Gene5's thread got me interested in the industry.  I guess I never really gave it a lot of thought before.  I had heard truck drivers were in demand, and that they made a fairly good income.  

It's amazing how many truck drivers vblog about their career, I guess some of them do fairly well doing this.  

But I have some questions.  What's it really like?  I was amazed to hear that truck drivers starting out with a company probably go OTR (over the road), for weeks, sometimes months, without ever going home.  That's gotta be hard.  I was also surprised to see that these guys and gals probably only make $30-50k a year doing it.

Looking into the owner operator side, net income varies, depending on a lot of variables.  But it appears that owner operators (at least those that succeed), tend to net (after expenses) $100-150k...some make substantially more.  Is this true?

Tell me your experience.  

I hated be a company guy, I loved every minute of being an O/O. The government being government has taken  a fun career and turned it into a job. Your company numbers are about right but before expenses, I made almost 200 my last year out. Being away from home for 1 to 4 months at a time is tough, but in Flys by really.

I guess all the active truck drivers are sleeping.  But for those of you like me who knew nothing of the industry it really is more of a lifestyle, than just a career.  

These guys can work 14 hours a day, of which 11 hours can be actually driving.  Because they drive so much, staying well rested is critical.  So getting 8 hours is important.  Hell, after a couple hours behind the wheel I'm ready to lose it, I can't imagine driving 10-11 hours a day, everyday, for weeks or months on end.  Living in your truck and moving.  ...wow.  Shit I'd have to take speed.  

It seems like for a single person, it might not be a bad gig, if you can handle driving that much, you can avoid having a home or apartment, and all the bills that go with it because you aren't going to see it but a day or two every few months.  It'd probably make more sense not having a home or apartment,  and just stay with family, friends, or hell, stay in a luxury hotel the few days you're away from the truck.

I think what surprised me the most was how little company drivers actually make, to live such a demanding career.  I know it's considered off time, but sleeping in a truck in a truck stop. or rest area doesn't really seem like "off time" to me.  Another thing I don't understand is if all the hype about there being a truck driver shortage is true, why isn't it reflected in driver's pay?

First 6 months u love it then you grow to hate it,Your never home and you deal with all the asshole that cant drive,     You never get a good days sleep.good news is that there hookers at a lot of truck stops,lol the most i went went with out sleep was 33 hours  HOPE YOU LIKE COFFEE

The figures indicate that the "average" is 1.50 per mile plus fuel surcharge (the surcharge doesn't cover the entire nut for fuel cost..but helps).  It looks like an average for MPG would be somewhere around 6 miles per gallon, which works out to around .40-50 cpm fuel cost, or there abouts.  The current surcharge is running around .25 a mile (?),

Some drivers doing flatbed or intermodal are making substantially more per mile, but that really depends on a lot things.

What would you say your net per mile income was as an owner operator?

It seems like coffee would make it worse.  

You eventually crash on caffeine, and when you do, no amount of coffee will get you up again.  One of the things I hate about long driving trips is that feeling of wanting to sleep.  Hell, personally driving puts me to sleep like nothing else.  I'm never more drowsy than on a long road trip.  Which is why I fly.  I just can't do long trips.  

So I doubt I have what it would take to be a truck driver.    

You could be regional.  You are also forgetting that you need to be off duty for 10 hours straight..
You can only be on duty (driving and not driving) for 70 hr in 8 days.
On duty for 14 hrs and drive for 11 of that but don't go over your 70hrs.
what else ya wanna know?

What does the typical ower operator really clear?

The stats out there indicate that their net income is fairly good, but are the stats true?

It's not like that if you get a local route.



Many companies use truck drivers that have enough stops, so that you don't have to drive across the country.



Walmart, Coca Cola, Budweiser, etc.





 

How do local drivers get paid.  It seems like if you're making local deliveries, like for Coke, Budweiser, or someone else you're not going to get the kind of miles you get OTR.  Do they just get paid by the hour?

I knew a guy who quit his job and bought a rig to become an O/O about ten years ago.

He fell flat on his face after about six months.

Don't really know all the ins and outs of what happened.  I think he said something about fuel costs (at the time) killing him.

It's generally either salary or an hourly wage.



It's always on the good side though, since they need reliable people with clean driving records.
 

You will get jerked around A LOT. by dispatchers,disgruntled fork lift operators, weigh scale attendants, ect. My first year driving otr I made 26k and was only home for 22 days.Although freight was slow at the time (2001) I did however see a lot of cool stuff and made a few friends along the way. I would recommend it for a young guy,to get out and see the country and get a little life experience.  I would not recommend it if you have a wife and kids and want to keep them. Good luck!

Because Chinese toasters won't sell if they cost too much.

Shipping costs money.

Kinda depends what they are hauling, where their picking up and dropping.
Way to many variables to give you a number.
Fuel, truck payment, Road tax, equipment wear and tear, taxes, Etc
I sold my truck back in 2005 and haven't looked back. Now I'm a Company driver that is home everyday.

Also, Drivers are the worst when it comes to screwing a guy over. Very competitive/ cutthroat business.

Ridin' down the highway


Goin' to a show


Stop in all the byways


Playin' rock 'n' roll


Gettin' robbed


Gettin' stoned


Gettin' beat up


Broken boned


Gettin' had


Gettin' took


I tell you folks


It's harder than it looks





It's a long way to the top if you wanna drive a truck.

Mostly hourly.

All my guys are hourly. I run tanker trucks, which is fairly specialized vs van freight.

My guys make 50-60k a year starting with over time. More senior drivers are making 80-100k a year.

401k & benefits too.

We're a little low starting but our upper end I'd higher then most.sincer we give yearly rases of 4-5% with no cap out.

Tagged for when I get home.

If I was going to do it, I'd become an owner/operator, because even if the pay isn't that great, you still get to talk about being an operator, and you get to call yourself an operator, and I guess you could even say stuff like,"When I operate, I blah blah blah blah blah..." It's probably a much easier route than going into Delta Force, fwiw.

I drove tri axle dumps for years. Every once in a while someone asks me if im looking to drive again. Sometimes I think about it. Then I stretch and everything painfully creaks and cracks and I shake my head. I had great fun and made awesome money but it really beats the shit out of you. Not to mention the stress of all the asshole drivers trying to kill themselves with your truck on a daily basis.

Driving that much is terrible for your body.  I think that's what would be the biggest issue for me.

It sucks.

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I'm the worse.  Driving puts me to sleep better than benadryl .  It's probably been 20 years since I've driven a trip longer then five hours. I can't stand the sedative feeling of driving long distances.   Which is why I fly everywhere.

From what I can tell, people either love it or hate it.  Those that love it seem to really love it.

Like I said before, I think it might not be that bad for a young single guy starting out.  Forgo buying a house, or renting an apartment, and all that goes with it (..because you'll never spend time there anyway), live lean, and save every dime you can.  

 

I was a local driver for the trucking company I worked for.
When the place went under I let my class a expire.
I didnt mind local driving but you couldnt pay me enough to be an otr driver.

Do you mean the trucking companies?  How can a driver "screw you over"?

I've been driving LTL for several years and I like it. Easy work for the most part, paid hourly, 401k, pension, health benefits, off weekends, home every night, ot after 8 hours daily, all and all a pretty good way to earn a living. It's certainly not how I envisioned my career path would go, but now that I have some years under my belt and seniority to bid a good route I see myself sticking it out for at least the near future.

I wouldn't even consider driving otr, I see what those guys go through and fuck that. Our otr drivers run 5 days a week and are home weekends and every night/day depending on their run. Most runs are night runs, so you would be off days which in my book sucks, but they make significantly more than us local drivers as they're paid mileage. Before I bid a route I ran some of those routes and you make ~400 bucks a day, for 10-12 hours worked, not bad at all. I just couldn't wait the15 years for a day run, so local city it is for me.

I drove OTR for 4 years.

Most drivers I met were overweight (sitting behind the wheel for 8-10 hours and not working out) had BAD backs, Or they were rail thin from a diet of coffee and cigarettes (and meth)
Most were either married to ugly women (less chance of them cheating) or were divorced. Not all of course. But I saw it a lot.
Truck stops can be dangerous. you learn the good one and stay away from the shady ones, but it's still the wild west at truck stops.

You'll get to shower in a stall some dude just beat off in unless it was just cleaned by stop staff.

Food will be a challenge. You can pack your own, but then cooking and clean up becomes a real pain in the ass after a while.

So then you opt for convenience and eat at restaurants and pay a lot or eat shit. and let me say, most of the food at truck stops is shit.

Then you'll get sick, maybe a cold, maybe worse, or you'll get injured, faaaaaaaar away from home. You'll want to rest, you'll want to heal, good luck when you're in Macon, GA on a 105* day at a noisy truck stop with a bad back, in a sleeper cab the size of a walk in closet (if your lucky, or usually the size of a small bathroom.)


FUCK ALL THAT!

You have to ask yourself two questions.

1)  Am I a crackhead?

2) Do I want to be a crackhead?

Owner/operators have a tough go of it. The cost & maintenance of a big rig is astronomical.

Fuel costs aside it is the single largest reason material goods costs have gone up so much over the last decade or so. When a tractor cost $300k & you have to fuel it & pay for very expensive repairs when needed it takes a lot of revenue to cover that kind of expense.

I drive professionally but not OTR. Longest I am away is no more than one day. OTR & being away from my family would not make me happy.

this is what like over the road.. i did it for 10 years and i hated it. I would drive local if you want to drive,I love to  drive but hate to live in a closet

Thats like, your opinion man. 14 years OTR and I hated coming in off the road. I still drive get a longing for the road.

I slept better in the truck then I did at home, being out 1 to 4 months was never a problem for me.

14 years and less the a dozen knocks on my door, and almost 1/2 of those were in KCM.

A lot of new O/Os lose their first truck. You choose your loads, time off (I took a load to NOLA and I wanted to experience it so I dropped my trailer and spent 8 days there, took a load that was going  to Florida,  got there, dropped my trailer and took 2 weeks off to go diving. That was atypical for me, but a lot.of guys try to mak a living like that, it doesn't  work.), and then there is all the chrome they HAVE to have 10 minutes after getting the truck. When I was a company guy, I knew I was going to be an O/O so I acted like I owned  the truck. I kept a set of fake books (not log books) and  tracked the mileage, expenses, loaf pay, per mile pay, every thing, it was like they were paying me to learn to go out on my own. I did well and drove my first truck for 8 years.

I disagree with your first 2 sentences. My 2nd year O/O I was home 13 days, I never lost my wife or kids.

I would never go back to a company car. If I ever do go back out (doubtful) I will buy another truck.

LOL, no.

So you hated it, got it.

I saw a little of what you bitch about, but the large majority is nothing like that, you are clinging to the small amount of bad.

Stupidest post is stupid

It does seem like it would be a challenge to stay in shape and eat right.  

For $100-150k it seems like it might very attractive if you don't mind the lifestyle.  Doing it for less then $50k seems like it might be a little hellish.  I suppose a driver who had his act together could stay healthy by buying real food instead of truckstop food.  Spending an hour or so a day walking, jogging, or biking would also help, and bringing a few dumbbells or a kettlebell might be a good idea.  But I can see where the lifestyle could be unhealthy.   Sitting for 10-11 hours a day, then eating junk is a great prescription for a short, unhealthy life.

I think trucking is probably one of those jobs you don't want to do if you like drugs.  The DOT requires drug testing.  

Lol, no. But that's ok, not everyone is cutout for the road. I can think of worse ways to spend your time, CPA, assembly line monky, cubicle jocky.

I think that's it.  Some people are just suited for the job.  You either are, or you're not.  My guess is a lot of people just aren't.  One of the videos (vBlogs) I watched the driver said it's really more then a job, it's a lifestyle.  You have to be the kind of person that likes it.  

It is a lifestyle, any your dead on when you say most people aren't cut out for it. A lot think they are, but don't  have what it takes, if it's just a job, you won't last.

Lots of horrible information in this thread

I drove for 10 years prior to coming into the office for one of the largest truck load carriers in the country. I have now been in the office for about 12 years and manage over 100 drivers so I have seen and done a lot with truck driving from hand unloading to teaching new drivers how to drive safely I have done it in the industry.

You DO NOT want to start off as an O/O. The folks who do well in trucking are experienced and with that experience comes wisdom how not to make costly mistakes. Good O/O work hard and have usually found a nitch or process for themselves to make good money. Part of being an O/O is knowing how to get freight and the freight that pays you correctly. Steering the truck and knowing your way around the country is also a big part of it but the business knowledge of how and when to pick what freight is huge. Usually only experience in the industry gives you this knowledge unless you are tight with someone already doing it and you clone their process as your own.

My best advice for someone getting into the business is to just suck it up the first year and go to a company that pays for your schooling and make the best of it your 1st year. You may not get home often and you may only make $50k but the knowledge you will gain in that first year will be career changing. If you can get thru that first year accident free you can apply for about 95% of good paying driving jobs in your area.

I have drivers that get home every night and make $70k a year. They hustle, work hard and make the right decisions with routing and leave times. I also have drivers that make $50k a year get home every night and try to get out of doing any extra work we offer them. So you can see if you hustle and keep a good attitude you can do well at even local positions.


Trucking like most things is what you make of it. Since the gov't is so deep in the reg's now its not all about having a triple digit 18 speed Pete' to go across country with the Bandit as your front door. Its now a tightly regulated industry where folks in the know are the ones making the money. You can do well working as a company driver in a day cab in some areas and in some you are better off to go OTR. A lot depends on where you live.

Remember some O/O do make over $100k a year but what does that equal per hour???


If you have any questions you can PM me. I've been in the business a long time now will be happy to help you any way I can.

We pay .36 cpm to start and have full bene's, sign on bonus etc. you're home for 1 1/2 to 2 days a week.
my guys that run my east coast freight average 33-3600 miles per week.
Some make upwards of 50K per year to start out.

We are a medium sized company out of Colorado with 130 trucks and 53' reefers.

been doing this 20+ years. PM me if you have more questions.

And Duckbutter is right, this day and age the OO is a dying breed and its a pain the ass to do it all yourself.
id rather drive than deal with all the associated BS that comes along with being an OO

Driving annoys me often, but sitting in a cubicle is my version of hell. I think I'd rather be in prison.

Glad you liked it.


My life and the way I'm wired, it was as bad as it gets.

Different strokes I guess.

Lease operators are not owner operators and don't even think of going that route