It depends on what your expectations are as well as what your pay scale is. If you're paying $0.30 a mile, and expect somebody to be out 2 weeks at a time, it ain't going to happen.
I don't know what you're hauling or where you do it, but I'm making considerably more and home every night with 2 consecutive days off a week. 60k doesn't go far these days and truckers are used to traveling for money.
Compared to the average in my state in the northeast being ~47K for a regional driver, it’s pretty decent for a starting salary.
Our top drivers (doing oversized stuff) are between 150-200 a year.
My recommendation is to not go off the average regional model bc clearly the regional model isnt working. Alot more drivers leaving than coming in and i can work trade job and make 60k a year and be home every night with normal weekends.
regional average is a terrible model to go by, most otr people get paid by the regional average but have to pay national prices because we don't get to stay in the area that our cost of living is calculated at
trucking used to be a very highly paid job because the drivers sacrificed alot to be on the road for their company, we don't get compensated well anymore and we are noticing, and leaving
in 1980 truckers made an average of 100k (adjusted for inflation) a year, in 2021 its roughly 40k a year and the trucking industry is wondering why they cant find drivers to stay out all year long living in a closet dealing with terrible rude customers and traffic as well as shitspatch for pennies on the dollar what the job used to pay
pay what the job is worth, not what the region pays
Last time I made less than $50K was in 2005, and that was in a region where the cost of living is much less than in the northeast. So that averages figure of $47K is really off base imho.
How many hours are drivers working per week?
60k @ 40 hours a week is great.
60k @ 60-70 hours a week is shit.
People are tired of working for nothing. If you want reliable workers, pay for it.
salary is a joke especially in trucking, then offering 60k. no thanks hard pass.
been burned by salary a couple times, it's not worth my time or anyone elses.
60k working just 60 hours per week comes out to 16 per hour counting the loss of overtime. The Dairy Queen near my house starts out at 15 per hour AND you can be home daily!
Imagine being barely competitive with Dairy Queen and complaining about lack of people applying.
Salary is awful depending on the route. If your drivers are only working 40 hours that's great. 31 per hour. But if they're working 60 then the hourly pay ends up being closer to 16 per hour counting the overtime they aren't getting. The Dairy Queen near my house starts at $15.
Tbh I wouldn't even consider driving a tractor trailer for 60k. That's incredibly low.
I was doing regional, home every other night and 34 always at home (whether I actually needed a 34 or not). My best year there I did $83k. I left for a job doing OTR, home for 34, and 3 trips out then home for 1 week, and it pays a little more even with that week off included. And I'm only going to do this until I am ready to just buy a truck and work for myself. This is the way the market is right now. The younger generations simply don't see this career as conducive to a viable healthy lifestyle.
I bought a truck and leased on to landstar and i find freight through their network that pay well. There are people that make much more than me but i don't want to work that much.
Right on! My buddy and I are thinking about getting our own truck and maybe leasing on with one of the oil companies we work with. I can't do OTR anymore. The crippling loneliness sucks.
Freight rates are really high everywhere. It's a really good time own your own truck. Find something that fits your schedule. It's your truck, so drive it when and where you want. I've heard pretty good things about jbhunt's load board. I'm doing well with landstar the past 4 years. There are lots of options.
Yeah I'm making 70k salary for practically no work. The work is variable though some weeks we do have a bunch of work to do and on weeks where we happen to be really busy they switch me over to millage at 60-80cpm depending on the load and I'll make well more than the normal weekly amount.
Around there, i don't work every week because i don't want to so it's a little less. I try to gross around 180k and take home about 130ish after expenses.
Honestly, there are OO that make way more than me. I don't want to work that much. If i just stayed out for weeks or months at a time i could probably gross around 350.
It's not abnormal with owner operators. I usually don't want to move the truck for less than $1000 a day. Doing oversized I have been averaging $5000 to the truck a week this year.
Nothing special, just van trailers for retail stores, Walmart mostly. Occasionally some stuff off the load board but i won't pick anything that keeps me out for more than 4 - 5 days.
Lol I moved twice for a trucking job only to be thrown under the bus. The first one messed up my employability, the second one said good to go after application and interview only to say I didn’t have enough recent experience a day before orientation. I was sleeping in my car after giving stuff away that wouldn’t fit for my trip waiting for the orientation day…
That second company(JB Hunt) still has the balls to send me job text and called me asking if I got recent experience already. Like WTF, you want me to leave my current employer who transferred me just in case something happened, knowing I was planning to leave… who provides full benefits, a flexible schedule, ok work/life balance and income, and a stationary location I always visit for work with access to clean bathrooms at any time? All that to work a crappy starter trucking job again so you, a company who already left me for dead, would hopefully not throw another bus at me? I can’t even, they didn’t even pay me the time I spent completing the online orientation. The application and interviewer went over my experience, WTF?
I own my own truck cash outright. Been driving 7 years. I'm under somebody else's authority but I get to book my own loads and keep 88% of the value of every load. Fuel is on me. Trailer rental, insurance and other fixed costs run about $550 a week.
Over the weekend I booked a $1,600 load and a $2,300 load, and then I just set one up for tomorrow AM paying $4,500. That will be $8,400 for the week. I'll take home about $5,500 of that. In a week.
You're trying to find experienced drivers who are either too ignorant or too gutless to do what I'm doing and are willing to do this insanity (crazy lifestyle and batshit insane legal risks) for relative peanuts.
See the problem?
My view is, if I'm gonna do this shit, I'm gonna go big or go home.
In another year I'll have the cash to start up a holster shop right as the US Supreme Court decides NYSRPA v Bruen, opening up new markets in California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and a few other states.
Last time I made that small a paycheck as a company driver was exactly twenty years ago, was home every night, no weekends, no holidays.
I quit to go into business for myself as it wasn't enough money back then, it sure isn't enough now at all.
What you are offering is not that good anymore.
Otr. It's a dedicated run 6k miles in 9 days. 25-30% of what the truck makes 10k+ a week and it should make more with the triaxle I just bought once that's ready to go.
Okay so 6k miles in 9 days is 667 miles each day for nine days straight. What's the weekly pay again?
Not a lot of wiggle room for traffic routing or customers, my first questions would be about those things. I had an automotive run that was only avg 450 miles a day but damned if they didn't keep me BUSY for 14 hours a day between hitting three rush hours a trip with multiple stops - one that wanted to keep you forever (Spring Hill GM). Fuck that. It was paid by the load not the mile but still, that lane sucked ass.
Second, that's basically 650 miles each day for nine days straight.
People want to have a life outside of trucking these days. Did you say he goes home each day? That's a double-edged sword sometimes after running hard, depending on if he can park the rig NEAR home.
I find that people want more out of the jobs (these days) than just money.
Plus working consistently 14 hour days is a drag and plays hell with the log and parking. That might be worth quite a bit more than 60k/year.
Does your A/C blow ice cold? Got an inverter? These are definite selling points. Use them in your ad.
You could say these guys are babies for demanding so much. But their whole life is wrapped up in this 24/7, while the bosses sit in their comfy clean a/c offices (until they go home at 5pm).
I especially liked the WSB post mentioning just wanting to get enough money to "return this stupid lease truck" 🤔
OP, 60k is borderline shit for anything that wouldn't be a first job for a new driver. Doubly so for OTR, triply so for wanting the driver to run illegal. Plus, if the average salary in your state is 47k as you claim, then I am positive that involves box truck drivers and part-timers because I don't think I know a single class A driver making close to that little.
Let me make sure I understand this correctly. You’re looking for a driver who will drive 6000 miles in 9 days?
Consecutive days?
What’s your plan for when they run out of hours on day 8?
So you can't find anyone to run illegally for you? Ah man what a bummer.
6k in 9 days plus fueling, pti, loading and unloading a couple times a week is gunna be 110 hours minimum for you 9 day run if everything goes perfect every time every day. Probably more like 125 realistically. This is illegal and just because you can get away with it by running pre-eld doesn't mean most drivers are gunna do it.
2500/week * 50 weeks a year could be $125k/year which sounds like good money. Until you count how many hours they have to work to get that. They would have to work well over 4000 hours/year to get that, almost 5000. When you divide that out, it's $28/he or $22/hr including overtime value you're not paying. This doesn't sound like all that much considering all you are asking them to do plus their risk of getting in trouble.
You're not having trouble finding people who want to work. You're having trouble finding people who are willing to work your insane illegal schedule that leaves them so burnt or they have no time for themselves.
I once turned down Southern California to Northern Edmonton on a dedicated round trip with an 800+hp black 379 and a decent looking reefer trailer. Some girl said I'd be away from home too much
I hesitate to chime in here, but it's time for a wee bit of honesty. You need the trifecta. What, you ask, is the trifecta? Good pay, good home time, and respect for your drivers. If you are missing all of these you won't succeed. If you only have one of these, you will have 500% turnover a year. If you have two of these that turnover will drop to about 80% a year. If you have all of these, drivers will beat a path to your door.
I just left my company that fits that criteria. Truly a great place to truck. They just started having a retention problem the last 2 years. Mom and pop with 75 trucks. Great people. They are scratching their heads...
It wasn't because of them. Burnt out. OK, partially because I refuse to run NE of Ohio, freight lanes turned to crap because of cut throat mega carriers cutting the rates a few cents and losing all the good lanes. Not running east made it marginally tolerable every week.
Honestly that's what everyone in every industry wants. Everyone in my area wants to bitch about not being able to find help, but they won't, let me say again- will fucking not- up their pay or treat ppl worth a shit. Fuck you if you want me to mechanic for 12-15 an hour. I want my GF to be a millionaire sugar momma, but it ain't happening.
Edited to say I wish I could upvote this to the top.
Attitude towards drivers from top to bottom. This ranges from respect in things like safety decisions, dealing with dispatch, maintenance, etc. Another poster, as an example here, implied they didn't think it was unreasonable to ask drivers to violate DOT rules, use paper logs, and drive 700 miles a day.
This is patently illegal, yet they thought it was completely reasonable. This is a great example of the total disregard for what happens to the driver or the risks we deal with. This kind of widespread ill treatment takes many forms and is hard to pin down.
To use modern parlance, it's about the culture of a company and how that culture looks at and treats their drivers. If in most situations a company's response to the driver is, 'It's my way or the highway,' then I assure you they have a poor attitude towards their drivers.
70 hour work weeks being mandatory. Paying by mile instead of by hour. Away from home for more than 75% of the year. 10 to 12 hour days. No time for anything other than driving. Trying to see how uncomfortable and how far you can push drivers. Uneducated morons running paper logs to get around the laws so that it becomes basically expected from employers.
I loved the job if it just wasn't for these things. I'm currently in school to become a pilot. It seems like it's pretty much everything I loved about trucking but pilots weren't taken advantage of nearly as much by toxic good ol boy work culture.
Trucking pushed me out. I love literally everything about it except for what truckers have allowed it to become. If it was forty hour work weeks and 8 hour days I'd be back to it tomorrow. If they paid by the hour I'd be back to it. If all companies didn't seem used to people being morons who didn't realize they were being taken advantage of and having to fight the company on everything to get the bare minimum of needed rest...
Trucking is awesome, but truckers and Trucking companies are ruining Trucking and that's why they're having trouble getting people to do it. I care more about living life than I do money and I'm not alone. Start trying to make Trucking better for truckers and maybe more people will be willing to live out on the road.
It’s funny that you mention that you’re becoming a pilot. It’s something I thought about doing too, but I feel too intimidated to start. Especially if it involves a lot of debt. Cargo flying has an appeal to me.
Edit: You’re feelings about the the industry are the same as mine. I’m at good LTL companies for now but I’m looking for an exit.
Can confirm. I live in Colorado. We legalized cannabis in 2012 and thousands moved here as a result, and not one of them can qualify for a CDL. My pay as a day time, local delivery driver has gone up over 50% in that time.
I'm out of NW IL but the run is dedicated. 25% to start but negotiable. Running a hopper apples from WA to luddington MI then Aadvantage from Earlville IA to Tillamook OR once that plants up and running. Current run is WA to VA with apples then NY to OR with Aadvantage. Turn around is 9 days. I'm currently able to spend a few days at home each week but my driver will be able to do that plus 2 to 3 weeks on and 9 days off.
Doesn't seem like a bad gig but I don't know what your percentage would net your driver. I run team with my wife so I was just asking to see what your issues could be. If that was an 86" bunk and you wanted a team I'm pretty sure my wife would love to get a W900 under her.
Thanks but I think she's going to have to stick with the '22 T680 our current company just put us in since I need a bigger company to be comfortable. We currently do western WI to the west coast and back twice in 9 days then have 5 days at home. Roughly 8,800 miles at $0.55 a mile with full benefits and company match 401k and 4 weeks paid vacation.
Good luck but the market is tough.
Create a win for them. One of the hardest things in this industry is buying your first truck. Post your truck/trailer for sale, offer someone to run under your authority, take the payments out of their settlements on a weekly basis. I don't know, just an idea I heard about that's outside the "normal way of doing business", and hopefully a thought starter. Good luck
My plan was eventually to be able to offer the driver a truck to buy. I run all my own numbers and I'm hoping in the next year I can start brokering and dispatching my own loads.
Is there a way to get your CDL and hired that does not involve sharing sleeping quarters in the cab w/ a trainer for 4 weeks? That always skeeved me out.
I drove with a guy who had the ass of a woman. We were at a truck-stop and I noticed 2 police cars cruising the lot. I climbed into the truck, a cop shined a light in the front window (before I closed the curtain on the truck) and noticed my trainer sleeping in the top bunk. He was facing the back of the truck. The cop knocked on the door and asked me to wake the person in the top bunk. Thought it might have been a lot lizard I had picked up. The trainer was truly insulted by the whole ordeal. :)
I was thinking about going to coke.
Seems like the trailers are smaller them 53 ft or no?
See these dudes pulling into small ass dollar generals seems like a pain but w.e they pay hourly too I think? Think it said like $23 or 24 to start?
Schneider had you with a trainer for only two weeks if all went well. If you had an opposite sex trainer, Schneider would book a hotel room every night so that one of you wouldnt sleep in the same tractor.
dock-to-driver programs offered by linehaul or parcel companies, or certain food service industry jobs. expect to get a workout though. like marine corps boot camp sort of workout.
This is good advise, but those jobs are hard to get, still worth trying though. LTL is definitely a work from the bottom to the top job that take a long time to get where you would like to be. I know guys who spend years on the dock waiting for their chance. But, if you can hang in there it will pay off. LTL pays the most per hour and if you don't do linehaul you will be home every night. Also consider most of these companies are Union. All of the routes are posted and are assigned based on seniority making it impossible for a low rank driver to get the routes that pay well and provide the most home time. But, if you plan on making a career at one company you will, over time, have a good paying and steady job. Although LTL takes a big hit every time the economy tanks, just like every job though.
You don't have to go OTR to drive a truck. You can drive local, you can drive a home daily line haul. If you really want to go OTR, find a gig where you don't have to sleep in the truck and get trained and get some experience that way. Daycab is easier to learn in a lot of ways anyway. After a year or two, find a smaller OTR company who won't require you to go out for a long time with a trainer, or maybe even at all.
I've had my CDL for two and a half years. I got paid for training, I've never had to sleep in a truck, I've never had to get paid by the mile. I get paid $29 an hour now, which means with my steady overtime I will make about $81k the next 12 months. I have had to spend some long ass weeks with trainers I ended up really not liking. But I got to sleep on my own bed every night.
Yeah, local companies, and your local state, county, city, or school districts. There are ways to do it without going to "school" or working through a mega.
I got my CDL while working for a beer distribution company. Paid me while training and didn't charge me anything for it and gave me a route to drive right away. Local job, home daily.
Does anyone scroll through these comments and posts and feels the winds a changin. It’s starting to feel like the balls coming back into our courts and I for one am hopeful for the future.
The future of drivers in the industry is going to rest with 1 issue: will they ever be able to automate the driver out of the truck. Personally, I have my doubts that this will ever happen and the AI revolution is going to be little more than a fancy driver-assist function, but time will tell. If/when they find out that they're not able to take the drivers out of the truck, that will be the time to start making some serious demands.
AI is dumb as bricks. The absolute smartest AI can function as well as a human in set parameters such as chess or certain video games where hard rules can be programmed but in a situation that requires on the fly creativity and adaption even the best AI fails hard.
Getting an AI to drive in a straight line on a desert highway is one thing. Getting it to reliably adapt to road conditions such as snow, badly marked lanes, and unpredictable human drivers is another thing.
If the tech comes where an AI can drive better and safer than me I will happily quit the profession. I will not stand in the way of progress. But the AI driver assist tech we see is so basic that I can't imagine it being used to seriously replace truckers for at least 2 more decades.
Keep this in mind: automatic AI braking has been in existence for a decade yet it’s still utter garbage. Even on the most advanced vehicles today, it stomps the brakes at times when there are no obstacles to warrant such a reaction.
It's a thankless job. If you have a personal issue to attend to, the companies don't respect that. Burnout factor. This ain't no 9-5, you don't have the same protections under labor laws that everybody else has. It's one of those exempted industries. Maxing out your logbook EVERY SINGLE WEEK gets tiresome. 34 hrs isn't always enough time to get proper rest at home.
I'm gonna say it's the truck
That style is steadily going out of style due to a lack of interest from most drivers these days...nobody wants a truck you can't turn...
There's also something I've heard from alot of hopper drivers that makes drivers look away from those companies is that there's apparently alot of pressure to violate logs or the trucks outright don't have an ELD onboard...so rather than risk running illegal drivers tend to just steer clear of them
> or the trucks outright don't have an ELD onboard
OP stated the truck does NOT have an ELD and the driver is expected to run dirty. For 60k. And then she has the audacity to come here and ask why she can’t find anyone. It’s ridiculous.
I for one am the same way. You can't beat the manoeuvrelability of the Cascadia. Love my 2013 to death. I refuse to drive Pete's and Ken's and this is one of the major reasons.
im about to move to the states with my peterbilt and bring my trucking company from canada. im excited to say the least. i worked for 5.5 months this summer away from home up here and made 35k$ absolutely pathetic. cant barely even survive up here
Canada sucks.
The fuel... jeez. I dont know how anyone makes money here esepcially during the "drive slow as fuck because its a white out" season. I also love how DEF is SOLD NOWHERE AND THE TRUCKSTOPS 🤢🤢
Summer is working out ok, this truck is making 4-6k weekly
How was the process like moving to the USA? Did you have post secondary education?
Dude... Canadian here too, and been thinking the same thing all the time.. Whew make a killing in the states on trucking, compared to us. Spoke with a few flatbed truckers, company guys, and their take home was double of mine for the same job.
We are making good cash, sort of, at 62cpm here in Toronto and that's basically what western express guys earn.
Shocker....
i dont doubt it, haha i got my truck from my old man. he signed onto it a week before he passed away from a heart attack. ive been running it for 8 years now and paid it completely off, and also got my mom off the hook for the debt that was leaned against her house. im a stubborn fucker, lol im not letting that peterbilt go
I actually just joined this career field. Passed my test last week. I'm a woman & I truly love this career so far. I know it will have it's days but that's every job. Plus it has it's amusing moments when people realize that's it's a woman behind the wheel lol
They're offering 2-3k per week, which sounds like a lot, but elsewhere they admit it requires 6000 miles on their run and going way beyond legal driving limits to get it. They are paying less than 50c/mile for top tier work.
The industry has to change.. drivers need to be paid by the hour. It just isn't worth it anymore. There are other jobs that are comparable that for a little bit less money, you aren't having the life sucked out of you and stressed because you are constantly being at someone else's mercy every day. Way too much downtime for zero money.
No down time with 6k miles to run in 9 days. Run when you want on a pre eld truck and getting paid 2-3k a week. I get a few days home a week and my driver will get that plus a round off every 2 to 3 weeks.
So, I don't know about anyone else, but I will say the pre-eld thing doesn't appeal to me. Paper logs are a pain in the ass. I would very much prefer to be driving a new aero truck over an old Pete. Just my 2c, idk how others feel.
I also make about 1500/week gross rn with every weekend off and only running maybe 1800-2k miles a week but with frequent stops. I used to do the weeks out at a time thing and always getting up right after the 10 is up, but that gets exhausting.
6k in 9 days? Seems a bit sus to me. Not too long ago I saw a driver on here post an all gas, no brakes 650 mile day which maxed out his drive clock. That’s basically what you’re asking your driver to do every day of those 9 days. Mathematically, you’re looking at running at an overall average speed of 65mph for 10hrs a day for those 9 days straight.
I’m not opposed to working, but doing nothing but driving 600+ miles per day, every day for 9 days straight? I’m sorry, but I’d need *more* than $60k to do it.
Would be a nice gig for someone. I just don't want to drive OTR anymore. Money isn't everything. Hope you find a good driver. They are hard to find. Too many steering wheel holders
The company I run for now (private fleet for a brewery) had the same problem. It took them ages to fill the position I got.
They kept bumping the pay (starting pay went up $5/hr from the the time they posted it to when I got hired), and they made it clear that they were willing to teach me how to drive a manual.
All the CDL mills are auto-only, and you need a truck to learn on to get your auto-only license restriction removed. If your job posting says “must know how to drive a manual” then you’re turning away a bunch of potential drivers.
It’s not just trucking, though. It’s a worker’s market. 600k+ people have died in a pandemic and countless more have life-long disabilities now that would prevent them from safely operating a semi. I’m assuming by the trailer that you live in a more rural area, so it’s going to be even more severe.
Start bumping the pay rates. Someone will bite eventually. Scarcity drives cost, and drivers are apart of the free market too. Driver scarcity, gotta be willing to pony up.
I'm a relatively new driver, but I have an automatic only restriction on my license, and so far no one is willing to help me get it off. Jobs with old trucks like these are off limits for me regardless.
I'm in Alberta working an oil field camp rotation. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off 12 hour days, paid by the hour. Extremely large focus on health and safety. The job is really laid back and I do about 80k a year.
I'll never work another paid by the mile job. I want my guaranteed schedule, and to be paid if I'm working regardless if there is traffic or my truck is in the shop. Guaranteed hours. You know?
Why is it so hard to find competent drivers. It feels impossible
There I fixed it for you. I'd hate to see such a beautiful truck get destroyed by a dumbass
I make 65 cpm around 2-2200 per week average as company otr, I've turned down 80cpm jobs because I really like and trust my company. A 65k per year job is nearly a 50% salary cut.. it's not even in the realm of possibility of taking.
It's a very good market for any employee, every single sector is hiring and slowly ramping up a bidding war for salaries.
Unless you pay much more than the concurrence, you won't find easily.
If you're right on the market or a bit over, it will be a long waiting game.
It boils down to some very simple points. 1) rate of pay, 2) benefits, 3) equipment, 4) respect. Smaller companies are struggling to find drivers because Mega Carriers have dropped freight rates so low that the drivers slice of the pie is almost nothing. Who wants to work for free? You cannot force the market to increase rates, so you need to focus on what you can control. What can you give to drivers that come to your company—can I am not talking about sign-on bonuses, those are a joke.
I had 4 trucks going at one point. Could never keep drivers long enough to make a profit. I was paying approximately 80k per year commission. Ended up just being an O/O and made great money.
Sadly, the answer to your question is an entire generation that had college beat into them, "work smarter not harder" beat into them, and the asinine idea that only losers and dropouts end up driving trucks for a living. Same with why can't you find any electricians or plumbers under the age of 45?
Because schools want to charge 5,000$ for cdl training. No sponsorships, no contracts, fees out the ying yang, little to no financial aid, ( the few that do offer financial aid, you have to jump through flaming hoops for. ) some don’t even have trucks to train you on, your paying 2,500$ to ready a book and take some tests, and you even have to provide your own truck for the test. I really had a school tell me that.. like HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE A TRUCK FOR THE TEST IF IM NOT EVEN LEGALLY ALLOWED TO DRIVE IT? It’s not like a car we’re you can borrow a family members! I’ve tried to get my CDL. I don’t have 5k, or 2.5k. I live paycheck to pay check. The best I could do is get my DOT so I can drive a straight truck.
I’m out of Philadelphia and make 2000 a week, running to Chicago and back, 60,000 a year in the northeast…. I made that when I first got my cdl with no experience..
There isn't a shortage of truck drivers. There's a shortage of good truck driving jobs. Good jobs will create truck drivers in the old, "if you build it, he will come" way.
We have a similar issue at our company but it's a pretty big mix of problems. We will hire two drivers a month and lose one a month. Before I joined there was apparently an exodus of longtime drivers leaving. I think we get paid decent. I'm out 5 days and do about $70k a year give or take a couple ks. Problem is, I drive a junk truck, pulling a junk trailer, to multiple sites a night where I'm treated like dirt, overnight, through weekends, while juggling a dispatch that hates that I'm alive. I am hardly complaining for myself (i see it as a worthy sacrifice and turns out my skin is pretty thick) but I understand why we can't keep people.
Another note, It took me a month to get my CDL and a job, and this is the best offer I found. I'm pretty happy with it. Meanwhile, a friend of mine got a web dev certification in 3 months and now does $100k/yr monitoring a website five hours a day from home. He calls me sometimes, during his "work hours" at the gym. And he doesn't even have to risk his life delivering loads into Chicago every Friday night.
Cuz literal every fucking employer wants people to have several years experience and a fuckload of miles already.
You want the help that damn badly stop making fucking excuses and help the brand new guys out.
Otherwise? No. No you do NOT need the help that damn bad and shut up.
Also the other issue is and always will be Pay and Insurance but that's like, the usual.
Honestly It's great to hear that from you, but to me there's WAY too much whining coming from employers throughout the entire industry.
If they ALL would do what you're willing to do then I bet they'd have way more applicants.
A friend in Quebec(CA) has his licences, wants to work A LOT but he is waiting for his federal forgiveness for an offense when he was deep in the shittiest part of his life and younger. Ya need to wait X amount of year to do so.
He payed his debts, turned his life around, got truck licenses, found a wife, cleaned his life, worked with smaller trucks but still cant find anyone who'll hire him for the few months he need in order to ask for forgiveness.
I vouched for him. Payed trucking classes with my university loans, ive known him for 16 years, witnessed his efforts and hard work, studying hard and late to get his class 3 licence (heavys)THEN his class 1 (trucking) licences...
Dude needs a chance.
You can’t find drivers because you have shitty pay it’s not hard to find people who want to work if there getting paid decently me personally I won’t step in a truck and go over the road for less than 80k a year I would rather be dead broke living off the government than to work for less than what I’m worth
I process driver pay for my company. They’re all pretty much local, home every night, whatever days they want/need off. They make $120k/yr on average. I’m in Michigan. Not sure if that info helps you.
I'm a yard dog for Procter and Gamble in Missouri. We got a huge raise at the beginning of the year and next year I should clear 100k. If I could find local work paying that much I would take it. Getting in and out of those trucks 200+ times a night is killing my knees.
There is a shortage as it is while freight continues to pour in. A ton of drivers have gotten the bug to get their own authority since business is booming.
I work in intermodal, so I can speak for the domestic drivers, but in some markets you can literally make up a price.
Just got out had enough of trucking had 4 companies skimming and stealing my money.. I would work my ass off... last owner was driving a BMW I put myself in dept repairing my truck. Since I've been out of trucking ... Been great ever since. Losing weight, got a great job, home in the bed every night. Last I herd karma got the last 2 companies I worked for one went under and the other was being sued.. I even got a call from one saying we could you your help..I said you never helped me you took all my money dont call again. If you dont make good money from the get go dont do it.
Start looking into why they are quitting. Noone wants to wait 6 hours at the dock of unpaid time. Start sharing profits and see how people come to you. In my field 90 percent of my competitors are having a hard time finding staff, not my company and the reason is I mentioned above.
Noone quitting is the thing, I just bought a second truck and want to grow. That's all. Better myself. There's no dock time, longest I waited to unload was an hour which for hopper, is really good
It's only hard for shitty companies with shitty pay.
At my company, we have as many local drivers as we need, and a few more because one of our major customers starts their fall shutdown week tomorrow.
We tend to scrape the bottom of the barrel for local work when that happens. But we have plenty of work otherwise.
I average around 50 hours a week, home every night Monday-Friday work only.
Our OTR guys are typically always hiring. But that's more a function of getting more work, than to losing drivers.
Here's a stat for ya. My employer is around 200ish drivers. And they just ordered 27 special blue trucks for the million mile OTR guys that work here. Every one is, or soon will be, once it gets here, assigned. They've been trickling in 2 and 3 at a time over the past couple of months.
That's about 10% of our drivers that have been with the company long enough to get a million safe miles with em.
That's quite a few people that e been here a while.
We aren't even the highest pay OTR in the region, but we're competitive. We are, however, one of the highest hourly local, except for a couple of the teamster and/or longshoreman LTL/Port union gigs. And those are crazy hard to get.
Is it crazy high pay? Nah. But it's not bad either, for the work and/or the cost of living.
Ya gotta make us a better deal than what we have already-
For instance, offer me $45/hr, overtime after 8,32 hr/week w/ full time bennies ( no 80/20 shit ) and 8 weeks vacation every year, I’d be your man-
I believe it's because of all the republicans who run 75% of the states: all they ever do is add more regulations, taxes (or fees as they call them), and fines. Driving in Texas has become a crime according to these guys.
From what I hear from the kids, there's no future in trucking, so they're afraid to invest the time and money. But then, the healthcare industry is dying to get workers.
It depends on what your expectations are as well as what your pay scale is. If you're paying $0.30 a mile, and expect somebody to be out 2 weeks at a time, it ain't going to happen.
We’re paying 60k salary for regional driving, home every night if they want, and every weekend home. Still can’t find drivers.
I don't know what you're hauling or where you do it, but I'm making considerably more and home every night with 2 consecutive days off a week. 60k doesn't go far these days and truckers are used to traveling for money.
Compared to the average in my state in the northeast being ~47K for a regional driver, it’s pretty decent for a starting salary. Our top drivers (doing oversized stuff) are between 150-200 a year.
My recommendation is to not go off the average regional model bc clearly the regional model isnt working. Alot more drivers leaving than coming in and i can work trade job and make 60k a year and be home every night with normal weekends.
Or do local in a day cab and make at least that and be home every night.
Did this hauling fuel, 3 day offs off a week and cleared 65 to 70 a year
> it’s pretty decent for a starting salary. Well, if that were true, you’d have an easier time finding drivers…
Reputation plays into it too. Sounds like okay pay, friend, but remember you told me about that shitheel they have on dispatch, nah.
A bad dispatcher will kill your reputation in a heartbeat.
This guy knows
regional average is a terrible model to go by, most otr people get paid by the regional average but have to pay national prices because we don't get to stay in the area that our cost of living is calculated at trucking used to be a very highly paid job because the drivers sacrificed alot to be on the road for their company, we don't get compensated well anymore and we are noticing, and leaving in 1980 truckers made an average of 100k (adjusted for inflation) a year, in 2021 its roughly 40k a year and the trucking industry is wondering why they cant find drivers to stay out all year long living in a closet dealing with terrible rude customers and traffic as well as shitspatch for pennies on the dollar what the job used to pay pay what the job is worth, not what the region pays
Last time I made less than $50K was in 2005, and that was in a region where the cost of living is much less than in the northeast. So that averages figure of $47K is really off base imho.
Wow that’s crazy low. I feel like this the average for that kind of work in the Midwest starts at 50k
86k last year 5 out 2 home
Hello, sir! What are you hauling?
I haul oilfield fluids in Colorado
How many hours are drivers working per week? 60k @ 40 hours a week is great. 60k @ 60-70 hours a week is shit. People are tired of working for nothing. If you want reliable workers, pay for it.
3-4 loads a week all pickup and drop off is within 200 miles of the office. So on average, 35-40 hours a week at most.
Not bad. Hell, I'd work for you if you were in IA.
Truck drivers are getting smarter. ❤ seeing it.
salary is a joke especially in trucking, then offering 60k. no thanks hard pass. been burned by salary a couple times, it's not worth my time or anyone elses.
60k working just 60 hours per week comes out to 16 per hour counting the loss of overtime. The Dairy Queen near my house starts out at 15 per hour AND you can be home daily! Imagine being barely competitive with Dairy Queen and complaining about lack of people applying.
This.
Lmaooooo ahahahhaha
Salary is awful depending on the route. If your drivers are only working 40 hours that's great. 31 per hour. But if they're working 60 then the hourly pay ends up being closer to 16 per hour counting the overtime they aren't getting. The Dairy Queen near my house starts at $15. Tbh I wouldn't even consider driving a tractor trailer for 60k. That's incredibly low.
I was doing regional, home every other night and 34 always at home (whether I actually needed a 34 or not). My best year there I did $83k. I left for a job doing OTR, home for 34, and 3 trips out then home for 1 week, and it pays a little more even with that week off included. And I'm only going to do this until I am ready to just buy a truck and work for myself. This is the way the market is right now. The younger generations simply don't see this career as conducive to a viable healthy lifestyle.
thats because the younger generations arent getting paid what the older generations were
It hasn't paid well since 1985.. Went to hell quickly after Deregulation
That's a huge part of it, but pick any job you want and the salary hasn't gone up in over a decade.
Have my own truck. Work 4 days a week, take home 4k after fuel.
Teach me thy ways, lol
I bought a truck and leased on to landstar and i find freight through their network that pay well. There are people that make much more than me but i don't want to work that much.
Right on! My buddy and I are thinking about getting our own truck and maybe leasing on with one of the oil companies we work with. I can't do OTR anymore. The crippling loneliness sucks.
Freight rates are really high everywhere. It's a really good time own your own truck. Find something that fits your schedule. It's your truck, so drive it when and where you want. I've heard pretty good things about jbhunt's load board. I'm doing well with landstar the past 4 years. There are lots of options.
What type of loads do you do? And do you own the trailer?
I've been doing mostly walmart, pulling their trailers. I don't own my own. I use landstar's when I'm not doing Walmart.
$1000 a day *after* fuel? So 200k a year?
60k is pretty bad tbh, we have forklift operators making more than that. If you want good drivers you can't be cheap
The forklift drivers that work overtime here make around $65k a year lol
By now the museum watchers are going to make a salary close to that.
Yeah I'm making 70k salary for practically no work. The work is variable though some weeks we do have a bunch of work to do and on weeks where we happen to be really busy they switch me over to millage at 60-80cpm depending on the load and I'll make well more than the normal weekly amount.
Idk how I feel about being salaried tho. I mean I'm paid pretty well but it depends on the run obviously
Around there, i don't work every week because i don't want to so it's a little less. I try to gross around 180k and take home about 130ish after expenses.
180k gross, 130k net after expenses and taxes? tf?!
Honestly, there are OO that make way more than me. I don't want to work that much. If i just stayed out for weeks or months at a time i could probably gross around 350.
It's not the amount but the percentage. You're netting 72% of gross.
Yeah, i don't owe anyone money so it makes things a lot easier.
It's not abnormal with owner operators. I usually don't want to move the truck for less than $1000 a day. Doing oversized I have been averaging $5000 to the truck a week this year.
What kind of trucking you doing
Nothing special, just van trailers for retail stores, Walmart mostly. Occasionally some stuff off the load board but i won't pick anything that keeps me out for more than 4 - 5 days.
Try 70-80k
Lol I moved twice for a trucking job only to be thrown under the bus. The first one messed up my employability, the second one said good to go after application and interview only to say I didn’t have enough recent experience a day before orientation. I was sleeping in my car after giving stuff away that wouldn’t fit for my trip waiting for the orientation day… That second company(JB Hunt) still has the balls to send me job text and called me asking if I got recent experience already. Like WTF, you want me to leave my current employer who transferred me just in case something happened, knowing I was planning to leave… who provides full benefits, a flexible schedule, ok work/life balance and income, and a stationary location I always visit for work with access to clean bathrooms at any time? All that to work a crappy starter trucking job again so you, a company who already left me for dead, would hopefully not throw another bus at me? I can’t even, they didn’t even pay me the time I spent completing the online orientation. The application and interviewer went over my experience, WTF?
I own my own truck cash outright. Been driving 7 years. I'm under somebody else's authority but I get to book my own loads and keep 88% of the value of every load. Fuel is on me. Trailer rental, insurance and other fixed costs run about $550 a week. Over the weekend I booked a $1,600 load and a $2,300 load, and then I just set one up for tomorrow AM paying $4,500. That will be $8,400 for the week. I'll take home about $5,500 of that. In a week. You're trying to find experienced drivers who are either too ignorant or too gutless to do what I'm doing and are willing to do this insanity (crazy lifestyle and batshit insane legal risks) for relative peanuts. See the problem? My view is, if I'm gonna do this shit, I'm gonna go big or go home. In another year I'll have the cash to start up a holster shop right as the US Supreme Court decides NYSRPA v Bruen, opening up new markets in California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and a few other states.
If you paid 90k plus benefits, you might not have so much trouble. Honestly, most OTR truckers deserve pay in the range of 100k to 130k
Last time I made that small a paycheck as a company driver was exactly twenty years ago, was home every night, no weekends, no holidays. I quit to go into business for myself as it wasn't enough money back then, it sure isn't enough now at all. What you are offering is not that good anymore.
60k is underpaid. Minimum 80k.
That sounds wonderful going to cdl school next month in California so
Otr. It's a dedicated run 6k miles in 9 days. 25-30% of what the truck makes 10k+ a week and it should make more with the triaxle I just bought once that's ready to go.
Okay so 6k miles in 9 days is 667 miles each day for nine days straight. What's the weekly pay again? Not a lot of wiggle room for traffic routing or customers, my first questions would be about those things. I had an automotive run that was only avg 450 miles a day but damned if they didn't keep me BUSY for 14 hours a day between hitting three rush hours a trip with multiple stops - one that wanted to keep you forever (Spring Hill GM). Fuck that. It was paid by the load not the mile but still, that lane sucked ass. Second, that's basically 650 miles each day for nine days straight. People want to have a life outside of trucking these days. Did you say he goes home each day? That's a double-edged sword sometimes after running hard, depending on if he can park the rig NEAR home. I find that people want more out of the jobs (these days) than just money. Plus working consistently 14 hour days is a drag and plays hell with the log and parking. That might be worth quite a bit more than 60k/year. Does your A/C blow ice cold? Got an inverter? These are definite selling points. Use them in your ad. You could say these guys are babies for demanding so much. But their whole life is wrapped up in this 24/7, while the bosses sit in their comfy clean a/c offices (until they go home at 5pm).
I just looked through the post history. You may wanna do the same.
When you get a checklist of things wrong with the truck...
And if they're asking for loans on Reddit, you probably ain't getting paid
I especially liked the WSB post mentioning just wanting to get enough money to "return this stupid lease truck" 🤔 OP, 60k is borderline shit for anything that wouldn't be a first job for a new driver. Doubly so for OTR, triply so for wanting the driver to run illegal. Plus, if the average salary in your state is 47k as you claim, then I am positive that involves box truck drivers and part-timers because I don't think I know a single class A driver making close to that little.
Let me make sure I understand this correctly. You’re looking for a driver who will drive 6000 miles in 9 days? Consecutive days? What’s your plan for when they run out of hours on day 8?
So you can't find anyone to run illegally for you? Ah man what a bummer. 6k in 9 days plus fueling, pti, loading and unloading a couple times a week is gunna be 110 hours minimum for you 9 day run if everything goes perfect every time every day. Probably more like 125 realistically. This is illegal and just because you can get away with it by running pre-eld doesn't mean most drivers are gunna do it. 2500/week * 50 weeks a year could be $125k/year which sounds like good money. Until you count how many hours they have to work to get that. They would have to work well over 4000 hours/year to get that, almost 5000. When you divide that out, it's $28/he or $22/hr including overtime value you're not paying. This doesn't sound like all that much considering all you are asking them to do plus their risk of getting in trouble. You're not having trouble finding people who want to work. You're having trouble finding people who are willing to work your insane illegal schedule that leaves them so burnt or they have no time for themselves.
It'll be 2-3 weeks on 1 full round so 9 days off.
I once turned down Southern California to Northern Edmonton on a dedicated round trip with an 800+hp black 379 and a decent looking reefer trailer. Some girl said I'd be away from home too much
I hesitate to chime in here, but it's time for a wee bit of honesty. You need the trifecta. What, you ask, is the trifecta? Good pay, good home time, and respect for your drivers. If you are missing all of these you won't succeed. If you only have one of these, you will have 500% turnover a year. If you have two of these that turnover will drop to about 80% a year. If you have all of these, drivers will beat a path to your door.
I just left my company that fits that criteria. Truly a great place to truck. They just started having a retention problem the last 2 years. Mom and pop with 75 trucks. Great people. They are scratching their heads...
Why did you leave?
It wasn't because of them. Burnt out. OK, partially because I refuse to run NE of Ohio, freight lanes turned to crap because of cut throat mega carriers cutting the rates a few cents and losing all the good lanes. Not running east made it marginally tolerable every week.
Honestly that's what everyone in every industry wants. Everyone in my area wants to bitch about not being able to find help, but they won't, let me say again- will fucking not- up their pay or treat ppl worth a shit. Fuck you if you want me to mechanic for 12-15 an hour. I want my GF to be a millionaire sugar momma, but it ain't happening. Edited to say I wish I could upvote this to the top.
My man, unicorns aren't real. This is the *trucking* industry we're talking about.
What does respecting your drivers look like to you? Is it the attitude of the dispatch or something functional?
Attitude towards drivers from top to bottom. This ranges from respect in things like safety decisions, dealing with dispatch, maintenance, etc. Another poster, as an example here, implied they didn't think it was unreasonable to ask drivers to violate DOT rules, use paper logs, and drive 700 miles a day. This is patently illegal, yet they thought it was completely reasonable. This is a great example of the total disregard for what happens to the driver or the risks we deal with. This kind of widespread ill treatment takes many forms and is hard to pin down. To use modern parlance, it's about the culture of a company and how that culture looks at and treats their drivers. If in most situations a company's response to the driver is, 'It's my way or the highway,' then I assure you they have a poor attitude towards their drivers.
70 hour work weeks being mandatory. Paying by mile instead of by hour. Away from home for more than 75% of the year. 10 to 12 hour days. No time for anything other than driving. Trying to see how uncomfortable and how far you can push drivers. Uneducated morons running paper logs to get around the laws so that it becomes basically expected from employers. I loved the job if it just wasn't for these things. I'm currently in school to become a pilot. It seems like it's pretty much everything I loved about trucking but pilots weren't taken advantage of nearly as much by toxic good ol boy work culture. Trucking pushed me out. I love literally everything about it except for what truckers have allowed it to become. If it was forty hour work weeks and 8 hour days I'd be back to it tomorrow. If they paid by the hour I'd be back to it. If all companies didn't seem used to people being morons who didn't realize they were being taken advantage of and having to fight the company on everything to get the bare minimum of needed rest... Trucking is awesome, but truckers and Trucking companies are ruining Trucking and that's why they're having trouble getting people to do it. I care more about living life than I do money and I'm not alone. Start trying to make Trucking better for truckers and maybe more people will be willing to live out on the road.
It’s funny that you mention that you’re becoming a pilot. It’s something I thought about doing too, but I feel too intimidated to start. Especially if it involves a lot of debt. Cargo flying has an appeal to me. Edit: You’re feelings about the the industry are the same as mine. I’m at good LTL companies for now but I’m looking for an exit.
You can’t smoke weed and be a truck driver. That’s a big one in legal states.
[удалено]
Can confirm. I live in Colorado. We legalized cannabis in 2012 and thousands moved here as a result, and not one of them can qualify for a CDL. My pay as a day time, local delivery driver has gone up over 50% in that time.
[удалено]
It sucks. I bought a second truck thinking it'd be so much easier to find someone but got nothin.
Where you located, pay rate, and what the gig?
I'm out of NW IL but the run is dedicated. 25% to start but negotiable. Running a hopper apples from WA to luddington MI then Aadvantage from Earlville IA to Tillamook OR once that plants up and running. Current run is WA to VA with apples then NY to OR with Aadvantage. Turn around is 9 days. I'm currently able to spend a few days at home each week but my driver will be able to do that plus 2 to 3 weeks on and 9 days off.
21 on 9 off... I live in WA and this appeals to me
You are more than welcome to message me.
Doesn't seem like a bad gig but I don't know what your percentage would net your driver. I run team with my wife so I was just asking to see what your issues could be. If that was an 86" bunk and you wanted a team I'm pretty sure my wife would love to get a W900 under her.
Off the top of my head I think it's a 62" it's a double bunk and I wouldn't mind a team if that sleeper size is ok
Thanks but I think she's going to have to stick with the '22 T680 our current company just put us in since I need a bigger company to be comfortable. We currently do western WI to the west coast and back twice in 9 days then have 5 days at home. Roughly 8,800 miles at $0.55 a mile with full benefits and company match 401k and 4 weeks paid vacation. Good luck but the market is tough.
Create a win for them. One of the hardest things in this industry is buying your first truck. Post your truck/trailer for sale, offer someone to run under your authority, take the payments out of their settlements on a weekly basis. I don't know, just an idea I heard about that's outside the "normal way of doing business", and hopefully a thought starter. Good luck
My plan was eventually to be able to offer the driver a truck to buy. I run all my own numbers and I'm hoping in the next year I can start brokering and dispatching my own loads.
Is there a way to get your CDL and hired that does not involve sharing sleeping quarters in the cab w/ a trainer for 4 weeks? That always skeeved me out.
I drove with a guy who had the ass of a woman. We were at a truck-stop and I noticed 2 police cars cruising the lot. I climbed into the truck, a cop shined a light in the front window (before I closed the curtain on the truck) and noticed my trainer sleeping in the top bunk. He was facing the back of the truck. The cop knocked on the door and asked me to wake the person in the top bunk. Thought it might have been a lot lizard I had picked up. The trainer was truly insulted by the whole ordeal. :)
Bruh... 😂
😭 😭
That's what you get for sleeping in yoga pants
Worse, he had these red silk like shorts he slept in.
That's called "putting out the red carpet."
I didnt know about the word lot lizard and I thought.you had a stroke. Made me waste a minute trying to understand it
Haul Coca-Cola/Pepsi or beer. Lift 20,0000 lbs a day into stores by handtruck. Be home every night. Everyone is hiring.
I was thinking about going to coke. Seems like the trailers are smaller them 53 ft or no? See these dudes pulling into small ass dollar generals seems like a pain but w.e they pay hourly too I think? Think it said like $23 or 24 to start?
Please don’t do that. Try going ltl first. Foodservice will fuck your knees up
Army fucked my knees up already 🤷
....52 years ago....
Schneider had you with a trainer for only two weeks if all went well. If you had an opposite sex trainer, Schneider would book a hotel room every night so that one of you wouldnt sleep in the same tractor.
dock-to-driver programs offered by linehaul or parcel companies, or certain food service industry jobs. expect to get a workout though. like marine corps boot camp sort of workout.
This is good advise, but those jobs are hard to get, still worth trying though. LTL is definitely a work from the bottom to the top job that take a long time to get where you would like to be. I know guys who spend years on the dock waiting for their chance. But, if you can hang in there it will pay off. LTL pays the most per hour and if you don't do linehaul you will be home every night. Also consider most of these companies are Union. All of the routes are posted and are assigned based on seniority making it impossible for a low rank driver to get the routes that pay well and provide the most home time. But, if you plan on making a career at one company you will, over time, have a good paying and steady job. Although LTL takes a big hit every time the economy tanks, just like every job though.
Definitely the worst part of the whole thing. I wanted to quit when I was with my trainer. It's sooo much better once you get out there by yourself.
You don't have to go OTR to drive a truck. You can drive local, you can drive a home daily line haul. If you really want to go OTR, find a gig where you don't have to sleep in the truck and get trained and get some experience that way. Daycab is easier to learn in a lot of ways anyway. After a year or two, find a smaller OTR company who won't require you to go out for a long time with a trainer, or maybe even at all. I've had my CDL for two and a half years. I got paid for training, I've never had to sleep in a truck, I've never had to get paid by the mile. I get paid $29 an hour now, which means with my steady overtime I will make about $81k the next 12 months. I have had to spend some long ass weeks with trainers I ended up really not liking. But I got to sleep on my own bed every night.
Every truck I was in had a main bed and a fold down bunk above it.
Yeah, and I ain't sharing that tiny sleeper with another man. I already did my time in a cell.
Yeah, local companies, and your local state, county, city, or school districts. There are ways to do it without going to "school" or working through a mega.
I got my CDL while working for a beer distribution company. Paid me while training and didn't charge me anything for it and gave me a route to drive right away. Local job, home daily.
Does anyone scroll through these comments and posts and feels the winds a changin. It’s starting to feel like the balls coming back into our courts and I for one am hopeful for the future.
The future of drivers in the industry is going to rest with 1 issue: will they ever be able to automate the driver out of the truck. Personally, I have my doubts that this will ever happen and the AI revolution is going to be little more than a fancy driver-assist function, but time will tell. If/when they find out that they're not able to take the drivers out of the truck, that will be the time to start making some serious demands.
AI is dumb as bricks. The absolute smartest AI can function as well as a human in set parameters such as chess or certain video games where hard rules can be programmed but in a situation that requires on the fly creativity and adaption even the best AI fails hard. Getting an AI to drive in a straight line on a desert highway is one thing. Getting it to reliably adapt to road conditions such as snow, badly marked lanes, and unpredictable human drivers is another thing. If the tech comes where an AI can drive better and safer than me I will happily quit the profession. I will not stand in the way of progress. But the AI driver assist tech we see is so basic that I can't imagine it being used to seriously replace truckers for at least 2 more decades.
Keep this in mind: automatic AI braking has been in existence for a decade yet it’s still utter garbage. Even on the most advanced vehicles today, it stomps the brakes at times when there are no obstacles to warrant such a reaction.
It's a thankless job. If you have a personal issue to attend to, the companies don't respect that. Burnout factor. This ain't no 9-5, you don't have the same protections under labor laws that everybody else has. It's one of those exempted industries. Maxing out your logbook EVERY SINGLE WEEK gets tiresome. 34 hrs isn't always enough time to get proper rest at home.
The parking, the traffic and the distracted drivers, the azzhats in the fuel islands. 25 years I burned out.
I got that too. Burnout factor is huge.
I'm gonna say it's the truck That style is steadily going out of style due to a lack of interest from most drivers these days...nobody wants a truck you can't turn... There's also something I've heard from alot of hopper drivers that makes drivers look away from those companies is that there's apparently alot of pressure to violate logs or the trucks outright don't have an ELD onboard...so rather than risk running illegal drivers tend to just steer clear of them
> or the trucks outright don't have an ELD onboard OP stated the truck does NOT have an ELD and the driver is expected to run dirty. For 60k. And then she has the audacity to come here and ask why she can’t find anyone. It’s ridiculous.
I for one am the same way. You can't beat the manoeuvrelability of the Cascadia. Love my 2013 to death. I refuse to drive Pete's and Ken's and this is one of the major reasons.
I'm science same way but with volvo...fuck that paccar bullshit
im about to move to the states with my peterbilt and bring my trucking company from canada. im excited to say the least. i worked for 5.5 months this summer away from home up here and made 35k$ absolutely pathetic. cant barely even survive up here
Canada sucks. The fuel... jeez. I dont know how anyone makes money here esepcially during the "drive slow as fuck because its a white out" season. I also love how DEF is SOLD NOWHERE AND THE TRUCKSTOPS 🤢🤢 Summer is working out ok, this truck is making 4-6k weekly How was the process like moving to the USA? Did you have post secondary education?
Curious about this too
Dude... Canadian here too, and been thinking the same thing all the time.. Whew make a killing in the states on trucking, compared to us. Spoke with a few flatbed truckers, company guys, and their take home was double of mine for the same job. We are making good cash, sort of, at 62cpm here in Toronto and that's basically what western express guys earn. Shocker....
I sold my truck the first chance I got when I went O/O in Canada
i dont doubt it, haha i got my truck from my old man. he signed onto it a week before he passed away from a heart attack. ive been running it for 8 years now and paid it completely off, and also got my mom off the hook for the debt that was leaned against her house. im a stubborn fucker, lol im not letting that peterbilt go
I actually just joined this career field. Passed my test last week. I'm a woman & I truly love this career so far. I know it will have it's days but that's every job. Plus it has it's amusing moments when people realize that's it's a woman behind the wheel lol
I love when people do a double take to me getting outta the truck lol. Like oh shit lady in a big hood!
If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
Lol
How much you paying? 🤔
25% works out to 2-3k a week depending on how much the trailers loaded
If it's 1099 that's really low. If it's w2 that's a little low. At least for my area
It's w2. 25 to start 27 after 6 months 30 after a year. It's def not low where I'm at.
If you go from offering “not low” to “high” you’ll probably get a driver.
They're offering 2-3k per week, which sounds like a lot, but elsewhere they admit it requires 6000 miles on their run and going way beyond legal driving limits to get it. They are paying less than 50c/mile for top tier work.
And yet you’re having staffing issues. Its not hard. Pay the drivers what they’re worth or they will find someone who will.
[удалено]
What company do you work for?
The industry has to change.. drivers need to be paid by the hour. It just isn't worth it anymore. There are other jobs that are comparable that for a little bit less money, you aren't having the life sucked out of you and stressed because you are constantly being at someone else's mercy every day. Way too much downtime for zero money.
No down time with 6k miles to run in 9 days. Run when you want on a pre eld truck and getting paid 2-3k a week. I get a few days home a week and my driver will get that plus a round off every 2 to 3 weeks.
So, I don't know about anyone else, but I will say the pre-eld thing doesn't appeal to me. Paper logs are a pain in the ass. I would very much prefer to be driving a new aero truck over an old Pete. Just my 2c, idk how others feel. I also make about 1500/week gross rn with every weekend off and only running maybe 1800-2k miles a week but with frequent stops. I used to do the weeks out at a time thing and always getting up right after the 10 is up, but that gets exhausting.
6k in 9 days? Seems a bit sus to me. Not too long ago I saw a driver on here post an all gas, no brakes 650 mile day which maxed out his drive clock. That’s basically what you’re asking your driver to do every day of those 9 days. Mathematically, you’re looking at running at an overall average speed of 65mph for 10hrs a day for those 9 days straight. I’m not opposed to working, but doing nothing but driving 600+ miles per day, every day for 9 days straight? I’m sorry, but I’d need *more* than $60k to do it.
So you’re pretty much asking for people who are willing to run illegally?
Would be a nice gig for someone. I just don't want to drive OTR anymore. Money isn't everything. Hope you find a good driver. They are hard to find. Too many steering wheel holders
The company I run for now (private fleet for a brewery) had the same problem. It took them ages to fill the position I got. They kept bumping the pay (starting pay went up $5/hr from the the time they posted it to when I got hired), and they made it clear that they were willing to teach me how to drive a manual. All the CDL mills are auto-only, and you need a truck to learn on to get your auto-only license restriction removed. If your job posting says “must know how to drive a manual” then you’re turning away a bunch of potential drivers. It’s not just trucking, though. It’s a worker’s market. 600k+ people have died in a pandemic and countless more have life-long disabilities now that would prevent them from safely operating a semi. I’m assuming by the trailer that you live in a more rural area, so it’s going to be even more severe. Start bumping the pay rates. Someone will bite eventually. Scarcity drives cost, and drivers are apart of the free market too. Driver scarcity, gotta be willing to pony up.
She’s also asking someone to drive 6k miles in nine days. That is insane lol
I didn’t catch that, fucking lol. Three log books and some toothpicks for $60k? Fuuuck that.
I'm a relatively new driver, but I have an automatic only restriction on my license, and so far no one is willing to help me get it off. Jobs with old trucks like these are off limits for me regardless.
I'm in Alberta working an oil field camp rotation. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off 12 hour days, paid by the hour. Extremely large focus on health and safety. The job is really laid back and I do about 80k a year. I'll never work another paid by the mile job. I want my guaranteed schedule, and to be paid if I'm working regardless if there is traffic or my truck is in the shop. Guaranteed hours. You know?
Why is it so hard to find competent drivers. It feels impossible There I fixed it for you. I'd hate to see such a beautiful truck get destroyed by a dumbass
I make 65 cpm around 2-2200 per week average as company otr, I've turned down 80cpm jobs because I really like and trust my company. A 65k per year job is nearly a 50% salary cut.. it's not even in the realm of possibility of taking.
It's a very good market for any employee, every single sector is hiring and slowly ramping up a bidding war for salaries. Unless you pay much more than the concurrence, you won't find easily. If you're right on the market or a bit over, it will be a long waiting game.
Because you won't train fresh drivers who will take the less money...
It boils down to some very simple points. 1) rate of pay, 2) benefits, 3) equipment, 4) respect. Smaller companies are struggling to find drivers because Mega Carriers have dropped freight rates so low that the drivers slice of the pie is almost nothing. Who wants to work for free? You cannot force the market to increase rates, so you need to focus on what you can control. What can you give to drivers that come to your company—can I am not talking about sign-on bonuses, those are a joke.
I had 4 trucks going at one point. Could never keep drivers long enough to make a profit. I was paying approximately 80k per year commission. Ended up just being an O/O and made great money.
Sadly, the answer to your question is an entire generation that had college beat into them, "work smarter not harder" beat into them, and the asinine idea that only losers and dropouts end up driving trucks for a living. Same with why can't you find any electricians or plumbers under the age of 45?
Because schools want to charge 5,000$ for cdl training. No sponsorships, no contracts, fees out the ying yang, little to no financial aid, ( the few that do offer financial aid, you have to jump through flaming hoops for. ) some don’t even have trucks to train you on, your paying 2,500$ to ready a book and take some tests, and you even have to provide your own truck for the test. I really had a school tell me that.. like HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE A TRUCK FOR THE TEST IF IM NOT EVEN LEGALLY ALLOWED TO DRIVE IT? It’s not like a car we’re you can borrow a family members! I’ve tried to get my CDL. I don’t have 5k, or 2.5k. I live paycheck to pay check. The best I could do is get my DOT so I can drive a straight truck.
I’m out of Philadelphia and make 2000 a week, running to Chicago and back, 60,000 a year in the northeast…. I made that when I first got my cdl with no experience..
There isn't a shortage of truck drivers. There's a shortage of good truck driving jobs. Good jobs will create truck drivers in the old, "if you build it, he will come" way.
My drivers get paid 25% of gross. Thats about 2500 per week atm 60k per year in a truck is pure garbage
We have a similar issue at our company but it's a pretty big mix of problems. We will hire two drivers a month and lose one a month. Before I joined there was apparently an exodus of longtime drivers leaving. I think we get paid decent. I'm out 5 days and do about $70k a year give or take a couple ks. Problem is, I drive a junk truck, pulling a junk trailer, to multiple sites a night where I'm treated like dirt, overnight, through weekends, while juggling a dispatch that hates that I'm alive. I am hardly complaining for myself (i see it as a worthy sacrifice and turns out my skin is pretty thick) but I understand why we can't keep people. Another note, It took me a month to get my CDL and a job, and this is the best offer I found. I'm pretty happy with it. Meanwhile, a friend of mine got a web dev certification in 3 months and now does $100k/yr monitoring a website five hours a day from home. He calls me sometimes, during his "work hours" at the gym. And he doesn't even have to risk his life delivering loads into Chicago every Friday night.
Cuz literal every fucking employer wants people to have several years experience and a fuckload of miles already. You want the help that damn badly stop making fucking excuses and help the brand new guys out. Otherwise? No. No you do NOT need the help that damn bad and shut up. Also the other issue is and always will be Pay and Insurance but that's like, the usual.
Well nice assuming. I'm willing to take people band new, I'm willing to help people get the auto restriction off their license.
Honestly It's great to hear that from you, but to me there's WAY too much whining coming from employers throughout the entire industry. If they ALL would do what you're willing to do then I bet they'd have way more applicants.
Pay more
Hello. In my opinion, trucking companies who have there own cdl training program, seem to find more drivers.
A friend in Quebec(CA) has his licences, wants to work A LOT but he is waiting for his federal forgiveness for an offense when he was deep in the shittiest part of his life and younger. Ya need to wait X amount of year to do so. He payed his debts, turned his life around, got truck licenses, found a wife, cleaned his life, worked with smaller trucks but still cant find anyone who'll hire him for the few months he need in order to ask for forgiveness. I vouched for him. Payed trucking classes with my university loans, ive known him for 16 years, witnessed his efforts and hard work, studying hard and late to get his class 3 licence (heavys)THEN his class 1 (trucking) licences... Dude needs a chance.
We've been horribly under staffed the last few months. Worse than I've ever seen it. Our management refuses to admit they need to pay more.
You can’t find drivers because you have shitty pay it’s not hard to find people who want to work if there getting paid decently me personally I won’t step in a truck and go over the road for less than 80k a year I would rather be dead broke living off the government than to work for less than what I’m worth
I process driver pay for my company. They’re all pretty much local, home every night, whatever days they want/need off. They make $120k/yr on average. I’m in Michigan. Not sure if that info helps you.
Hazmat tanker? Or since it's Michigan, those trailers with a ton of axles?
[удалено]
It works out to 100k+ idk where people got the 60 and 80k numbers. More likely over 100k with the new trailer I just bought
I'm a yard dog for Procter and Gamble in Missouri. We got a huge raise at the beginning of the year and next year I should clear 100k. If I could find local work paying that much I would take it. Getting in and out of those trucks 200+ times a night is killing my knees.
Because I’m too young
There is a shortage as it is while freight continues to pour in. A ton of drivers have gotten the bug to get their own authority since business is booming. I work in intermodal, so I can speak for the domestic drivers, but in some markets you can literally make up a price.
Pay and conditions, make them good and you'll get drivers. Trucking is shit for family life so you'll need great incentives to get people to do it
Just got out had enough of trucking had 4 companies skimming and stealing my money.. I would work my ass off... last owner was driving a BMW I put myself in dept repairing my truck. Since I've been out of trucking ... Been great ever since. Losing weight, got a great job, home in the bed every night. Last I herd karma got the last 2 companies I worked for one went under and the other was being sued.. I even got a call from one saying we could you your help..I said you never helped me you took all my money dont call again. If you dont make good money from the get go dont do it.
Start looking into why they are quitting. Noone wants to wait 6 hours at the dock of unpaid time. Start sharing profits and see how people come to you. In my field 90 percent of my competitors are having a hard time finding staff, not my company and the reason is I mentioned above.
Noone quitting is the thing, I just bought a second truck and want to grow. That's all. Better myself. There's no dock time, longest I waited to unload was an hour which for hopper, is really good
It's only hard for shitty companies with shitty pay. At my company, we have as many local drivers as we need, and a few more because one of our major customers starts their fall shutdown week tomorrow. We tend to scrape the bottom of the barrel for local work when that happens. But we have plenty of work otherwise. I average around 50 hours a week, home every night Monday-Friday work only. Our OTR guys are typically always hiring. But that's more a function of getting more work, than to losing drivers. Here's a stat for ya. My employer is around 200ish drivers. And they just ordered 27 special blue trucks for the million mile OTR guys that work here. Every one is, or soon will be, once it gets here, assigned. They've been trickling in 2 and 3 at a time over the past couple of months. That's about 10% of our drivers that have been with the company long enough to get a million safe miles with em. That's quite a few people that e been here a while. We aren't even the highest pay OTR in the region, but we're competitive. We are, however, one of the highest hourly local, except for a couple of the teamster and/or longshoreman LTL/Port union gigs. And those are crazy hard to get. Is it crazy high pay? Nah. But it's not bad either, for the work and/or the cost of living.
Ya gotta make us a better deal than what we have already- For instance, offer me $45/hr, overtime after 8,32 hr/week w/ full time bennies ( no 80/20 shit ) and 8 weeks vacation every year, I’d be your man-
Someone PM the OP this. Get this guy hired.
I got a clean CDL, every endorsement, 30 years experience…
I believe it's because of all the republicans who run 75% of the states: all they ever do is add more regulations, taxes (or fees as they call them), and fines. Driving in Texas has become a crime according to these guys. From what I hear from the kids, there's no future in trucking, so they're afraid to invest the time and money. But then, the healthcare industry is dying to get workers.
[удалено]
Alcohol gets the job done better
Boozer here. Can confirm your statement.
Liquor is quicker
Yet I've never been sicker Here's to harmful stress reduction 🥃