Hourly pay should be the standard for a Company Driver. The fact that you can work 60-70 hours a week and make less than minimum wage shows just how bad these companies are.
They convince you to log off duty and sleeper when at customer or waiting for a load. I stayed on duty 14 hours a day for 5 days. Made good money doing it. My last company only gave drivers 1700 miles a week anyway
@@zavettataylor2882 I run local LTL and make 2,100 a week after taxes in Ohio and I'm paid hourly. I could not stand waiting at docks lol. I'm actually one of the few who actually enjoy touching freight.
These new generation drivers are soft.. they’re not researching these companies before they jump on board. I’ve been out here 13 years and I made my money, good money and another thing. A lot of the new drivers don’t want to run they always in the truckstop sitting… truck driving is a lifestyle not a job, so go work at 8 to 5 at McDonald’s or Burger King pussy drivers
One should never be a company driver.... o/o is the way to go....I made 400k 2 years ago....sell the truck just after when the rates fall get the maximum for your truck then buy it just after the bottom when rates start to climb. You will make 30k on the truck if you buy and sell it like I said. After I sell the truck I take off to Thailand where dollar's go far. just drive when the rates are up I drive and live out of the truck just taking home time when the truck needs repairs. I really fell for company driver driving year after year basically working for free.
@@davesmith2150 I have no interest in O/O because that 400k is gross pay, sure you bring home more after taxes but I'm only in trucking to get my debt paid then I'm off to ATP flight school to become an Airline Pilot. I can make 400k within a few years after becoming an Airline Pilot and not have to work nearly as much and I will also have one of the best quality of life jobs out there.
I'm quitting my Family Dollar regional job due to inconsistent pay and the amount of hours worked. I've parked my truck with 15 minutes left on my 70 hour. I'd have to park at the stores over night so when I unload the truck at 6am I wouldn't log in because if I logged all my hours I'd never be home and would be way over 70 hours. They told me I'd make 75k a year and be home weekends. It was 50k a year and home once a week, normally during the week. Told me there was a $950 a week minimum then took it away without telling us drivers on that account. Stores would NEVER be ready for their 6am, always showing up late and wasting my time. "We need to clean out the back room" well you've known I'd be coming for a week, you show up 30 minutes late then say to give you a few minutes like I didn't already give you 30. I'd go in the store before they close and let them know I'm there but for whatever reason it didn't click in their head to get ready the night before, despite me making it clear. All the Family Dollar stores were in the ghetto. It was very hit or miss with their employees. I had one store unload 1400 units in 2 hours. I had another store take 3 and a half hours for 500 pieces, of the same products. The DC would load the trucks like crap. Bleach and detergent spilled everywhere in the trailer. Tired of eating out of truck stops. A man can only eat so much subway and microwaved food.
Same with Aldi. They only wrap the pallets once, instead of 3-4 times like Walmart, to save time & money. Loaders load it stupidly as well. Only way to prevent spilling is if you remember to SLOW down for every single turn. When I was loading it myself, I would put all the dangerous pallets on the right side, so only need to slow down for right turns, but I would go a lil bit faster for left turns. Some store employees don't charge the electric pallet jack, drivers too.
I stayed away from carriers that move their freight, if you have a good cdl record go to a carrier that doesn't take these lazy disrespectful shipper and recivers. I keep a black book with these problem shipper recivers. Go to a company that doesn't have forced dispatch. This is the problem forced dispatch if drivers can refuse to pull their garbage they will be forced to change their ways. If not they will go out of business cause no one will take their nonsense. I prefer these companies go out of business. Let better people set the standards
That's what blew my mind how the liability shouldered by the driver is intense and one mistake can ruin you for life, put you in jail, cost you your job, tie you up with lawyers fees etc. People don't realize truckers are often cited under the criminal code. Not traffic code.
I used to be a truck driver. 20 hours per week doing company work and not getting paid for it. Live loading and unloading without pay. Spending two hours in line at Blue Beacon to get the blood washed out of my trailer without getting paid. Taking truck or trailer to repair shop and waiting for repairs to be done without being paid. I averaged out my pay and it came out to less than minimum wage. Truckers need to be paid by the hour !
Sorry your driving that vehcle . You are resposible for it. Thats like saying I should get paid for my car being in for repair and my time driving to and from work. I should get payed for waiting in line to wash my car.
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Hourly. Period. With overtime. All hours behind the wheel, fueling, waiting for the service truck, loading and unloading. Any on duty hours. Otherwise you're ripping your drivers off. Just like the scammers.
Trucking is little better than slavery. Sleep in the truck , be responsible for the truck even off duty. Rarely see family. The company basically owns you. Driver cameras , constant surveillance, DOT road pirates, pay is so complicated you need a PhD to understand it. It's a terrible job imho
There’s people making 150k doing LTL. We got some people running i90 in South Dakota between Rapid City and Sioux Falls hauling triples that average 150k.
Nice Video… I’ve been trucking 13 years and I went from 185k a year down to 78k in 2023 . I’ve did the lease , O/O , now company driver. I can say in the start things were great. Now I see so much micromanagement and lies it’s ridiculous. 😂 The best thing I did was take care of my finances the last decade. I saved 77% of my income and lived modest. I build my home from ground up on 10 acres of land. I only purchased a boat and 2 vehicles . I’m satisfied with my current low of income at this point. I focused on how much can I keep vs how much can I make ..😁🤷🏾♂️ It does suck in the industry now. All I can say is do the best you can . If not, change careers.
Smart man...I live on 25 percent of my income...3 homes paid for...w900 paid for. All toys paid for. Never stress the market, you can't change it, but you can change what you spend!
"micromanagement and lies" Nailed it, ELD's are not ELD's now, they're all in wonder driver harassment systems. Samsara has basically destroyed my company/job, just chugging along, until I can get into my Citys Government Earthworks Division.
@@Albertalorianyou right. They do everything they can to screw the drivers now. My buddy drive for a company that dropped his pay. Then have to talk to brokers that hurrass him about the load and he’s a company driver. SMH. It’s crazy. Then they try to charge him for things like he’s an owner operator. One of those black ops companies. I told him he’s very screwed but he don’t want to be W2 . He wants to be 1099 which going to back fire. We will see everything when the tide goes all the way out.🤷🏾♂️
Hey guys, I’ve got CDL August last year and worked 11 months as 9 car hauler on Peterbuilt 389, 2020. My rate was 30% from gross. My monthly gross were $50000. But I did 1.5-2 long month trips. I’ve been taking home $20000-$30000. But my little daughter learned speaking while I’ve been on my long trips and I have been missing a lot. Now I’m running my own welding business and I am happy again. Every day at home.
Hey whats up can you point me in the right direction to make that? I’m only getting 1 round trip every two weeks where I’m at that’s no cutting it for me…
@@billyblanco6700 Hey man, I used to be a company driver in Autoline Express Inc. They do work with tesla factory in Fremont, CA. They take 8-9 teslas and take them to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, WA. On the way back they take new Toyotas, GM vehicles, used single cars. They not taking any copart junk cars. They drive teslas to all California. From LA area they take new kia and Hyundai from port and deliver them close to Fremont. Some drivers doing single loads from LA to East Coast and back to California. I liked to work with teslas. I never went to East Coast. It’s hard in the beginning but ok in 1-2 months when you get experience. Money is very good but if you have family it’s sucks. I got CDL in Cali last August and started driving alone after 10 days of training. They pay $100 per day and pay for motels every night. Other companies doing the same routes are BZ TRANS, EZH. Good luck
Low pay in comparison to other work is my problem. Example: Before I started driving I was a forklift operator. I was clearing $900 a week with overtime only working 50 hour weeks, and home every night and off on weekends. I started driving thinking the money would be better, but instead I gave up being home at night and on weekends for $200 to $300 more per week on good weeks, which haven't been that many. So now I'm working everyday all week long for months away from my family for an average $1000 to $1200 a week. Doubling my work and hours didn't double my income. At this rate I'd do better getting 2 regular jobs and getting out of this truck.
@@John_R_Jackson_III Yeah. I've figured that out. I'm working on starting a business right now that should be ready to start Taking customers in a week or 2.
You poor bastard lol..I've been driving almost 30yrs and done just about everything in trucking..If I was going to find a job it would be a local gig doing LTL type stuff with doubles and triples...it's easy it pays pretty good and your home every night.
If you’re working 70 hours a week you might as well own your business. Other industries work an average of 50 hours a week, home everyday and they make above 2k
That is how truck driving is. Not all work it included down time, showers, meals, and fueling. Being a truck driver on duty, off duty in cab is included of the 70 hours. Just think working in manufacturing plant you work 80-88 hours a week. You still get down time right?
I'm 47 and been driving for 23 years and I'm about to leave this industry as I'm getting my forklift license to get a factory job. Trucking sucks anymore, no parking, way to expensive to eat out here, drivers blocking fuel Islands, crumbling roads, more and more no english speaking drivers walking around in flip flops and washing their feet in the restroom sink . Soon they'll take over the trucking so might as well get a factory job.
I'm 50 years old. I am a factory worker. The factory sucks as well. I been at my current shop for 2 years. I'm only making 15 dollars an hour. This is Michigan. So I'll trade you careers friend. I'm starting truck driving school next week. It's better to start out making 20 dollars than 15 .
@@gregorylyon1004 I hope everything works out for ya Once i get my forklift certification I'm looking at $25 an hour to start, out of Kentucky. I wouldn't even take a local cdl job I'm sick of it
@@David-t4m8m It definitely sounds like Kentucky pays a lot better than my state does in manufacturing. 25 is good money for Hi Lo jobs. Congratulations
Went through CDL school at my local Tech school. Got all the endorsements. School alone convinced me not to do it. The instructors are all jaded and in bad health. The companies that came through trying to recruit were all full of shit.
I left in July. Things are bad. Even as a company guy. 50cpm is ridiculous. Esp when loads are bad. I was waiting more and more each week for a load. Making 600-800 gross checks a week. For that I’d rather just live off the government and Uber.
@@anthonymercado8126 800 a week is terrible if you’re working almost 70 hours a week and away from home for 7-14 days. It’s awful if you’re sitting for 34 hours every other day. Most people can make 800 working a full time and part time job or full time and Uber on the side and still be home, allowed to drink when they want, and smoke weed. For the restrictions we have on us, the time away from home, even on home daily gigs.. 800 a week is awful.
I drove for a local gig 14hr a day 5 days a week home every night. Got paid 45 cents per mile and barely cleared 1000 bucks a week. I left that shit after about 2 months.
My biggest issue with the industry right now is the endless micromanaging through the driver disciplinary measure cameras (lytix or other). Someone cut you off and it trips the forward collision radar? Better believe your going to get that put into your driver file / report card for following too close! Going through a construction zone and the temporary lines on the road don't always match up with the "lanes"? Better believe your getting another mark on that report card for going out of your lane!
Some drivers do drive to fast when operating a tractor trailer. It is difficult dealing with traffic. Sometimes can't be helped but when possible plan your route and time. Just like bad storms wait it out if you can.
@@femalecrusader8389lol yeah right, you would have a lot of waiting then. A driver comes up on different situations about every twenty minutes or so. Then you’re dispatcher is wondering why you’re always late on your appointments. Then you end with all of the hauls that nobody else wants. And you get get squeezed out because you’re pay goes down. They have the odds completely stacked against the driver. I’m at retirement age and if I had it all over to do I wouldn’t even step into a truck anymore. DOT, the way people drive, all the signs no truck parking here or there, The way they mess with you when you get to your destination not wanting to unload you. I can go on and on with what a driver has to endure it’s a joke.
I love my job as a truck driver. The hours are great, I'm home with my family every night, I get paid for every minute I'm clocked in, and get a bonus every year. I've had two breakdowns (tires) and the maintenance crew take very good care of the trucks and trailers.
It's not all doom and gloom. I just got out of truck driving school. Found a job with an environmental company hauling HAZMAT. They are starting me off at 100k my first year and im home 3 nights a week, most weeks 4 nights. It took me 2 months after school to find this job. Good jobs are out there, keep looking. So happy that i didn't take that Yellow job offer working overnights and weekends for $21 an hour. I've been at it 2 months solo. It's been good.
Being paid per mile as an OTR company driver was BS for me. I’d have to call in frequently for a pre-plan or new load. My time is valuable, and I’m not sitting for free. I left after a year to go o/o. The rates & market are terrible right now, but my time, schedule and life is mine and that’s what matters.
Being paid by the mile as company driver is the biggest lie, they pay off household movers book so your not getting paid actual miles to deliver the load. Put 37 years Otr when no electronic logs. Glad to be retired and don’t miss any of it.
I am on hourly local and it is treacherous. I been with my company three years, I’m burnt out at this point, and yes I am considering leaving because im😢tired of 10-17 hour days, got me feeling like a slave…last year I had a mental breakdown and had to take a few days off, and requested lower working hours, which they obliged since I am the best driver they have ever had, but the hours quickly started going up. It gets to a point that money doesn’t matter, I’m 51 years old and this local company has made me hate trucking,
Pay and micromanagement finally wore me out. I didn't mind being out, even with family. But, I wasn't making enough to handle things at home and handle myself while I was gone. If it hadn't been for that and how strict things are getting I probably would still be on the road. And some companies have awful top pay, yeah bud I'm gonna work for you for years and rarely if ever see a pay raise. Liked my dispatcher, too. He actually listened and respected my judgement. Sure, he'd push from time to time, but usually understood if I say nope, it means nope. Also it's gotten dangerous as hell and with all the laws and complexities, you can't really protect yourself which was the final nail in the coffin as I couldn't risk going into cities.
What made me bounce out the industry was my experience with a company that pay below 50 cents and a Bad dispatcher. He would short me during the week so I could work over the weekend. He tried to create a wedge between me and my wife cause he was single.
I had a dispatcher like that. Marriage did indeed fail, but he only aggravated the situation. The guy was married with five kids, but was running a cig smuggle scam and was banging the office skanks. It eventually caught up with him, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. LoL.
Wages? I remember my Dad driving in the 60s and 70s supporting our family of 5 on his one paycheck. Mom was home ruling the roost ! Trucking companies make more money screwing their drives than they do hauling freight, quote from Dave on the Smart Trucking channel
This was great. Complex pay statements (big highs/low lows- no consistency in take home pay) and the down time were a big reason I stopped OTR and went local to drive Class B garbage and dumptrucks a few years back. Recently considered going back OTR then remembered the poor work life balance. Now you're saying the money isn't really there anymore? Yes, companies need to be more driver centric. Truckers move the nation. The world, really. And we expect more.
@@lionhearted4eva Won't happen for decades. Teslas can't even drive themselves properly, you expect an 80,000lb truck to not have issues and kill dozens of people?
Dispatchers get all the holidays and weekends they request off. Drivers never do. I was OTR out of California. I was in Florida doing hurricane relief deliveries and had requested (and approved ) my birthday off (3 days as my home time that month). So here I am 4 days from California and I am pushing to start homeward. They told me one quick trip to Chicago then I can head west. I broke down in Chicago and never got home. Didn't bother the company at all.
Get rid of the 36hrs reset . Should be a monthly limit. Lets say 22 days and you can pick and choose when you whant to take your days off. And no one should be on the road sleeping in a truck for less then 500 a day for a full days worked. But so long as they keep finding drivers to replace the ones that quit the undercutting and lowball rate program will prevail. There are great paying gigs out there but they usually dont involve swingin doors or in your local area. If you've got 5 plus years experience and cant make 100k a year working 70hrs a week on the road that basically means you're working for the same wages as new drivers. Find a better job or a different career dont stay at it for another 30 years complaining about cheap rates and the industry. No one is forcing you to go to work . So if the money isn't descent. Get out of it sooner then later. Some people are too dumb to know when too quit. The industry will never change because there are no standards when it comes to minimum pay. 95% of shippers and receivers dont care if you are old young fat skinny driving a nice truck ugly truck or how much experience you have .end of the day just whant there shit hauled for cheap. You are worthless in the public's eye no matter how good or bad you are. That will never change. Focus on yourself . You get paid what you allow companies to pay you. If they whant to haul cheap loads and make it your problem that they can't pay you more. Move on. Know your worth and set your own standards. No company likes someone that is greedy but at the end of the day they are not paying your bills. Every company wants drivers that are willing to work for free. Dont let them manipulate you. Drivers are there own worst enemy
The one that always gets me is when we have modern GPS they still want to try to pay use zip code to zip code and cheat you out of about 800 miles a month..
People from impoverished nations can come to North America and enter the industry and life is so good for them compared to what they left behind. Three sweaty cousins to a truck and a 5 gallon bucket to poop in. Who can compete with that? Trucks are so expensive that you almost have to run team if you want to run OTR. How can you justify parking a $300,000 investment for 10-12 hours of each day? For the record, I was in trucking for 40 years. I quit in 2018 and have not spent ONE SECOND regretting it or missing it.
Holy crap many you were running semi's 7 years before I was born; glad you made it Legacy Trucker, congratz. Hard to compete with 3 drivers that do not have to stop; almost impossible to compete. I have been OTR for 32 years now and time has fore sure changed from the past when I first started back in 1989; some good and some horrible. I can afford an new truck I bought this year and it is almost paid off; 247K for a brand new freightshaker with an awesome warranty package. I'm able to do this simply because of how I made choices after starting to be an being an O/O for the first 10 years and yes I made a lot of mistakes; I got really lucky by having a mentor in trucking that showed me how to start hauling loads by making and contacting certain companies and receivers and hauling from the directly (ever now and then I use a load board but not often; these are the worst for paying loads to me). This has allowed be to make a lot of $$ and spend time with my blood family in FL more often than in the past. In the end since I do not have a wife or kids; I can also stay out a lot longer then most, IN 2023 I left at the end of may and will not return until the end from the road until the end of September, so I can bank that cash Each driver learns if they choose to; there is a shit ton of information out there and a some of it bad info, so double and triple check the info, this is unlike when we first started, a big problem is executing at this time.
Americans from economically depressed areas will drive cheaper too. That's who ur competing with. The media wants u to blame immigrants, but it's the poor from rural areas. Look at some of these TH-camrs bragging bout their wages. It's quite obvious they were either on welfare or fast food workers before getting their CDL
@@zavettataylor2882 I don't disagree with your statement except I never see anything about this from the media. When I drove, I saw it on the road and at the fuel pumps.
@@mntrucking3171 I didn't have a downfall. I am doing quite well, tyvm. What I described above was from eyewitness accounts from years on the road. I have nothing against legal immigrants driving trucks. But don't pretend as if immigrants haven't had a HUGE impact on "supply and demand"
Any driving job where you have to work 70 yours a week is insane. If you do the math, you're not making much per hour. The best jobs are hourly, local jobs.
When most of the major carriers are paying from zip code to zip code instead of actual address to actual delivery address, after my first year I did the math. I was (legally) cheated out 0f 6,000 miles of pay. They don't make these rules because they benefit the driver. Get paid by the job or hourly if you can.
The only problem I have with cpm is driving in heavily populated areas where it takes 3 hours to go from 1 end of the city to the next, like Atlanta metro area, New York, California. It's better to get percentage pay the cpm, because you spend more time in traffic pileups than anything else and it's hard to find parking to rest in those areas too.
Swift, Knight and England only pay from zip code to zip code effectively cheating the drivers out of hundreds of miles driven every month.They don't pay for your moving the load to he actual address on the BOL.
@@Watchthestars-oh3oq lot of times if u dont take the load u get played with by dispatch until you quit by being fed shit loads. good luck proving it for driver coercion charges too.
I don't understand why anyone would do what OTR people do. I work a labor intensive job in the Canadian oil patch. I get 750 a day flat rate plus 150 LOA and 1.90 per kilometer to run my own pickup truck. I'm gone 25 to 28 days per month. I'm 61 and I love my job. I talk with truckers at the truckstops who are gone 28 to 30 days a month and take home 3000 bucks. I wouldn't wake up for 3000 bucks a month. These guys brag because they get 65 cents a mile and I get 1.90 a km. Do the math. The trucking industry just does not compete or compare. That's why all the new immigrants are taking over the industry. Last month they made 11 rupees and this month they're making 3 grand. There's no future in trucking OTR as far as i can tell. BTW I run trucks in my off season but only regional and only off-road, because nothing on the highway pays. I just don't get why you guys sacrifice so much for so little.
@@jongensbill7772 i take home about $1600-2800/wk depending on loads. I personally do it because it enables me to save money on housing, transportation, etc. and so i can use that money for stocks/ savings. it's definitely not the best work but other work requires me to have a bunch of payments id rather not incur such as car insurance, home insurance, etc. Waiting for a while and pooling money up to just outright buy my needs
I am a retired truck driver with over 30 years and 1.75 million accident free miles. I have been out for 15 years now. It wasn't the perfect job but I liked it and it gave my family a nice life style and it put three kids through collage. I would not do it over again today, never. I feel for you girls and boys out there truckin' your asses off for little money and worse treatment. And the law and rules makers are not your friend either. If they were, the industry would have ONE rule book, not 50. They won't miss you until your gone. Love and good luck to you knights of the road.
Right now, as I speak, migrants are being trained to be truck drivers and will work for low wages and have a place to live while they’re doing over the road. I see children in truckstops now after 30 years I quit earlier this month and I’m not coming back.
Go too a construction 🚧🏗️ company and drive as a seasonal driver you can get laid off during the winter and or summer months depending on who you work and drive for and where you drive from as well if you choose too or continue driving for them on your off time and or part time can possibly be up too as well if you choose too and regardless of whether you're driving class A and or B truck's you can get on certain federal pay job's with some exceptions here and there and the load your carrying as well and or depending on where it's being transported too and what job you're driving of course on many major and or federal or military base's if it's considered a special specific certain federal job you're getting paid very big $$$$$ Another thing too consider is driving a CDL truck or straight truck that just requires health card in some cases for a company that does physical labor indoor's and or outdoor's for example that work for and on construction 🚧🏗️ companies as well! I know guy's hauling Sheetrock, Insulation, Railroading, Asphalt, Concrete and or even Landscaping that make good bread 🍞 and also get too do ALOT of physical labor and work as well! Some truck driver's don't like doing that though if they don't have too! Another good job too consider is driving a trash 🗑️ truck as taking out the🤢 garbage 🤮can be very rewarding as well as some companie's pay's very 🤑 good SCRATCH depending upon the company! Just something too consider is all!!! Good 😎 luck either way🤞
Another good option as far as trucking goes if you can handle the stress and physical labor as well as obtaining the endorsement's are livestock 🐖🐄 🐂 hauling as well as those companie's typically take care of their employee's and pay them very well and provide them with good benefits as well as good trucks and trailers! 😎
Drivers whose trucks are governed at 68 or less while being paid per mile are getting a hard cap on how much they are able to make. Simply having the ability to drive at the speed limit, which is 70 + on most interstates in the US, makes a significant difference in pay per mile. It not only enables a driver to get more miles per shift, but allows better opportunity for more loads. If you’re driving for a company that governs their trucks at 68 or less then you are getting screwed.
Fast trucks = less demand = lower pay Governed trucks, rules and HOS actually saves and creates more jobs. If I have 5 trucks in rotation. They’re speeding, weaving through traffic and breaking HOS laws. I don’t need any more drivers. I don’t even have to raise the pay. If I have 5 trucks in rotation. They’re fallowing the laws and driving safe. I’ll need to hire a 6th or 7th driver to get the work done. Demand is higher for drivers.
I’ve made the same as I did 22 years ago which is actually less because of inflation, now I’m too old to start over again in something different… Good times in the world of trucks…
Dry van is a blood bath right now. I run flatbed for a percentage of the gross and I’m killing it. Less and less but still better than I would ever do hauling van.
I left after 20 years because i had to stay out a month at a time to make ends meet. I was sitting more than i was driving just looking for loads that paid a reasonable rate.
Thank you so so so much for making this video I just left the trucking industry after 8 years in it totally became nothing but a scam every year rather than u make more you make less !!! Fighting for your money every day between brokers and dispatchers and your company trying to jack you off!!! For any expenses they can throw at you!! So disgusting and feel sorry o wasted years of my life and damaged my health !!! Sincere advice don’t get into this industry we as drivers have zero respect in this business
Tbh it was the 53ft trailers for me that made me detest the trucking industry after driving some 40ft trailers and all the diffrent parking you have access too makes a huge difference in employee experience.
Walmart Neighborhood grocery stores expected us to navigate their tiny parking lots to come to a tiny loading dock with zero turn around room pulling a 53 foot trailer. Then slide it down a 9 foot wide chute to get to the dock doors. It was a friggin nightmare. Those docks were designed for box vans.
Your right Sir. I left trucking last year . Sold my truck and all the equipment due to high costs, low rates, high fuel, money grubbing contractors . After 31 years I was done. If I was to do it again I’d stick to company driver. Even if the rates fall you’ll kind of be ok and your not on the hook for all the expenses. Trucking rates will come back eventually , but whom knows when ? Also I’m remarried now , 55 and want to enjoy life and weekends off. I did my time and now it’s time to hand the reins to the younger drivers . It’s they’re turn to run it all now wether that be into the ground or to success . Only time will tell.
I’m a young driver just starting out. I’ve never made more then 30k in my life. I’m excited to make more money then ever. I don’t have any kids or wife. I’ll take the reigns bro don’t worry we got this
It's not just low pay. I love how a driver will drive a company truck, and he is somehow responsible for poor maintenance and the resulting fine. Police mark truck drivers as an easy source of revenue. I pointed out a problem with the brakes on a truck I was driving, and the owner said not to worry about it. went on for weeks till I was pulled on the weigh scale for random inspection. 4000 dollar fine that I was responsible for. The company refused to pay the fine ( I quit after that). Needless to say, they didn't repair the truck either. Yeah, and then the inspector told me I should not have driven truck. I'm sure my mortgage company would have totally understood. It didn't take me many months to figure out that this was an occupation with no future.
I quit. I’m at home right now I’ll never go back. the pay, dot always on the hunt, people throwing trash out the windows, no place to park, not worth it.
I honestly got into this back in 2010 since I sucked at academics after repeated college attempts and my social skills were always a bust. Just got to get some light exercise and cut out the junk food. I carry a bicycle and the company provides a decent fridge to keep fresh groceries in. I also drive regional tanker and get home for 2-3 days each week. Better jobs are out there. Just got to get your start where you can and bone out to some place better once you get that 1-2 years in. Of course it also helps if one lives in an urban area with more hourly/local options.
I drove Trucks for nearly 30 years before I retired a few years ago. I am so glad that I got out of the Trucking Industry and retired. I drove for the last company almost 12 years averaged 2500 miles a week and got home every weekend. I lived within my means. I never had a credit card and that helped tremendously.
Awesome show and channel, I retired from over the road truck driving for health reasons, in a life long career there's only two companies that I'd vouch for, the main reason for this is they took very good care of my wife and myself, can't imagine what it's like out there now
Companies treat you as slave labor now starting you at 36 cents a mile. Random drug checks which cost you if you are in the middle of nowhere and have to drive 300 miles to a lab, Sensitive Qualcomms that alert dispatch something is wrong when it's not, no place to shut down after 11 hours, continuous diet of fast food, poor number of miles given (good loads go to lease drivers first), inconsistent pay, breakdowns, weigh stations, living a solitary stress filled life. It was all too much work to not make a decent living.
I've changed trucking jobs recently and love my new situation. Mine is more of a regional job close to drop and hook our store stuff only. The primary reason I quit trucking in a sense was due to the waiting to load and unload appointments and the issues finding convenient places to rest for 10 hours. Couldn't keep rolling and schedule other loads due to those primary issues.
I left trucking of 15yrs January this year and went into armed security making $1,000 a week not including overtime. I made more in trucking before freight bottomed out. Now days your lucky to make $1,000 a week in trucking.
I live in Alberta, Canada, and I am going to be making about 180k to 190k this year. I am a company driver working 4 and 4, and my pay system is based on peace work. 7:58 better than hourly rate or kilometers rate. My take home every week is $3000 approximately take home sometimes a little bit more. It is surprising that some drivers will stay on companies that under pay them and treat them like garbage. I hope this helps 🙏
@@unclechico2849 that's actually pretty wicked be able to make that much and not using your own truck! No maintenance no insurance no worrying aboot breakdowns headache free (almost)
@@unclechico2849 Yes, some more details to that...16 hour on duty per day - 13 hour driving per day, high mountain driving in winter (-38 Celsius) or maybe some time sensitive TDG such as Sulphur? Maybe you do heavy equipment haul? No easy comfortable trucking job pays that much...I have seen way too many experienced drivers getting off the cliff or got a head on with a suicide-drug addict-aboriginal/indian or with a real buffalo-moose...
I'm paying guaranteed millage per week, if they drive less, I pay agreed guaranteed miles, if they drive more than agreed milage, than I pay what ever they drove.. but with this economy, it is getting harder and harder
Tribe transportation out of Gainesville Georgia I went there with the intention to work and then did road test I pulled to the side of the road and told him it's not safe and needs wheel alignment you can definitely tell. And I wasn't able to retake the test wow .
I'm so stressed out sitting in winslow arizona at the pilot...the company i've been running for almost a month. I only got paid $366.00, ,I thought we had labor laws. But they don't even give a fUK,
If you have been running steady and don't owe a bunch back to them in advances and have only made 366.00$ I'd be looking for a bus station and go home.
Update finally got paid in full, took advice from the US labor board, and state of California, plus I delivered their last load to a walmart DC in San Bernardino, CA ,then posted up in their truck and refused to moved it for two days then they caved in, $$$$
I found a gig that pays me by the day even if the truck doesn't move. When I do move, it's 6 hours a day. On top of that I get per diem for every night that I stay in the truck which is usually 4 nights a week (I do get home once or twice a week too), and I'm home weekends. Weekends start early afternoon Friday. If I left this company, I don't think I'd find another gig like this, and would probably turn in my CDL. #FLATBEDGANG
The biggest thing for me is the amount of time you are not getting payed for but essentially are still working. It’s not something I plan to be doing long.
That's an issue that persists in a lot of industries too. Think about it. How many do you know have to be up at 6 for their 9 - 5 and aren't home until 7 or 8? Or even owner operators who have to deadhead? There are many things that contribute towards your work that don't count as work that you simply don't get paid for
The only difference between Trucking and Telemarketing is that you need a license to truck. OTR is a scam and dog shit pay. I went local beer delivery with my CDL and couldn't be happier. With the Overtime and hours, the pay is about the same. Plus I get home nightly. Sure, the elbow grease is there, but who cares?
I got offered a home every day job from a Budweiser contractor straight out of school. Should have seen the looks on the instructors and recruiters faces when I told them I refuse to do OTR. They had the typical "YOU HAVE TO DO OTR CUZ I DID" super trucker mentality. I ended up taking a regional job though. Don't regret my decision, but think I would have been better off doing the Budweiser job. All worked out in the end because I begin a food service job in two weeks. Which I would have went for regardless of who I started with. Imo the elbow grease is just a paid workout. Always had jobs that required labor and sweat, and being in the Florida sun.
I've been driving since 1996 seen lot hustle trying get people come there company I'm lucky nuff own my own truck good luck all drivers b safe n careful
Not to mention, it is a short term career also with the transition to autonomous vehicles (main goal to remove driver from the truck). You will definitely have to apply for the SAVE program if you plan on investing in a CDL.
Never thought i would become a truck driver but gave it almost a year and a half as a company driver and really considering leaving the industry or at least getting out of the truck. IMO, the compensation and sacrifice away from home just isn't worth it any longer.
I hope to have my CDL within the next few weeks, but I will be picky about the job I do accept, the biggest factor like you said is balancing the work and home life, that is huge. There are companies where you only have to work 9 to 10 hours each day and bring home $1300 to $1800 a week and that's even driving local, even if it takes a few weeks after getting my CDL to find that it will be worth the wait. I refuse to go OTR, I'm not that young anymore and the wife will not put up with me being gone for a week or weeks at a time and neither will I.
Sir let me tell ya, you want be a picky?on this job even there is no job at all for new drivers at this time am just advising you if you get a job jut accept any salary unless you have your own truck! And I wish you good luck.
rookie driver being picky & demanding too pay?? Refusing to go over the road as a rookie driver cause of your relationship ? (Respect) but may I ask what you got a Cdl for exactly? I mean you could get a local job I suppose, but , your gonna need some experience before getting the big bucks dude.
I worked for CR England for 6 months. You do not get paid for loading and unloading. They paid 20 cents per mile on highway miles only, and when you are sitting in Traffic, that 10 miles per hour means you are making less than minimum wages. I asked for 3 days off but they sent me a load and the manager called me at home asking me why I did not respond to the text on the Truck. I quit the very same day.
For me the #1 reason drivers leave the industry is unprofessionalism, mostly new drivers showing no respect for the profession, good companies (which are a few) will compete for the best drivers but very few newcomers these days are giving their best.
^^^Fucking THIS!!!!^^^ I have been driving since 1977, and a lot of new drivers are shit. The park wherever they want, to the point where Walmart is banning semis from their parking lots because they're tired of picking up piss bottles, or customers unable to use the lot because some asshole just pulled up and stopped where he wanted, blocking 50 spaces. Example, Deming New Mexico.
@@Victorseafog If it was the same in 1989 trucking wouldn't exist today, there's always been unprofessionalism in every profession but not at the level of trucking today.
It's a stressful, but very necessary line of work for this country to maintain itself. Treat drivers with the respect they deserve. That's corporate greed though, I guess
About 30 years ago, I tried driving truck but I only lasted 2 weeks. The job is so incredibly demanding with 50 or more important responsibilities that will get you in big trouble if you mess up. There's no allowance for rookies, you have to be an overnight expert driver right from your first day. I can't imagine anyone wanting to drive truck, at all
There is no easy solution to this problem. I see truck ads that say "Get Miles / Get Home" but, you can't have it both ways!! You have to sacrifice one for the other if you want to make money! The other problem is wages. No one is going to stand up and pay drivers what they are worth. If they did, the consumers would wind up paying the increase through higher prices!! Also, if more drivers leave and goods are harder to get, consumers pay the price again! This whole situation is damned if you do, damned don't!!! There are too many losers and not enough winners!!??
i’m fortunate enough to be an owner operator with a business co-run with my father. i get 1500 a week but i work 70 hours a week. this is my first time driving a big truck ever and my first time (aside from being in the military) that i’ve had to pull 70+ hour weeks. i definitely would not be doing this AT ALL if it wasn’t for the 1500 a week lmao. i don’t want to do this but this pay is more than good enough to where i can push past that. i think we can safely say all human beings are like this…
Why? There are companies that pay 1500 a week for company drivers without any expenses. If you take home 1500 as OO, how much you actually making after all the expenses?
$9-10,000 + to get a licence in Ontario now and then nobody wanting to hire people with less than 2 years experience makes it tough to get into the seat.
I'm running propane bottles these days (super-B) set to make $135,000.00 this year... catch... 4 days at home each month. Rest of the time, I'm on the road... paid by the hour and 36 hour resets on the road are all paid a flat $300.00. I tell anyone interested in trucking to get some experience with dry van or flat deck... then go into something more specialized such as chemical/ fuel/ cryogenic transport, crane trucks, heavy haul/ overdimensional. The more skill and responsibility the job requires, the better the pay.
I left the beginning of June 3 months ago I’ve had it 28 years but I can’t stay in a truck all year long for lower pay now than ever before I don’t make much now but I’m home eating nice meals sleeping in a real bed signed up at planet fitness walking every morning I’m out of the business and I’m not looking back
The way I see it, truck driving is a way of life and not just some job/career. During Covid, there was a massive freight boom with an actual driver shortage. There were plenty of people that considered driving a truck because of how much drivers were making a week at that time. Since then, Rates have leveled, fuel prices stayed kinda high, and the freight volumes have leveled to the Obama years. If you're a person that values your home life, and can't take the long hours, or live in a high cost of living state like the east/west coast, or even have no drive to excel and work your way up the ladder, then trucking just isn't for you. Again, the way I see it, all the people that are leaving, are people that either weren't truly cut out for the life, or are retiring, or are paying more for a truck payment than what they make after hauling loads for the week because they came in during the height of Covid. Yeah sure it sucks right now, and there are probably better "careers" out there that best suit your lifestyle, but for the people that CAN make it in even a crappy situation that the industry is in currently, then those people will get to reap the rewards when the market is back to "normal" and those people would have learned to not spend their money right away when the money is good again. There will come a time when the market is profitable again. As for the hourly thing, hourly in most cases (realistic cases) would be worse that what most would make per mile. Is pay bad right now? Yeah, but the best way to get your money for all hours worked would be for the companies to pay a minimum of $30 usd for all detention, and all non driving hours. This includes, waiting for a truck wash/trailer washout, breakdown hours, waiting in line at the fuel islands, etc. Not to mention that they should pay overtime in cpm for all miles over 2000 miles the same way that hourly workers get paid. That way a driver that makes 0.50 cpm would be making 0.75 cpm after the 2000 miles driven for that week. Lets say the average is 2500-3000 miles a week (if you're moving freight, and your company has freight to give you) you go from $1,250-$1,500 before taxes to $1,375-$2,000 before taxes. Not to mention any non driven hours you may have collected during that week. With this method, not only would you be paid for all hours worked, but you wouldn't be exempt from overtime. Some companies have their ways of giving bonuses like safety, mpg, on time deliveries, etc, but most of the companies that offer those incentives, require a 2-3 year minimum driving experience. First year trucking jobs are always going to pay little to nothing, and this is because these new driver are expensive as all hell to insure, and CDL school isn't cheap either. But I will say that some of these companies do pay less than they should EVEN for the greenhorn drivers coming to the industry. But it's up to you to do your research, and not be scammed but the Swifties, and the CRE's of the industry. Edit: This may sound really harsh to some, but if you are having any doubts about the industry at this time, or are meaning to leave the industry at some point soon, please do so. With the freight shortage right now, whatever load you would've taken would potentially go to a driver that has no doubts, or needs that extra freight to stay afloat. During Covid we had a huge influx of new drivers/companies that are still around taking freight from real truckers that didn't get into the industry during Covid just to make a quick profit at the expense of the real drivers. WE DO NOT HAVE A DRIVER SHORTAGE, WE HAVE A LOAD SHORTAGE. I'd also really like to see them ban/crackdown B1 and B2 visa CDL holders, or ANY non permanent resident, or anyone that cannot read, write, or speak English, or at the very least Spanish. Those drivers are a safety hazard, and they are stealing freight from those that deserve it. This would not fix the industry but it sure would help.
It is a hard job, takes a lot of sacrifice which in the end it may not be worth. Opting for local work or crane truck work at least can keep you on the move although hours can also be long and worst - the job can be addictive and exciting 😅
I made $60,000 in 1990 driving 55mph and 19 cents a mile, I purchased a tractor in 2013 was home less than I made $120,000 in my second year after paying the truck expenses, I ended up clearing $20,000 than the government took $2,000 in taxes so I actually made $18,000, my wife retired from wendy's and made more than that, we were taking care of her parents at the time and she stayed home with them and I was on the road and was home at best 3 days a month, the money isn't there anymore and the companies push with the electronic logs that killed older truck drivers like myself. I am now out of trucking for good and feel for the ones that are doing it now, things have gotten bad out there and I wouldn't be able to take it anymore.
Im a new driver about to start on the 28th. My new company pay is $120/day.. I did the Math and that comes out to $15/hr before tax.. $2,160/mo .. $25,920/year.. NOT Worth it for me to be away from Family while the world and economy is unstable.... but I need the Experience so I can hopefully get paid more later.. No Local Jobs for Newbies..
This guy is telling the truth. If I am lucky I get 2hours a week with family. And I am a local pd driver. I am off on weekends but to burnt out to do anything!!!!
Not to gross sales or per mile pay any more, we want hourly pay for the time sitting on the truck, and you should be happy with no paying for sleeping on the truck. companies grow to fast thanks to the hard work on the driver and for not paying driver his time
I'm a retired teacher with a pension. I was thinking about trucking as a retirement gig. Sounds like it would be fun and profitable. However, seeing truckers' experiences on YT has made me change my mind. First year OTR with someone I don't know making less than minimum wage just to "prove" myself? No way. If I could go through school and get a profitable local gig, or a regional job where I could be home every other day or so, I'd consider it.
@@ceciliaabdalla4954 The media image portrayed of America is wrong. Yes, some Americans DO have to take a job even after retirement due to the insane inflation and crumbling economy
I make $.67 a mile and get two days off with Hogan transportation Target account. It takes me 10 to 11 1/2 hours a day to finish my load. Double dropping hooks. Local. No live unloading as much as it irritates me… It really is a good job.
I do local delivery in a box truck(18 pallets) and i have a fixed monthly income with some bonus, i can get like 150 miles in a day but more common is around 120 miles. I enjoy the job but it can be heavy when you have to move heavy pallets of the truck, so far 1 metric ton has been the heaviest and i can feel it in my arms and shoulders. I do live in Sweden so pay is different but i get just below $3000 a month(base pay) then overtime and such on top of that.
Hourly pay should be the standard for a Company Driver. The fact that you can work 60-70 hours a week and make less than minimum wage shows just how bad these companies are.
They convince you to log off duty and sleeper when at customer or waiting for a load. I stayed on duty 14 hours a day for 5 days. Made good money doing it. My last company only gave drivers 1700 miles a week anyway
@@zavettataylor2882 I run local LTL and make 2,100 a week after taxes in Ohio and I'm paid hourly. I could not stand waiting at docks lol. I'm actually one of the few who actually enjoy touching freight.
These new generation drivers are soft.. they’re not researching these companies before they jump on board. I’ve been out here 13 years and I made my money, good money and another thing. A lot of the new drivers don’t want to run they always in the truckstop sitting… truck driving is a lifestyle not a job, so go work at 8 to 5 at McDonald’s or Burger King pussy drivers
One should never be a company driver.... o/o is the way to go....I made 400k 2 years ago....sell the truck just after when the rates fall get the maximum for your truck then buy it just after the bottom when rates start to climb. You will make 30k on the truck if you buy and sell it like I said. After I sell the truck I take off to Thailand where dollar's go far. just drive when the rates are up I drive and live out of the truck just taking home time when the truck needs repairs. I really fell for company driver driving year after year basically working for free.
@@davesmith2150 I have no interest in O/O because that 400k is gross pay, sure you bring home more after taxes but I'm only in trucking to get my debt paid then I'm off to ATP flight school to become an Airline Pilot. I can make 400k within a few years after becoming an Airline Pilot and not have to work nearly as much and I will also have one of the best quality of life jobs out there.
I'm quitting my Family Dollar regional job due to inconsistent pay and the amount of hours worked. I've parked my truck with 15 minutes left on my 70 hour. I'd have to park at the stores over night so when I unload the truck at 6am I wouldn't log in because if I logged all my hours I'd never be home and would be way over 70 hours. They told me I'd make 75k a year and be home weekends. It was 50k a year and home once a week, normally during the week. Told me there was a $950 a week minimum then took it away without telling us drivers on that account. Stores would NEVER be ready for their 6am, always showing up late and wasting my time. "We need to clean out the back room" well you've known I'd be coming for a week, you show up 30 minutes late then say to give you a few minutes like I didn't already give you 30. I'd go in the store before they close and let them know I'm there but for whatever reason it didn't click in their head to get ready the night before, despite me making it clear. All the Family Dollar stores were in the ghetto. It was very hit or miss with their employees. I had one store unload 1400 units in 2 hours. I had another store take 3 and a half hours for 500 pieces, of the same products. The DC would load the trucks like crap. Bleach and detergent spilled everywhere in the trailer. Tired of eating out of truck stops. A man can only eat so much subway and microwaved food.
This sounds like CR England
sounds like every account i've ever run. i sure do love working for free so i can fuck the HoS.
Same with Aldi. They only wrap the pallets once, instead of 3-4 times like Walmart, to save time & money. Loaders load it stupidly as well. Only way to prevent spilling is if you remember to SLOW down for every single turn. When I was loading it myself, I would put all the dangerous pallets on the right side, so only need to slow down for right turns, but I would go a lil bit faster for left turns. Some store employees don't charge the electric pallet jack, drivers too.
I understand completely
I stayed away from carriers that move their freight, if you have a good cdl record go to a carrier that doesn't take these lazy disrespectful shipper and recivers. I keep a black book with these problem shipper recivers. Go to a company that doesn't have forced dispatch. This is the problem forced dispatch if drivers can refuse to pull their garbage they will be forced to change their ways. If not they will go out of business cause no one will take their nonsense. I prefer these companies go out of business. Let better people set the standards
I quit driving after 13 years and went back to welding. Too much personal liability involved
Totally agree with you 👍👍💯
Hope you got union job otherwise wielding pays like shit
@@Ball.Daily11 No it's not union and the pay & benefits are good. But the culture and atmosphere there makes it an outstanding place to work
And I know a couple of welders that left welding to become drivers,when people are fearful be greedy 🤷♂️🤷♂️
That's what blew my mind how the liability shouldered by the driver is intense and one mistake can ruin you for life, put you in jail, cost you your job, tie you up with lawyers fees etc. People don't realize truckers are often cited under the criminal code. Not traffic code.
I used to be a truck driver. 20 hours per week doing company work and not getting paid for it. Live loading and unloading without pay. Spending two hours in line at Blue Beacon to get the blood washed out of my trailer without getting paid. Taking truck or trailer to repair shop and waiting for repairs to be done without being paid. I averaged out my pay and it came out to less than minimum wage. Truckers need to be paid by the hour !
Sorry your driving that vehcle . You are resposible for it. Thats like saying I should get paid for my car being in for repair and my time driving to and from work. I should get payed for waiting in line to wash my car.
You are so right farmer Dave they expect you to work for free !😡😡
That is dead wrong. Companies need to regulated again. This situation now is not working.
That's why you shouldn't do it
@@ernestpassaro9663 No they expect you to do your job. You know what the pay is you know what the job is. If you don t like don t do it. QUit whining
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Hourly. Period. With overtime. All hours behind the wheel, fueling, waiting for the service truck, loading and unloading. Any on duty hours. Otherwise you're ripping your drivers off. Just like the scammers.
Was OTR for 5 years and just burnt out from the hours. Local job now, paid hourly and nothing like sleeping in your own bed at night. No regrets.
Trucking is little better than slavery. Sleep in the truck , be responsible for the truck even off duty. Rarely see family. The company basically owns you.
Driver cameras , constant surveillance, DOT road pirates, pay is so complicated you need a PhD to understand it.
It's a terrible job imho
Pay me a $150K as a company driver and I’ll come back
I wish!
More like 250k
Drivers in the 80s made the equivalent of 250k.
There’s people making 150k doing LTL. We got some people running i90 in South Dakota between Rapid City and Sioux Falls hauling triples that average 150k.
@@LastExile1989company drivers absolutely did not
Nice Video…
I’ve been trucking 13 years and I went from 185k a year down to 78k in 2023 . I’ve did the lease , O/O , now company driver. I can say in the start things were great. Now I see so much micromanagement and lies it’s ridiculous. 😂 The best thing I did was take care of my finances the last decade. I saved 77% of my income and lived modest. I build my home from ground up on 10 acres of land. I only purchased a boat and 2 vehicles . I’m satisfied with my current low of income at this point. I focused on how much can I keep vs how much can I make ..😁🤷🏾♂️
It does suck in the industry now. All I can say is do the best you can . If not, change careers.
Smart man...I live on 25 percent of my income...3 homes paid for...w900 paid for. All toys paid for. Never stress the market, you can't change it, but you can change what you spend!
"micromanagement and lies" Nailed it, ELD's are not ELD's now, they're all in wonder driver harassment systems. Samsara has basically destroyed my company/job, just chugging along, until I can get into my Citys Government Earthworks Division.
@@HomeOverTheRoad🎉🎉👍🏾💪🏾 Epic.
@@Albertalorianyou right. They do everything they can to screw the drivers now. My buddy drive for a company that dropped his pay. Then have to talk to brokers that hurrass him about the load and he’s a company driver. SMH. It’s crazy. Then they try to charge him for things like he’s an owner operator. One of those black ops companies. I told him he’s very screwed but he don’t want to be W2 . He wants to be 1099 which going to back fire. We will see everything when the tide goes all the way out.🤷🏾♂️
Hey guys, I’ve got CDL August last year and worked 11 months as 9 car hauler on Peterbuilt 389, 2020. My rate was 30% from gross. My monthly gross were $50000. But I did 1.5-2 long month trips. I’ve been taking home $20000-$30000. But my little daughter learned speaking while I’ve been on my long trips and I have been missing a lot. Now I’m running my own welding business and I am happy again. Every day at home.
Hey whats up can you point me in the right direction to make that? I’m only getting 1 round trip every two weeks where I’m at that’s no cutting it for me…
I mean that’s great money why not put a driver in the seat and collect the cash and stay home?
@@billyblanco6700 Hey man, I used to be a company driver in Autoline Express Inc. They do work with tesla factory in Fremont, CA. They take 8-9 teslas and take them to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, WA. On the way back they take new Toyotas, GM vehicles, used single cars. They not taking any copart junk cars. They drive teslas to all California. From LA area they take new kia and Hyundai from port and deliver them close to Fremont. Some drivers doing single loads from LA to East Coast and back to California. I liked to work with teslas. I never went to East Coast. It’s hard in the beginning but ok in 1-2 months when you get experience. Money is very good but if you have family it’s sucks. I got CDL in Cali last August and started driving alone after 10 days of training. They pay $100 per day and pay for motels every night. Other companies doing the same routes are BZ TRANS, EZH. Good luck
Are you running as a owner operator right?
dont be driver Hire other /d/ots who will drive for you 👍😊
Low pay in comparison to other work is my problem. Example: Before I started driving I was a forklift operator. I was clearing $900 a week with overtime only working 50 hour weeks, and home every night and off on weekends. I started driving thinking the money would be better, but instead I gave up being home at night and on weekends for $200 to $300 more per week on good weeks, which haven't been that many. So now I'm working everyday all week long for months away from my family for an average $1000 to $1200 a week. Doubling my work and hours didn't double my income. At this rate I'd do better getting 2 regular jobs and getting out of this truck.
You should get out the truck, it’s a scam bro
@@John_R_Jackson_III Yeah. I've figured that out. I'm working on starting a business right now that should be ready to start Taking customers in a week or 2.
That depends, you cant compare driving a truck to some other labor intensive, in the sun, sometimes dirty work.
Id take the driving job anytime
You poor bastard lol..I've been driving almost 30yrs and done just about everything in trucking..If I was going to find a job it would be a local gig doing LTL type stuff with doubles and triples...it's easy it pays pretty good and your home every night.
I say I clear 100k a year hauling fuel locally 60 hours a week paid 30 dollars an hour overtime after 40 . Why I most likely won't do anything else
If you’re working 70 hours a week you might as well own your business. Other industries work an average of 50 hours a week, home everyday and they make above 2k
Which one other
That is how truck driving is. Not all work it included down time, showers, meals, and fueling. Being a truck driver on duty, off duty in cab is included of the 70 hours. Just think working in manufacturing plant you work 80-88 hours a week. You still get down time right?
@silversevinz5203 electricians, plumbers, welders, and unions.
@@femalecrusader8389 but you don’t get paid for all 70 hours. If you do, and do the math, it’s very little pay
I'm 47 and been driving for 23 years and I'm about to leave this industry as I'm getting my forklift license to get a factory job.
Trucking sucks anymore, no parking, way to expensive to eat out here, drivers blocking fuel Islands, crumbling roads, more and more no english speaking drivers walking around in flip flops and washing their feet in the restroom sink . Soon they'll take over the trucking so might as well get a factory job.
I'm 50 years old. I am a factory worker. The factory sucks as well. I been at my current shop for 2 years. I'm only making 15 dollars an hour. This is Michigan. So I'll trade you careers friend. I'm starting truck driving school next week. It's better to start out making 20 dollars than 15 .
@@gregorylyon1004 I hope everything works out for ya
Once i get my forklift certification I'm looking at $25 an hour to start, out of Kentucky.
I wouldn't even take a local cdl job I'm sick of it
@@David-t4m8m It definitely sounds like Kentucky pays a lot better than my state does in manufacturing. 25 is good money for Hi Lo jobs. Congratulations
You are absolutely right,the complete industry was destroyed by this people.
i left as well after more than 30 years
@@gregorylyon1004 yes sir, if you're certified forklift driver you can find a decent paying job.
Went through CDL school at my local Tech school. Got all the endorsements. School alone convinced me not to do it. The instructors are all jaded and in bad health. The companies that came through trying to recruit were all full of shit.
What did you wind up doing... currently in a similar predicament
@@SonicUmami Didn't go through with it. Went back to school and went a different direction. Stay away from trucking.
If you are away from home for weeks at time,but stay away from truck stop restaurants because they are too expensive,something is majorly wrong.
I left in July. Things are bad. Even as a company guy. 50cpm is ridiculous. Esp when loads are bad. I was waiting more and more each week for a load. Making 600-800 gross checks a week. For that I’d rather just live off the government and Uber.
DML drivers (carhauler) made $20,000 gross in June. You are simply lazy person. Thats it.
@@anthonymercado8126 800 a week is terrible if you’re working almost 70 hours a week and away from home for 7-14 days. It’s awful if you’re sitting for 34 hours every other day. Most people can make 800 working a full time and part time job or full time and Uber on the side and still be home, allowed to drink when they want, and smoke weed. For the restrictions we have on us, the time away from home, even on home daily gigs.. 800 a week is awful.
@@anthonymercado8126not true Uber driver in Dallas making 400-500 a day working 25-30 hours a week home every night heck of a lot better than trucking
@@stretch273 stop cap in Dallas you lucky to get 150 a day 😠😠
@@coolgood450 no he actually showed me his earnings
I drove for a local gig 14hr a day 5 days a week home every night. Got paid 45 cents per mile and barely cleared 1000 bucks a week. I left that shit after about 2 months.
My biggest issue with the industry right now is the endless micromanaging through the driver disciplinary measure cameras (lytix or other). Someone cut you off and it trips the forward collision radar? Better believe your going to get that put into your driver file / report card for following too close! Going through a construction zone and the temporary lines on the road don't always match up with the "lanes"? Better believe your getting another mark on that report card for going out of your lane!
Some drivers do drive to fast when operating a tractor trailer. It is difficult dealing with traffic. Sometimes can't be helped but when possible plan your route and time. Just like bad storms wait it out if you can.
@@femalecrusader8389lol yeah right, you would have a lot of waiting then. A driver comes up on different situations about every twenty minutes or so. Then you’re dispatcher is wondering why you’re always late on your appointments. Then you end with all of the hauls that nobody else wants. And you get get squeezed out because you’re pay goes down. They have the odds completely stacked against the driver. I’m at retirement age and if I had it all over to do I wouldn’t even step into a truck anymore. DOT, the way people drive, all the signs no truck parking here or there, The way they mess with you when you get to your destination not wanting to unload you. I can go on and on with what a driver has to endure it’s a joke.
You have a Ltyx camera??
@@normancastor2564 if y9ou coming up to a ituation evefrfy twenty minujtes, you jmight want to go back to driving school
I didn't know they worked like that😮
I love my job as a truck driver. The hours are great, I'm home with my family every night, I get paid for every minute I'm clocked in, and get a bonus every year. I've had two breakdowns (tires) and the maintenance crew take very good care of the trucks and trailers.
It's not all doom and gloom. I just got out of truck driving school. Found a job with an environmental company hauling HAZMAT. They are starting me off at 100k my first year and im home 3 nights a week, most weeks 4 nights. It took me 2 months after school to find this job. Good jobs are out there, keep looking. So happy that i didn't take that Yellow job offer working overnights and weekends for $21 an hour. I've been at it 2 months solo. It's been good.
Good that you didn’t take that job, they went out of business.
95% are you just got lucky that’s all.
Pretty solid guy. To the point. I've always said truckers aren't paid enough. No one believes me
Being paid per mile as an OTR company driver was BS for me. I’d have to call in frequently for a pre-plan or new load. My time is valuable, and I’m not sitting for free. I left after a year to go o/o. The rates & market are terrible right now, but my time, schedule and life is mine and that’s what matters.
haul for private companies. Cargill is real good.
Being paid by the mile as company driver is the biggest lie, they pay off household movers book so your not getting paid actual miles to deliver the load. Put 37 years Otr when no electronic logs. Glad to be retired and don’t miss any of it.
what is o/o?
@@skip123davis owner-operator
@@theelvisguy6933 thx!
It is better for the drivers to find another job and say bye bye to its current trucking company.
I am on hourly local and it is treacherous. I been with my company three years, I’m burnt out at this point, and yes I am considering leaving because im😢tired of 10-17 hour days, got me feeling like a slave…last year I had a mental breakdown and had to take a few days off, and requested lower working hours, which they obliged since I am the best driver they have ever had, but the hours quickly started going up. It gets to a point that money doesn’t matter, I’m 51 years old and this local company has made me hate trucking,
U tell em 48 hours max or I'm out Truckin jobs all kind everywhere. Too many hours more tax
Understand this, they need you, you don’t need them, you can always find another company. Experience CDL drivers are always needed.
Pay and micromanagement finally wore me out. I didn't mind being out, even with family. But, I wasn't making enough to handle things at home and handle myself while I was gone. If it hadn't been for that and how strict things are getting I probably would still be on the road. And some companies have awful top pay, yeah bud I'm gonna work for you for years and rarely if ever see a pay raise. Liked my dispatcher, too. He actually listened and respected my judgement. Sure, he'd push from time to time, but usually understood if I say nope, it means nope. Also it's gotten dangerous as hell and with all the laws and complexities, you can't really protect yourself which was the final nail in the coffin as I couldn't risk going into cities.
What made me bounce out the industry was my experience with a company that pay below 50 cents and a Bad dispatcher. He would short me during the week so I could work over the weekend. He tried to create a wedge between me and my wife cause he was single.
That's grounds for an ass whippin.
Damn... Messed up...
Wth??
Lmao 🤣 that boy wanted u for himself on the weekends
I had a dispatcher like that.
Marriage did indeed fail, but he
only aggravated the situation.
The guy was married with five kids, but was running a cig smuggle scam and was banging the office skanks.
It eventually caught up with him, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. LoL.
Wages? I remember my Dad driving in the 60s and 70s supporting our family of 5 on his one paycheck. Mom was home ruling the roost !
Trucking companies make more money screwing their drives than they do hauling freight, quote from Dave on the Smart Trucking channel
This was great. Complex pay statements (big highs/low lows- no consistency in take home pay) and the down time were a big reason I stopped OTR and went local to drive Class B garbage and dumptrucks a few years back. Recently considered going back OTR then remembered the poor work life balance. Now you're saying the money isn't really there anymore? Yes, companies need to be more driver centric. Truckers move the nation. The world, really. And we expect more.
Enter…A.I. trucks lol
@@lionhearted4eva Won't happen for decades. Teslas can't even drive themselves properly, you expect an 80,000lb truck to not have issues and kill dozens of people?
Dispatchers get all the holidays and weekends they request off. Drivers never do. I was OTR out of California. I was in Florida doing hurricane relief deliveries and had requested (and approved ) my birthday off (3 days as my home time that month). So here I am 4 days from California and I am pushing to start homeward. They told me one quick trip to Chicago then I can head west. I broke down in Chicago and never got home. Didn't bother the company at all.
@@ap8riot931yep that's how it goes, there's always some bullshit before you go home, it's like clockwork
Get rid of the 36hrs reset . Should be a monthly limit. Lets say 22 days and you can pick and choose when you whant to take your days off. And no one should be on the road sleeping in a truck for less then 500 a day for a full days worked. But so long as they keep finding drivers to replace the ones that quit the undercutting and lowball rate program will prevail. There are great paying gigs out there but they usually dont involve swingin doors or in your local area. If you've got 5 plus years experience and cant make 100k a year working 70hrs a week on the road that basically means you're working for the same wages as new drivers.
Find a better job or a different career dont stay at it for another 30 years complaining about cheap rates and the industry.
No one is forcing you to go to work . So if the money isn't descent. Get out of it sooner then later.
Some people are too dumb to know when too quit.
The industry will never change because there are no standards when it comes to minimum pay.
95% of shippers and receivers dont care if you are old young fat skinny driving a nice truck ugly truck or how much experience you have .end of the day just whant there shit hauled for cheap. You are worthless in the public's eye no matter how good or bad you are. That will never change. Focus on yourself .
You get paid what you allow companies to pay you.
If they whant to haul cheap loads and make it your problem that they can't pay you more. Move on.
Know your worth and set your own standards. No company likes someone that is greedy but at the end of the day they are not paying your bills.
Every company wants drivers that are willing to work for free.
Dont let them manipulate you.
Drivers are there own worst enemy
The one that always gets me is when we have modern GPS they still want to try to pay use zip code to zip code and cheat you out of about 800 miles a month..
facts i work for maverick and they do that
People from impoverished nations can come to North America and enter the industry and life is so good for them compared to what they left behind. Three sweaty cousins to a truck and a 5 gallon bucket to poop in. Who can compete with that? Trucks are so expensive that you almost have to run team if you want to run OTR. How can you justify parking a $300,000 investment for 10-12 hours of each day? For the record, I was in trucking for 40 years. I quit in 2018 and have not spent ONE SECOND regretting it or missing it.
Holy crap many you were running semi's 7 years before I was born; glad you made it Legacy Trucker, congratz.
Hard to compete with 3 drivers that do not have to stop; almost impossible to compete.
I have been OTR for 32 years now and time has fore sure changed from the past when I first started back in 1989; some good and some horrible.
I can afford an new truck I bought this year and it is almost paid off; 247K for a brand new freightshaker with an awesome warranty package.
I'm able to do this simply because of how I made choices after starting to be an being an O/O for the first 10 years and yes I made a lot of mistakes; I got really lucky by having a mentor in trucking that showed me how to start hauling loads by making and contacting certain companies and receivers and hauling from the directly (ever now and then I use a load board but not often; these are the worst for paying loads to me). This has allowed be to make a lot of $$ and spend time with my blood family in FL more often than in the past. In the end since I do not have a wife or kids; I can also stay out a lot longer then most, IN 2023 I left at the end of may and will not return until the end from the road until the end of September, so I can bank that cash
Each driver learns if they choose to; there is a shit ton of information out there and a some of it bad info, so double and triple check the info, this is unlike when we first started, a big problem is executing at this time.
Mike please stop blaming immigrants for all of your downfall. Trucking is a supply and demand game.
Americans from economically depressed areas will drive cheaper too. That's who ur competing with. The media wants u to blame immigrants, but it's the poor from rural areas. Look at some of these TH-camrs bragging bout their wages. It's quite obvious they were either on welfare or fast food workers before getting their CDL
@@zavettataylor2882 I don't disagree with your statement except I never see anything about this from the media. When I drove, I saw it on the road and at the fuel pumps.
@@mntrucking3171 I didn't have a downfall. I am doing quite well, tyvm. What I described above was from eyewitness accounts from years on the road. I have nothing against legal immigrants driving trucks. But don't pretend as if immigrants haven't had a HUGE impact on "supply and demand"
Any driving job where you have to work 70 yours a week is insane. If you do the math, you're not making much per hour. The best jobs are hourly, local jobs.
When most of the major carriers are paying from zip code to zip code instead of actual address to actual delivery address, after my first year I did the math. I was (legally) cheated out 0f 6,000 miles of pay. They don't make these rules because they benefit the driver. Get paid by the job or hourly if you can.
The only problem I have with cpm is driving in heavily populated areas where it takes 3 hours to go from 1 end of the city to the next, like Atlanta metro area, New York, California. It's better to get percentage pay the cpm, because you spend more time in traffic pileups than anything else and it's hard to find parking to rest in those areas too.
Swift, Knight and England only pay from zip code to zip code effectively cheating the drivers out of hundreds of miles driven every month.They don't pay for your moving the load to he actual address on the BOL.
only worthwhile pay these days is salary or high hourly.
@@Watchthestars-oh3oq lot of times if u dont take the load u get played with by dispatch until you quit by being fed shit loads.
good luck proving it for driver coercion charges too.
I don't understand why anyone would do what OTR people do. I work a labor intensive job in the Canadian oil patch. I get 750 a day flat rate plus 150 LOA and 1.90 per kilometer to run my own pickup truck. I'm gone 25 to 28 days per month. I'm 61 and I love my job. I talk with truckers at the truckstops who are gone 28 to 30 days a month and take home 3000 bucks. I wouldn't wake up for 3000 bucks a month. These guys brag because they get 65 cents a mile and I get 1.90 a km. Do the math. The trucking industry just does not compete or compare. That's why all the new immigrants are taking over the industry. Last month they made 11 rupees and this month they're making 3 grand. There's no future in trucking OTR as far as i can tell. BTW I run trucks in my off season but only regional and only off-road, because nothing on the highway pays. I just don't get why you guys sacrifice so much for so little.
@@jongensbill7772 i take home about $1600-2800/wk depending on loads.
I personally do it because it enables me to save money on housing, transportation, etc. and so i can use that money for stocks/ savings. it's definitely not the best work but other work requires me to have a bunch of payments id rather not incur such as car insurance, home insurance, etc. Waiting for a while and pooling money up to just outright buy my needs
I am a retired truck driver with over 30 years and 1.75 million accident free miles. I have been out for 15 years now. It wasn't the perfect job but I liked it and it gave my family a nice life style and it put three kids through collage. I would not do it over again today, never. I feel for you girls and boys out there truckin' your asses off for little money and worse treatment.
And the law and rules makers are not your friend either. If they were, the industry would have ONE rule book, not 50. They won't miss you until your gone. Love and good luck to you knights of the road.
Right now, as I speak, migrants are being trained to be truck drivers and will work for low wages and have a place to live while they’re doing over the road. I see children in truckstops now after 30 years I quit earlier this month and I’m not coming back.
I left OTR and now I’m a yard spotter at a local warehouse. Less pay but home every day.
I'm thinking about getting out. Over worked and underpaid.
Go too a construction 🚧🏗️ company and drive as a seasonal driver you can get laid off during the winter and or summer months depending on who you work and drive for and where you drive from as well if you choose too or continue driving for them on your off time and or part time can possibly be up too as well if you choose too and regardless of whether you're driving class A and or B truck's you can get on certain federal pay job's with some exceptions here and there and the load your carrying as well and or depending on where it's being transported too and what job you're driving of course on many major and or federal or military base's if it's considered a special specific certain federal job you're getting paid very big $$$$$ Another thing too consider is driving a CDL truck or straight truck that just requires health card in some cases for a company that does physical labor indoor's and or outdoor's for example that work for and on construction 🚧🏗️ companies as well! I know guy's hauling Sheetrock, Insulation, Railroading, Asphalt, Concrete and or even Landscaping that make good bread 🍞 and also get too do ALOT of physical labor and work as well! Some truck driver's don't like doing that though if they don't have too! Another good job too consider is driving a trash 🗑️ truck as taking out the🤢 garbage 🤮can be very rewarding as well as some companie's pay's very 🤑 good SCRATCH depending upon the company! Just something too consider is all!!! Good 😎 luck either way🤞
Another good option as far as trucking goes if you can handle the stress and physical labor as well as obtaining the endorsement's are livestock 🐖🐄 🐂 hauling as well as those companie's typically take care of their employee's and pay them very well and provide them with good benefits as well as good trucks and trailers! 😎
During covid I self taught myself coding. Now I'm in school for cyber security and ready to get in the field entry level.
Good thinking
Just keep the CDL and renew your MEDICAL card and always look back to your CDL as a conversation piece
@@Aaronhouston33 Im never getting rid of it. If the brokers ever start having some sense I plan on buying a few Semis, but as of now, I'm done!!!!!
People have opened there eyes. Noone wants to work ridiculous hours, and not own anything. We're sick of getting scraps.
Drivers whose trucks are governed at 68 or less while being paid per mile are getting a hard cap on how much they are able to make. Simply having the ability to drive at the speed limit, which is 70 + on most interstates in the US, makes a significant difference in pay per mile. It not only enables a driver to get more miles per shift, but allows better opportunity for more loads. If you’re driving for a company that governs their trucks at 68 or less then you are getting screwed.
70+mph doesn’t guaranty you more miles always. There’s to many variables.
Fast trucks = less demand = lower pay
Governed trucks, rules and HOS actually saves and creates more jobs.
If I have 5 trucks in rotation. They’re speeding, weaving through traffic and breaking HOS laws. I don’t need any more drivers. I don’t even have to raise the pay.
If I have 5 trucks in rotation. They’re fallowing the laws and driving safe. I’ll need to hire a 6th or 7th driver to get the work done. Demand is higher for drivers.
In most states the speed limit on trucks is between 60 and 70, not 70+.
Welcome to California
@@Jack-pd4ps some one who gets it
I’ve made the same as I did 22 years ago which is actually less because of inflation, now I’m too old to start over again in something different… Good times in the world of trucks…
I'm sorry, this realm isn't fair
Dry van is a blood bath right now. I run flatbed for a percentage of the gross and I’m killing it. Less and less but still better than I would ever do hauling van.
Trucking Industry is a complete joke.
I left after 20 years because i had to stay out a month at a time to make ends meet. I was sitting more than i was driving just looking for loads that paid a reasonable rate.
I retired 2 years ago after 40 years of service and dont miss any aspect of trucking a bit
I worked for a courier service. I got 25% of the gross. But here's the kicker, I was never told what the gross was. I left that place.
Agree. I'm in the cargo van industry. It amazes me how many of these youtube videos don't talk about or even know how to figure Cost Per Mile.
Thank you so so so much for making this video I just left the trucking industry after 8 years in it totally became nothing but a scam every year rather than u make more you make less !!! Fighting for your money every day between brokers and dispatchers and your company trying to jack you off!!! For any expenses they can throw at you!! So disgusting and feel sorry o wasted years of my life and damaged my health !!! Sincere advice don’t get into this industry we as drivers have zero respect in this business
Tbh it was the 53ft trailers for me that made me detest the trucking industry after driving some 40ft trailers and all the diffrent parking you have access too makes a huge difference in employee experience.
They need to go back to 45ft trailers.
Walmart Neighborhood grocery stores expected us to navigate their tiny parking lots to come to a tiny loading dock with zero turn around room pulling a 53 foot trailer. Then slide it down a 9 foot wide chute to get to the dock doors. It was a friggin nightmare. Those docks were designed for box vans.
Your right Sir. I left trucking last year . Sold my truck and all the equipment due to high costs, low rates, high fuel, money grubbing contractors . After 31 years I was done.
If I was to do it again I’d stick to company driver. Even if the rates fall you’ll kind of be ok and your not on the hook for all the expenses.
Trucking rates will come back eventually , but whom knows when ?
Also I’m remarried now , 55 and want to enjoy life and weekends off. I did my time and now it’s time to hand the reins to the younger drivers . It’s they’re turn to run it all now wether that be into the ground or to success . Only time will tell.
I’m a young driver just starting out. I’ve never made more then 30k in my life. I’m excited to make more money then ever. I don’t have any kids or wife. I’ll take the reigns bro don’t worry we got this
@@flonkasyou’re going to look 55 in your 30s. Take this reigns boy and make those companies money off your back !
@@poonetidestroyer8955 yes sir
@flonkas don't believe the hype, you won't make a lot of money in trucking
It's not just low pay. I love how a driver will drive a company truck, and he is somehow responsible for poor maintenance and the resulting fine. Police mark truck drivers as an easy source of revenue.
I pointed out a problem with the brakes on a truck I was driving, and the owner said not to worry about it. went on for weeks till I was pulled on the weigh scale for random inspection. 4000 dollar fine that I was responsible for. The company refused to pay the fine ( I quit after that). Needless to say, they didn't repair the truck either. Yeah, and then the inspector told me I should not have driven truck. I'm sure my mortgage company would have totally understood.
It didn't take me many months to figure out that this was an occupation with no future.
I quit. I’m at home right now I’ll never go back. the pay, dot always on the hunt, people throwing trash out the windows, no place to park, not worth it.
I honestly got into this back in 2010 since I sucked at academics after repeated college attempts and my social skills were always a bust. Just got to get some light exercise and cut out the junk food. I carry a bicycle and the company provides a decent fridge to keep fresh groceries in.
I also drive regional tanker and get home for 2-3 days each week. Better jobs are out there. Just got to get your start where you can and bone out to some place better once you get that 1-2 years in. Of course it also helps if one lives in an urban area with more hourly/local options.
Thanks for exposing this this should be illegal. Keep the videos coming.
I drove Trucks for nearly 30 years before I retired a few years ago. I am so glad that I got out of the Trucking Industry and retired. I drove for the last company almost 12 years averaged 2500 miles a week and got home every weekend. I lived within my means. I never had a credit card and that helped tremendously.
Did you enjoy those 30 years? Let us hear your thoughts!
Awesome show and channel, I retired from over the road truck driving for health reasons, in a life long career there's only two companies that I'd vouch for, the main reason for this is they took very good care of my wife and myself, can't imagine what it's like out there now
Companies treat you as slave labor now starting you at 36 cents a mile. Random drug checks which cost you if you are in the middle of nowhere and have to drive 300 miles to a lab, Sensitive Qualcomms that alert dispatch something is wrong when it's not, no place to shut down after 11 hours, continuous diet of fast food, poor number of miles given (good loads go to lease drivers first), inconsistent pay, breakdowns, weigh stations, living a solitary stress filled life. It was all too much work to not make a decent living.
@@ap8riot931 I really enjoy your reply, 18¢ cpm was what I started at, things only got worse over time, your sentiments and mine are exactly a like !!
I've changed trucking jobs recently and love my new situation. Mine is more of a regional job close to drop and hook our store stuff only. The primary reason I quit trucking in a sense was due to the waiting to load and unload appointments and the issues finding convenient places to rest for 10 hours. Couldn't keep rolling and schedule other loads due to those primary issues.
IM A OTR COMPANY DRIVER , THIS VIDEO IS THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN REGARDING THE INDUSTRY IT'S 100% ON POINT ❗️
I left trucking of 15yrs January this year and went into armed security making $1,000 a week not including overtime. I made more in trucking before freight bottomed out. Now days your lucky to make $1,000 a week in trucking.
I live in Alberta, Canada, and I am going to be making about 180k to 190k this year. I am a company driver working 4 and 4, and my pay system is based on peace work. 7:58 better than hourly rate or kilometers rate. My take home every week is $3000 approximately take home sometimes a little bit more. It is surprising that some drivers will stay on companies that under pay them and treat them like garbage. I hope this helps 🙏
Nah.
180k!! And not with your truck?? How can they manage to pay you that high ? Are you doing regional or crossing into states as well ?
No US travel, just 4 provinces AB SK BC and MB. Remember that we only work 4 and 4, so we can't travel much more than this distances.
@@unclechico2849 that's actually pretty wicked be able to make that much and not using your own truck! No maintenance no insurance no worrying aboot breakdowns headache free (almost)
@@unclechico2849 Yes, some more details to that...16 hour on duty per day - 13 hour driving per day, high mountain driving in winter (-38 Celsius) or maybe some time sensitive TDG such as Sulphur? Maybe you do heavy equipment haul? No easy comfortable trucking job pays that much...I have seen way too many experienced drivers getting off the cliff or got a head on with a suicide-drug addict-aboriginal/indian or with a real buffalo-moose...
Great video! My only concern is that there are too many people in trucks and not enough freight at the moment!
I'm paying guaranteed millage per week, if they drive less, I pay agreed guaranteed miles, if they drive more than agreed milage, than I pay what ever they drove.. but with this economy, it is getting harder and harder
Very good! A million and a half came into trucking since 2020, so let me know when they are out.
Tribe transportation out of Gainesville Georgia I went there with the intention to work and then did road test I pulled to the side of the road and told him it's not safe and needs wheel alignment you can definitely tell. And I wasn't able to retake the test wow .
I'm so stressed out sitting in winslow arizona at the pilot...the company i've been running for almost a month. I only got paid $366.00, ,I thought we had labor laws. But they don't even give a fUK,
I’d clean, detail, and photograph the truck and leave it on their property. That pay is disrespectful
If you have been running steady and don't owe a bunch back to them in advances and have only made 366.00$ I'd be looking for a bus station and go home.
Update finally got paid in full, took advice from the US labor board, and state of California, plus I delivered their last load to a walmart DC in San Bernardino, CA ,then posted up in their truck and refused to moved it for two days then they caved in, $$$$
I found a gig that pays me by the day even if the truck doesn't move. When I do move, it's 6 hours a day. On top of that I get per diem for every night that I stay in the truck which is usually 4 nights a week (I do get home once or twice a week too), and I'm home weekends. Weekends start early afternoon Friday. If I left this company, I don't think I'd find another gig like this, and would probably turn in my CDL. #FLATBEDGANG
May I ask the name of your company?
😂😂
The biggest thing for me is the amount of time you are not getting payed for but essentially are still working. It’s not something I plan to be doing long.
That's an issue that persists in a lot of industries too. Think about it. How many do you know have to be up at 6 for their 9 - 5 and aren't home until 7 or 8? Or even owner operators who have to deadhead? There are many things that contribute towards your work that don't count as work that you simply don't get paid for
The only difference between Trucking and Telemarketing is that you need a license to truck. OTR is a scam and dog shit pay. I went local beer delivery with my CDL and couldn't be happier. With the Overtime and hours, the pay is about the same. Plus I get home nightly. Sure, the elbow grease is there, but who cares?
I got offered a home every day job from a Budweiser contractor straight out of school. Should have seen the looks on the instructors and recruiters faces when I told them I refuse to do OTR. They had the typical "YOU HAVE TO DO OTR CUZ I DID" super trucker mentality. I ended up taking a regional job though. Don't regret my decision, but think I would have been better off doing the Budweiser job. All worked out in the end because I begin a food service job in two weeks. Which I would have went for regardless of who I started with. Imo the elbow grease is just a paid workout. Always had jobs that required labor and sweat, and being in the Florida sun.
@BryanM45 born and raised in Boca Raton man. Worked outside most of my life. But fuck super truckers, and fuck OTR.
I've been driving since 1996 seen lot hustle trying get people come there company I'm lucky nuff own my own truck good luck all drivers b safe n careful
Talks like real brother who understands man
You are telling the truth.
Not to mention, it is a short term career also with the transition to autonomous vehicles (main goal to remove driver from the truck). You will definitely have to apply for the SAVE program if you plan on investing in a CDL.
😅
Great video. I been telling guys to stop taking percentage not only is it less per mile but when they pay percentage they can alter the ratecon
Never thought i would become a truck driver but gave it almost a year and a half as a company driver and really considering leaving the industry or at least getting out of the truck. IMO, the compensation and sacrifice away from home just isn't worth it any longer.
We're sorry to hear🙁
America needs to forget Reagan's nonsense propaganda. What we need is a strong union like Verdi in Germany.
I hope to have my CDL within the next few weeks, but I will be picky about the job I do accept, the biggest factor like you said is balancing the work and home life, that is huge. There are companies where you only have to work 9 to 10 hours each day and bring home $1300 to $1800 a week and that's even driving local, even if it takes a few weeks after getting my CDL to find that it will be worth the wait. I refuse to go OTR, I'm not that young anymore and the wife will not put up with me being gone for a week or weeks at a time and neither will I.
Can’t be too picky because most good paying companies won’t hire you without driving history and experience
Sir let me tell ya, you want be a picky?on this job even there is no job at all for new drivers at this time am just advising you if you get a job jut accept any salary unless you have your own truck! And I wish you good luck.
Drive dump truck by the hour.. start from there... like a paving company...
Good luck😂
rookie driver being picky & demanding too pay??
Refusing to go over the road as a rookie driver cause of your relationship ? (Respect) but may I ask what you got a Cdl for exactly? I mean you could get a local job I suppose, but , your gonna need some experience before getting the big bucks dude.
I worked for CR England for 6 months. You do not get paid for loading and unloading. They paid 20 cents per mile on highway miles only, and when you are sitting in Traffic, that 10 miles per hour means you are making less than minimum wages. I asked for 3 days off but they sent me a load and the manager called me at home asking me why I did not respond to the text on the Truck. I quit the very same day.
Thank you for what you do I've learned a lot already in just a few months of watching you
For me the #1 reason drivers leave the industry is unprofessionalism, mostly new drivers showing no respect for the profession, good companies (which are a few) will compete for the best drivers but very few newcomers these days are giving their best.
^^^Fucking THIS!!!!^^^
I have been driving since 1977, and a lot of new drivers are shit.
The park wherever they want, to the point where Walmart is banning semis from their parking lots because they're tired of picking up piss bottles, or customers unable to use the lot because some asshole just pulled up and stopped where he wanted, blocking 50 spaces.
Example, Deming New Mexico.
This is not new to 2023 was the same in 1989
@@Victorseafog If it was the same in 1989 trucking wouldn't exist today, there's always been unprofessionalism in every profession but not at the level of trucking today.
In our current situation we are professional low paid bums.
And they frown about job hopping. Thanks for the info and great video
It's a stressful, but very necessary line of work for this country to maintain itself. Treat drivers with the respect they deserve. That's corporate greed though, I guess
About 30 years ago, I tried driving truck but I only lasted 2 weeks. The job is so incredibly demanding with 50 or more important responsibilities that will get you in big trouble if you mess up. There's no allowance for rookies, you have to be an overnight expert driver right from your first day. I can't imagine anyone wanting to drive truck, at all
It really is incredibly demanding
There is no easy solution to this problem. I see truck ads that say "Get Miles / Get Home" but, you can't have it both ways!! You have to sacrifice one for the other if you want to make money! The other problem is wages. No one is going to stand up and pay drivers what they are worth. If they did, the consumers would wind up paying the increase through higher prices!! Also, if more drivers leave and goods are harder to get, consumers pay the price again! This whole situation is damned if you do, damned don't!!! There are too many losers and not enough winners!!??
i’m fortunate enough to be an owner operator with a business co-run with my father. i get 1500 a week but i work 70 hours a week. this is my first time driving a big truck ever and my first time (aside from being in the military) that i’ve had to pull 70+ hour weeks. i definitely would not be doing this AT ALL if it wasn’t for the 1500 a week lmao. i don’t want to do this but this pay is more than good enough to where i can push past that. i think we can safely say all human beings are like this…
Why? There are companies that pay 1500 a week for company drivers without any expenses. If you take home 1500 as OO, how much you actually making after all the expenses?
$9-10,000 + to get a licence in Ontario now and then nobody wanting to hire people with less than 2 years experience makes it tough to get into the seat.
I'm running propane bottles these days (super-B) set to make $135,000.00 this year... catch... 4 days at home each month. Rest of the time, I'm on the road... paid by the hour and 36 hour resets on the road are all paid a flat $300.00.
I tell anyone interested in trucking to get some experience with dry van or flat deck... then go into something more specialized such as chemical/ fuel/ cryogenic transport, crane trucks, heavy haul/ overdimensional. The more skill and responsibility the job requires, the better the pay.
True that! As long as they don't mind not being home as often
@@NorthAmerican-Trucking-News yup... wife doesn't mind😄 happy to kick me out after a few days
I really enjoyed the dissertation of the trucking payouts..! Stay on top of the game watching this..!
I appreciate you for pointing that percentage pay structure ALWAYS HAS BEEN the industries way of using an illusion to underpay the driver.
I left the beginning of June 3 months ago I’ve had it 28 years but I can’t stay in a truck all year long for lower pay now than ever before
I don’t make much now but I’m home eating nice meals sleeping in a real bed signed up at planet fitness walking every morning
I’m out of the business and I’m not looking back
The way I see it, truck driving is a way of life and not just some job/career. During Covid, there was a massive freight boom with an actual driver shortage. There were plenty of people that considered driving a truck because of how much drivers were making a week at that time. Since then, Rates have leveled, fuel prices stayed kinda high, and the freight volumes have leveled to the Obama years. If you're a person that values your home life, and can't take the long hours, or live in a high cost of living state like the east/west coast, or even have no drive to excel and work your way up the ladder, then trucking just isn't for you. Again, the way I see it, all the people that are leaving, are people that either weren't truly cut out for the life, or are retiring, or are paying more for a truck payment than what they make after hauling loads for the week because they came in during the height of Covid. Yeah sure it sucks right now, and there are probably better "careers" out there that best suit your lifestyle, but for the people that CAN make it in even a crappy situation that the industry is in currently, then those people will get to reap the rewards when the market is back to "normal" and those people would have learned to not spend their money right away when the money is good again. There will come a time when the market is profitable again.
As for the hourly thing, hourly in most cases (realistic cases) would be worse that what most would make per mile. Is pay bad right now? Yeah, but the best way to get your money for all hours worked would be for the companies to pay a minimum of $30 usd for all detention, and all non driving hours. This includes, waiting for a truck wash/trailer washout, breakdown hours, waiting in line at the fuel islands, etc. Not to mention that they should pay overtime in cpm for all miles over 2000 miles the same way that hourly workers get paid. That way a driver that makes 0.50 cpm would be making 0.75 cpm after the 2000 miles driven for that week. Lets say the average is 2500-3000 miles a week (if you're moving freight, and your company has freight to give you) you go from $1,250-$1,500 before taxes to $1,375-$2,000 before taxes. Not to mention any non driven hours you may have collected during that week. With this method, not only would you be paid for all hours worked, but you wouldn't be exempt from overtime.
Some companies have their ways of giving bonuses like safety, mpg, on time deliveries, etc, but most of the companies that offer those incentives, require a 2-3 year minimum driving experience. First year trucking jobs are always going to pay little to nothing, and this is because these new driver are expensive as all hell to insure, and CDL school isn't cheap either. But I will say that some of these companies do pay less than they should EVEN for the greenhorn drivers coming to the industry. But it's up to you to do your research, and not be scammed but the Swifties, and the CRE's of the industry.
Edit: This may sound really harsh to some, but if you are having any doubts about the industry at this time, or are meaning to leave the industry at some point soon, please do so. With the freight shortage right now, whatever load you would've taken would potentially go to a driver that has no doubts, or needs that extra freight to stay afloat. During Covid we had a huge influx of new drivers/companies that are still around taking freight from real truckers that didn't get into the industry during Covid just to make a quick profit at the expense of the real drivers. WE DO NOT HAVE A DRIVER SHORTAGE, WE HAVE A LOAD SHORTAGE.
I'd also really like to see them ban/crackdown B1 and B2 visa CDL holders, or ANY non permanent resident, or anyone that cannot read, write, or speak English, or at the very least Spanish. Those drivers are a safety hazard, and they are stealing freight from those that deserve it. This would not fix the industry but it sure would help.
Thanks for sharing! I definitely agree with you, the trucking community has long since elevated from being just another job.
It is a hard job, takes a lot of sacrifice which in the end it may not be worth. Opting for local work or crane truck work at least can keep you on the move although hours can also be long and worst - the job can be addictive and exciting 😅
I made $60,000 in 1990 driving 55mph and 19 cents a mile, I purchased a tractor in 2013 was home less than I made $120,000 in my second year after paying the truck expenses, I ended up clearing $20,000 than the government took $2,000 in taxes so I actually made $18,000, my wife retired from wendy's and made more than that, we were taking care of her parents at the time and she stayed home with them and I was on the road and was home at best 3 days a month, the money isn't there anymore and the companies push with the electronic logs that killed older truck drivers like myself. I am now out of trucking for good and feel for the ones that are doing it now, things have gotten bad out there and I wouldn't be able to take it anymore.
Im a new driver about to start on the 28th. My new company pay is $120/day.. I did the Math and that comes out to $15/hr before tax.. $2,160/mo .. $25,920/year.. NOT Worth it for me to be away from Family while the world and economy is unstable.... but I need the Experience so I can hopefully get paid more later.. No Local Jobs for Newbies..
This guy is telling the truth. If I am lucky I get 2hours a week with family. And I am a local pd driver. I am off on weekends but to burnt out to do anything!!!!
So glad I sold my truck this April and got into construction. Two decades of being treated like a sack of 💩 was enough for me.
Not to gross sales or per mile pay any more, we want hourly pay for the time sitting on the truck, and you should be happy with no paying for sleeping on the truck. companies grow to fast thanks to the hard work on the driver and for not paying driver his time
I'm a retired teacher with a pension. I was thinking about trucking as a retirement gig. Sounds like it would be fun and profitable. However, seeing truckers' experiences on YT has made me change my mind. First year OTR with someone I don't know making less than minimum wage just to "prove" myself? No way.
If I could go through school and get a profitable local gig, or a regional job where I could be home every other day or so, I'd consider it.
So you retire only to work again. Americans are funny
@@ceciliaabdalla4954 The media image portrayed of America is wrong. Yes, some Americans DO have to take a job even after retirement due to the insane inflation and crumbling economy
I make $.67 a mile and get two days off with Hogan transportation Target account. It takes me 10 to 11 1/2 hours a day to finish my load. Double dropping hooks. Local. No live unloading as much as it irritates me… It really is a good job.
Nice, nice!
Been at it 23 years!! Life is good!!
I do local delivery in a box truck(18 pallets) and i have a fixed monthly income with some bonus, i can get like 150 miles in a day but more common is around 120 miles.
I enjoy the job but it can be heavy when you have to move heavy pallets of the truck, so far 1 metric ton has been the heaviest and i can feel it in my arms and shoulders.
I do live in Sweden so pay is different but i get just below $3000 a month(base pay) then overtime and such on top of that.
I make 3 times less now than when I started in 2018. Had to switch companies 4 times and every time it gets lower. 😢
Me too :( sad. I started in 2017, was getting paid less than in 2017 and that's low. Sad...