well what ever you do, dont be like the idiot semi drivers that drive next to each other for miles and miles going the same speed, not letting anyone around. that really aggravates me.

 

that usually means that there is a woman it the truck on the right and a man on the left ,and i was just wandering im not really interested alot

 

Wow, I think that 2 dollars a mile is alittle bit high. I drove OTR for 5 years and I was lucky to make about .90cents a mile. That was for a company driver but if your an Owner Operator you will make more.


James

 

did u like it?

 

Sean,

I have been driving for about 9 years now. Im telling ya, its probably the easiest way to make $$$ if your working for the right company.


Start out as a company driver, NOBODY has any buisness buying their own truck to be an owner operator as their first step.

Your looking at payments of about $600-$700 a week for a new truck. Figure another $150 a week for insurance. You will need to drive at least 2700-3500 miles a week to make good money. Fuel costs any where from $2.38 - $2.80 a gallon depending on where you get it, and you only get 5-7 mpg. Then theres the ever so popular Tolls and Highway taxes at the end of the year...Usually about $15,000 a year. And then there are repairs. $150 dollar oil changes and tires that cost any where from $200-$700 a peice.

Start out driving for some one else.....give it a year or two just to see if you like it. If you dont like it, you can just quit. Its also better to get experience driving some one elses truck instead of wrecking your own.

Remember, every accident, break down, or misshap could possibly put you out of buisness for a week or two when your an owner operator.

 

As far as being a company driver, You have alot of options.

You can stay out out a month at a time, You can be home every night. Most places can get you home every week end. Pay also varies, but its not so straight forward.

Pay per mile doesnt mean much if your constantly sitting around waiting.

But if your making 37 cents a mile and your humming along at 80 mph, your making almost $30 an hour.

I have made runs that are 1600 miles out, unload and reload at the same dock, and then 1600 miles back. It took 4 days.

I have made 500 mile runs with 20 stops that took 4 days.



I have a freind who started out at "Swift", his last week there, he only got few hundred miles. At the end of the week after he figured in taxes, meals, and showers...... he made a whopping $5.75

So its hard to figure on exactly what you will be making based only on pay per mile.


The average CDL driver makes $33,000 a year. If your willing to stay out and are dependable, you could probably be making $50,000 easy in your second or third year.

I made almost $48,000 last year and I get every 4th day off, plus 3 weeks of vacation. Nothing to do but eat fast food and Listen to Sirius all day long.

Honestly, at this point I cant imagine myself doing any thing else. It been almost a decade since I had a supervisor breathing down my neck or some stupid quota to fill. You'll never get me in a factory again..... NEVER.


P.S. hey Built54

I hear ya, Its usually caused by turned down trucks that cant go any faster then that. Theres nothing like waiting for a 63 MPH truck to get around a 62.5 MPH truck......especially in a 70 MPH zone.

Governors suck..........

 

PODUNK's got some good advice there. Also, a lot of company's will/require you to go through their training, especially if you don't have much time behind the wheel (it's an insurance and safety thing).

 

I work for Jim Palmer Trucking in Missoula Montana, started as a mechanic now dispatching my own fleet of 44 trucks. Pay depends usually on years of experience, and what kind of benefits they offer, i know we start new drivers out at .32 cents a mile with only one year experience.

 

did not know that...

 

A guy I work with drove long haul for Tyson for a bit, haulin' chicken from here to there.

He said the pay was pretty good, but everything else about the job sucked; he was only home two or three days a week, your body gets racked with weird sleep schedules and tons of time on the road, combined with less-than-healthy eating habits. You've got to put up with hundreds of thousands of other idiots running around on the road - driving a truck, one accident or wreck could literally end your career.

It's not a job I'd want to do.

 

As someone who has driven nothing but governed trucks for the last 16 years, the best part about passing someone with a 65 mph truck is running up on a rig that's been running 60 in a 65. Getting out to pass when you're not yet in the way; and, the asshat accelerates on you when you're half way around and let's traffic catch up. Then, after you drop in behind him to let traffic go around, he decelerates to hold you up again. After he gets finished playing with you (Usually miles down the road.) he takes off like a bat out of hell. Probably very proud of himself with a crap eating grin on his face.

 

is it hard to get a cdl? is it hard to find a company that requires no experiece?

 

most companies say no experience necessary, they will teach you all you need to know, but as you know, you will need to have a background of pulling trailers, or you will not get anywhere, but by seeing that awesome truck you drive, im sure you have that covered. Getting a CDL is not that hard, just read over the book and take the test.

 

thanks 4 the comment on the truck the f150 looks pretty sharp too!

would i have to go to truckdriving school?

 

More than likely.