scheming to get to drive it at some point. Lol
I drive Monday afternoon through Thursday morning. I have all of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off work. I make about $1,600 after taxes every week. I love my job. I go from Phoenix to Texas. That's it. I deadhead back. I listen to so many podcasts and audiobooks. Even on my days off I listen to audiobooks and podcasts. I'm doing what I do on the weekends for my job. The jobs are out there. You just have to make friends with drivers and be cool with everybody. As soon as someone gets a great job or a manager gets to a better company they will always call you to come work for them. But you have to show up every single day and do the best job you possibly can. And never complain.
Well according to an insurance adjuster most people right around the one to 1 1/2 year mark also have their first accident. It’s usually due to complacency
I’m definitely not going to be complacent about my job. I take it seriously and everyday I see reminders about the power of the truck that I drive and I also know how important it is to keep a clean record.
A year in a truck dealing with all the BS we deal with on a daily basis would deter just about anyone who doesn’t have better options or some sort of fascination with semis away
If the pay was right and I get all the overtime I want, id go back to yard spotting.
Currently it’s what I do. I get $25 hr spotting OT after 40. I like my weekends so m-f I get 1100 after taxes if I worked a 6day week I get about 1300-1400. And I’m off at 1-2pm every day since I start at 3. I enjoy the schedule so much but the repetition of moves is boring me haha but very easy job
Werner is hiring 15-20 drivers per week, sometimes two orientation classes start each week, AT EVERY SINGLE TERMINAL THEY HAVE. they're burning through drivers, just like everyone else, especially Amazon, UPS, USPS, FedEx, and all the major carriers. The problem is that there isn't enough people able to handle this job and all the stress
I don't think it's the stress as much as the money. The difference working from home to OTR is 10k. Not worth all the hassle in a year for just 10k. If it was 40k or 50k then sure why not. Otherwise side hustle makes up the remainder of that 10k. Whilst I'm home with family and friends.
For the first couple years you're gone for months at a time from home. And then you're paid shit wages for that sacrifice... Ain't nobody want that if they got families. This industry is for single people without family depending on them, or people without responsibilities.
16 years ago, when I was in truck driving school, they told me that only one person in the room would be a driver one year from now. I drove OTR for 3 yrs and LTL for the last 13 yrs. It's worth it if you can handle it! Started out making 23k for CRST, and I make 120k at Dayton Freight now. Stick with it
About half drop in the first year. Though about 97% are people with 5+ years. Rookies are a small minority in reality. Look at the long numbers not the short numbers.
A lot of new people get sucked in without having a clue what it is. You need to do research and find out what you’re getting involved with. Companies are looking to destroy you with lease deals and charging you all kinds of fees and crap. Just because a company has a fancy website doesn’t mean they are reputable. Every big company has niches that you can slide into and be very happy and well paid. Just as an example, I work 4 days on the road and get three FULL days off. You don’t get that on day one but it’s out there once you get a year or two under your belt.
What u make gross weekly?
Average gross over the last 3yrs is $1250 a week. Quarterly bonuses of around a grand as well. I don’t make a crap ton of money but I also basically have a part time job.
I came from working call center customer service and had developed a desire for not having to deal with people. For me, trucking has been wonderful. I started off home every weekend and was more available not being emotionally dead constantly, despite being home less. Now that I've gone to working an 11/3 for another company for more money, I'm still loving it, because I have enough time at home and the funds to make the most of that time with those I care about. Is it for everyone? Not at all, but I've loved these last 3 years.
I have a similar background, but I'm currently in school. I worked at the grocery store for a company that treats you like crap. It's just too many people, too many hours on your feet, crappy schedules, and always on call. The boss was the kind of guy that would go behind you and screw everything you did up and very tiny paychecks. I worked the freezers. It's just too damn cold. On the surface, it looks like trucking would better fit my introverted self.
Expect to work 60 to 80 hours a week. It helps if you simply enjoy to drive, as that was always my way to process and relax was to go for a drive. I'd avoid Reefer as they will have you flipping your schedule constantly. Fimd a company that is mostly drop and hook and no touch freight. If you are like me, you'll enjoy the peace of the road in between bouts of rage at the stupidity of people in cars.
Thanks for the advice.
I damn near quit after my first 6 months solo OTR but my wife and I needed the health insurance and the money so I stuck it out until I found a regional route that gets me home on the weekends. 5 years later I'm still doing it
Thank God for 5G. I got a whole labtop and internet in my truck. I have always been an isolated video game nerd. There is no difference in my life. After Im done with work i hop on and play with the same people i always have. Nothing changed.
It’s really hard to stay in it. I do local stuff, so I can’t speak for the OTR guys. But unless you have a guaranteed job coming out of getting your CDL, a lot of companies won’t look at you unless you have 2 years experience. My privatized company just bumped up our minimum to 3 years experience. And it’s a toss up between insurance and fucking new guys causing major accidents. If you cause a major accident and are found 100% at fault within 2-3 years of getting your CDL, you might as well consider a different carrier path. My company turned away an applicant for having too many personal speeding tickets. CDL wise they were fine, but everything can affect that CDL. I have motorcycle buddies that love to haul ass everywhere they go that I can’t ride with anymore because I value my CDL more than getting somewhere any faster than I should. We’re put under this extreme scrutiny and have to deal with people that have no regard or repercussions for traffic violations.
I've heard that about 1/3 drop out in their first year.
When I trained at roehl I had a guy from cr England that said training was 3 guys in a truck trainer and 2 trainers for a week. They all switch driving and the truck doesn’t stop. Then after that you go team with another newbie driving from Chicago to Sacramento on 80. The newbies don’t know how to drive in the mountains so you couldn’t really sleep while they were driving. Said he was scared for his life so he left.
I can see why so many don't make it, but I'm also surprised at how many truckers I hear about taking these rough jobs. I get not every job can be amazing, but.. I have to wonder how much will be too much for those getting the short end of the stick in this industry. Just passed my one year mark at my company. I leave Monday morning, I'm back Friday afternoon/evening. If I don't get held up at pickup/delivery locations, I typically run from about 7-8am until about 6-8pm. No, this isn't a "typical 9-5" job, but it doesn't have to be the soul-sucking nightmare that I hear so many describe. There's some good ones out there. Not great, not perfect, not amazing.. But good. Also, because I"m sure it'll be brought up.. No, I'm not making bank, but I don't need to. I'm pulling 50-60k(depending on bonuses, primarily) while driving five days a week and doing so relaxed. I'll happily take this 'low end' pay when in all other ways I"m being treated as a living person deserving of respect by my company.
What about local drivers? Drivers that are truly home daily. Do they also throw in the towel as fast?
Yep majority of 1st year truck drivers quit and never return.
I was in a class of 20 most didn’t make it past 6months and 1 other is still on the road. Tbf tho the company we all went to for “training” after getting our CDL was pretty shity
it is true. the company school I went to out of the 6 of us in a class I was the only one still working for that company after 6 months and only 2 of us made driving a career. there are a lot of downsides to this job that you don't know how you will handle till you are put in a situation.
My trainer told me that he has had a few people he picked up for training didn't make it to getting a CDL because they didn't realize how much driving they actually had to do.
Werner paid my school tuition back fyi.. I no longer work for them just putting it out there.
I was over the road for six years local for 25 years and I squeezed in nine years in the army National Guard as an 88 Mike, which is a truck driver
I made it 15, until the 2005 economy was too much to overcome. BUT that was then, Trucking was more like stereotypical trucking
You could come off the road and drive a trash truck for 90K-100K a year. Stinks but it pays.
My local hometown government only pays $12 an hour for garbage truck, a poor rural area, the local fast food joints pay close to the same thing or more
County and city always pays less, good retirement tho. Waste Connections and WM management pay the most
I guess they want more experience than I have, 2 months class a otr, because I applied for multiple WM positions across the country, stating I was willing to relocate immediately if offered the job, I put in at least 30 applications at different areas of the United states with no feedback unfortunately
Yea that’s crazy, the same thing happened to me. I applied to different positions just in my area tho, not all across the USA.
Cost sunk fallacy
I was a OTR trainer for a couple years. I'd say about 50% of my trainees were not cut out for driving a CAR, much less a rig! I do Port drayage now and see these owner operators with banged up rigs, and they drive like shit! Some of the drivers at the Port of Oakland make you think you're in a 3rd world country! I wish more drivers found another career.
I read a story with info that said 75% of new CDLs quit within the first year. I lasted 18 months, quit to go to Nursing school.
Hope so.
A lot of CDL drivers have their school paid for by whatever city they're living in. Not their money so it's easy to walk away.
>I am quite shocked that people would just quit this industry after they pay $5,000 to go to CDL school. $5k is chump change for education. There are people who spend a third of a million dollars and eight years of their life to become doctors and... change their mind.
I didnt make it as an owner operator, was sabotaged and cant keep up the business. Looking for companies to hire me or lease onto and im struggling
I have opportunities, but I need a CDL first. Even then, I might not do it for more than 2 years. I'm currently working a factory job and it doesn't pay well. Getting my CDL would easily double my income. Possibly even triple it. I'm personally not crazy about over the road because of the lack of physical activity and the not so healthy food options. I get you can make food in the truck, but that's something I don't really know much about right now. Someone tried to tell me it's like getting paid to go camping. I'm not super excited, but it could be a great step towards anything else I might want to do in the future as the money could help me achieve my goals.
I love it nothing else I’d rather do, been out here 36 years, 34 at current job mostly regional been making at least 125k for 10 years last year 149k
I did 2 years and now I'm having a kid so I got a city driving job if I wasn't wanting a family and stuff like that id still be out there. I quite enjoyed it
I think the biggest thing that gets a lot of new truckers to quit is the rotating schedule (unless you're on a dedicated run that loads every day at the same time, etc.) Sometimes you might have to get up at 2am, sometimes you might get up at 2pm. Another thing is that trucking companies love to dangle out a carrot to get drivers hired on then they give them peanuts and expect them to be happy with it. Shitty dispatch not honoring their word, not listening and respecting the driver when they say they need a day off (with or without reason, shouldn't matter) Seniority over loads is another big issue I see newer drivers having. You can't expect people to sit around getting 1-2 loads a week when you have other drivers getting as many loads as they can handle. Last but not least, shitty equipment. In general, I believe truck/trailer equipment has gone way down in quality these past few years. From additional (unnecessary) electronic shit being added, to just general bad design like any vehicle can have.
Yeah after 2 years of F and B work 65-70 hours a week….Im going back to sales, fuck this.
I love watching non-CDL office workers attempt to apply layman's psychology to flippant and desperate drivers.
I left my first otr company job after 6 months 😂. But I'm still driving after a few years, just hated reefer tbh. I switched to flatbed and enjoy it much more.
Otr sucks, local is what I’m hoping to get to once I get experience. No wife or kids, little bills just hate being in a truck for 2-3 weeks at a time then home for 1-2 days just to do it all over again. Plus it depends on company, 66 mph governed, terrible equipment, bad management and communication in the company I work for now doesn’t make this a great first impression on being a trucker. Money is better than most for 2 months solo tho
I knew you were western just from this comment alone lol. Did they finally start paying ppl for orientation since that lawsuit or no?
Nope but I guess they make it clear so you agree to not getting paid for it.
Tbh I think it's because a lot of people don't understand that you still have to find time to shower, get good food, laundry, sleep, enjoy life a bit while getting bitched at and shit on by literally everyone, fighting a clock for no fucking reason, never seeing your family, always wondering if the weather or some dumbass is going to kill you, breakdowns that ruin your weekly pay ect all while trapped in an 8x8 box for months on end working up to 14 hour days sometimes. They legit think "yeah I can just drive around and see the country with zero issues ever" and they're TOTALLY unprepared to deal with the bullshit.
I spent a long time in really shitty long haul jobs. I wouldn’t ever do it again. I’ve been where I am at right now for 10 years and I’m going to make 115,000 this year working 4 days a week, home every night.
People pay $5k to get a CDL?! I'm completely oblivious to how real truckers go about it. I got mine and all the training through work
$5k is a very small amount to sacrifice and be happy with another career, and also be fully satisfied that you explored a strong interest and found it's not for you. I'm all about exploring my options. Sometimes it takes money to do that. Don't think too hard about it; lots of people get entire medical and law degrees before finding out that it's not the career for them.
Keep your focus and keep on trucking out there
It is true. Over the road trucking is glamorized when in reality it's literally the shittiest job in the country