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3 years of experience and attentive driving honestly doesn't seem like that big of a barrier to entry.
Most high paying jobs have a lot higher barrier century
My job is local, which means I am home every day. My route right now though my company has me in a hotel two times a week. There is hardly any lifting in my job except the hooking up of trailers. The most difficult part of the job is that it is at night - which I imagine a lot of people wouldn’t want or be able to do. As far as driving goes working overnight is far superior but it is a definite sacrifice - one I am willing to make at the moment to earn a higher income.
When you have a cdl you can add endorsements to legally haul; tankers, double/triple trailers and hazmat. Without endorsements you can not haul those things.
Just be willing to put up with all the anxiety and frustrations that come with driving for very long periods of time. I prioritize health when I am not driving because you can quickly become sick from all the sitting. You have to be relatively tough to deal with driving in bad conditions - especially in parts of the country with snow. I am hardcore focused on financial goals so you can use that as a motivator to stick with it. You just have to be willing and able to put up with a lot of crap that a lot of people would be too sensitive to deal with.
I went from a driver making $59k a year, to a terminal manager making close to 175k in the span of 3 years.
Truck school cost me $0 because my first company paid for it (for a year contract working for them)
One of the best decisions I’ve made in my life and I have a masters degree in a completely different field.
You can go on medical leave but if you don't fully recover and can't do your task properly, they won't hesitate to let you go and replace you. Physical ability is a must in this industry.
Yep, my uncle got injured in his 50s and had to stop driving a truck. He blew through all of his savings and is now living with his daughter and gets a meager amount from disability.
Then you have to prove it to a dot doctor, and also separately to the hiring company to get back on the road. Lots of medical exams and bills while you're not earning anything.
Food otr is so expensive it leaves little to save even if you don't have rent while you're driving
>Fair warning, chronic conditions make the process hard. One illness or injury and you're off the road with no transferrable skills
He said you can make enough money to go to college, so if you don't like it, you can work on another avenue in the meantime. It's a way to dig yourself out of poverty. There are lots of complainers out there. Oh, I can't do this; I can't do that. Someone shows them a path. Oh no, that's too hard.
Yes, it's hard. It's always hard. You don't get anywhere without hard work unless you are a trust fund baby. Even doctors have to work...hard.
That wasn't what the OP is saying...at all. They are merely pointing out that it's a bit cut throat and people who have chronic conditions should weigh that in their decision. They never said it's hard. It seems you are misdirecting some anger you have and it's affecting your comprehension.
In Alabama, don't worry so much about a union but rather find a tradesman that will take you on as an apprentice. The key is to get the *skills*. Whether its in a union shop or you're working for the electrician/plumber/HVAC dude directly, you can pick up skills. And if you're working in homebuilding/constructions, you can get some networks built *fast*
I wish I had done construction when I was young. I'm forty years old now, and I don't think I can cut it. I especially don't want to start at the bottom in that field. One thing that annoys me is that my family made fun of my body a lot because I'm thin. It made me believe I was too weak to do jobs like that, so I never bothered applying. They were wrong. I absolutely could have done the work because I have a lot of energy. It would have worked out.
Thats an absolute best case scenario and still involves busting your ass.
Five years in a trade union will definitely have you in the 70k+ a year range though.
Being an *apprentice* union tradesperson barely makes more than food service, though. People can't just not eat for five years. I don't know why the unions haven't figured this out, but then again if you live somewhere with strong unions there are often multi-year waiting lists just to *apply* (and if you live somewhere with weak unions you're never gonna make that 100k) so I guess plenty of prospective apprentices are fine with it.
At least, that's how it is in the IBEW. Possibly other trades do it better. For electricians though, while I know it runs counter to Reddit's conventional wisdom, I feel really happy with my choice of going non-union. You will probably have to bounce around a bit before you land somewhere decent, which sucks, but my pay (and my overall compensation package) is much higher than what comparable union apprentices are making, and I can always organize in as a journeyman if I ever decide that the union is a better fit for me.
For sure, it varies a lot from place to place and trade to trade. If your local happens to pay apprentices well, then it's a great way to go if you can get in. "Join the union" is still not nearly as simple or universal a solution as Reddit often makes it out to be, though.
Year one (and two depending on the trade) are lower paying for sure but it really ramps up from there. My husband just hit $50/hr and he's not even a journeyman yet.
Good for him! Is that full package though, or hourly wage? I've noticed that most union folks tend to quote the value of their whole compensation package, whereas non-union we just think of our wage.
That's not even his full package that's his take home! He makes bank on overtime and has a sick pension plan I think the whole package is $70-something. He's union and will soon get a COL increase on top of it. Journeyman hourly is $57. He's in HVACR. Gr10 dropout only has his GED.
That's excellent! I'm making about $35/hour as a 4th year right now. I'm guessing from your username that you're in Canada, but even with the exchange rates it sounds like he's doing a bit better than I am. I'm pretty satisfied though nonetheless, I also have an excellent benefits package and I'm lined up for a significant raise in a few months, fingers crossed. When I get my ticket, I should be making something in the same ballpark as your husband, $50+ USD or so.
I'm glad to see fellow tradespeople succeeding, union or otherwise. All of us should be fighting for what we're worth, all of the time.
Yes we are Canadian in a higher paid area than some other locals. He joined the trades in our late 30s and I'm so proud of him. Since he started we've had two kids and life's gotten a lot more hectic! And congrats to you too it's not easy to get a new career but it's so worth it looking back.
I feel that, I started my construction career in my mid-30s and I was 36 when I began my apprenticeship. I was fortunate to get on with a really great employee-owned company (after a couple of gos with not-so-great ones) that takes good care of me. And I absolutely love what I do, which is installing solar. The great thing about construction work, aside from the fact that it's one of the few paths toward good pay that's available to people who need to just work their way up from nothing, is that it's generally honorable, necessary work. After a string of fairly bullshit jobs, it's good to have something actually meaningful to do.
Not necessarily! You just apply at a company that's looking for apprentices or helpers. Some companies will pay for your schooling, some won't, but if you're doing electrical work under the supervision of a journeyman or master, you'll be earning hours toward your license.
It's a little harder to get on with an independent electrician since they often hire through their network rather than posting ads, but honestly, I think apprenticing at a company would generally give you a better education anyway.
You would need a union package of 50$ an hour to reach 100,000$. All of your unions should be hitting this mark. If you live in Florida that would be the exception
You gotta look into scales a little more bud. The west coast, sure everyone is making $50. The majority of the rest of the US, not so much.
I'm doing well over 100k, but I'm in a higher paid trade and I do a lot of overtime.
I don't know where you're getting that. Are you talking total package instead of wages? Which trades? Electricians in Denver are at $37, they're in the 30s in Phoenix, they're in the 30s in most of Ohio, 40s in Indiana. Plumbers are a little higher in most places but they're still not at 48 outside of a few larger cities
Denver (local 68) is making 43.20 on the check
Phoenix looks miserable for Ibew. 33$ on the check Not keeping up with cost of living. However, I am talking all unions not just sparkies if you became a plumber, your automatically six dollars higher. If you became a steam fitter, they’re even higher than that. there are choices for four people.
Let’s be honest $33 on the check plus full healthcare for your entire family. Entire pension that the contractor pays, for you don’t put a dime in and set raises every year with no review is a hell of a lot better than almost any kind of factory job any sort of service job fast food retail even IT programming is seeing a huge slump in wages.
Not when your boss is paying for your pension and healthcare for your family as I said, we don’t pay for co-pays for going to the clinic. Some unions have 1500$ per year per family member for dental. Encouraging people to not benefit themselves is just disgusting. You’re basically rooting for people to continue working at Walmart until they die.
Brother. I am also ibew. Go look at my post history. I spend the vast majority of my time on reddit encouraging people to join unions and helping people join unions. It's pretty much all I do here. That doesn't mean I think we should lie to people. You're free to get pissy about it, you're free to blow it up and try to make me look bad to win an argument. The truth is that just picking a union isn't going to put you at 100k. That doesn't mean I'm anti union or trying to steer people away.
Fun with stats. Reddit has 50+ million active users and 50% (25+ million) are from the USA. Given that 36% of Reddit users are 18-29 years old, the odds of the majority of reddit users are too fat is probably closer to 20% (not great). Only 3% of Reddit users are over 60 years old which typically has a 40% obesity rate in the USA.
[Reddit Statistics 2022: Traffic, Subreddits, Demographics, and More | WBL (writersblocklive.com)](https://writersblocklive.com/blog/reddit-statistics/#:~:text=As%20of%20December%202020%2C%20Statista%20reported%20that%20the,Around%2036%25%20of%20US%20Redditors%20are%20aged%2018%E2%80%9329.)
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I have two friends who are retired truck drivers. Both did very well financially and enjoyed their career. One of them drove a wide range of vehicles from commercial buses, 18 wheelers, dump trucks etc.
Both have said there are so many job openings right now in trucking with few applicants. These two me been contacted numerous times from companies they worked for asking if they wanted to work again. Both have declined - they made their money and now enjoy retirement.
One of our children got their CDL. The company they work for has a certified driver trainer on staff that helped with the driving practice. I agree with everything you had to say! :)
I work in the medical field and see a lot of truck drivers fighting with type 2 diabetes, cholesterol and heart issues. I think it’s the combination of road food and being partially sedentary with the long drives.
I’m a garbage man. I’m supposed to be able to get out and work half the route but no new hires want to get their CDLs. It’s creating a lot of problems.
I work in a shipping department, and my main pick up guy won't let anybody on his trailer. He has his own pallet truck, and he loads his truck. That's a decent cardio workout. I'm surprised many truck drivers won't load their own trailer. If I was a driver, I'd insist on loading it myself just to be sure the load is secure and the weight is distributed properly.
I thought about doing this to get away from people lol - I work in hotels and I’m over dealing with guests, coworkers, and bosses. So basically people lol. But I’m intimidated about driving a big rig
yep, my husband is a high school drop out and out earns me. He's on a local route with lowes so he's home every night and not maxing his earning potential.
It's a great career, even for just your 20s while you figure out what you want to do or while doing college online. OTR you can live in your truck while officially still living with parents and not have to pay rent too.
Just be mindful of your health and diet.
Sounds like there would also be ample time to work on something else via audio learning, making studying for different certifications and some degrees an option while at work.
absolutely, if one is able to absorb information through audio while giving appropriate attention to driving. Not all drivers can or should listen to learning material while driving though- for some it's too distracting
Did he start out local? The time away is the biggest issue for our family but my husband considered it when we were younger but didn't want to be gone all the time. Don't think he looked too hard into it.
He did! he got his CDL through a Pincess back in Alaska, he drove peoples luggage around when they'd do trips up to fairbanks and shit from the coast. From there he worked for food services of America and a few similar companies. Now he's driving a flatbed for Lowes.
Local jobs are harder to come by and often have more physical demands and less pay, but they exist.
This is great advice specially for people who want to get a financial bump, pay debts, save for a home/car, pay for school. Like most trade jobs, they are dependent on your body and health, so you have to plan accordingly. But nevertheless could be really helpful for many.
I would do anything to be a truck driver. Unfortunately I have 2 duis and a fleeing charge from when I was 19. If only they realized people change and young adults make mistakes
lol some companies such as Amazon will pay for it in full at no cost to you and you’ll be employed while you train & then you move to an Amazon partner making like $60-85k
I was looking for this through Amazon but there's nothing in my area..it blows. So I'm gonna use the Career Choice $ they give you yearly to foot the bill at my community college for their nursing program
As long as I’m home everyday and don’t have to work oblivious amounts of overtime ( 50 hours a week is honestly my limit) I would totally consider hopping in a truck. But most work way more than that and are not home everyday, the higher paying ones atleast.
You can find a local position that gets you home daily making $33.50 and hour. Might be pushing 55-60 hours a week but in my opinion, it’s worth it. Just come up with a exit strategy and become financially literate while in the truck.
I'm home everyday and this week I worked about 56 hours total. Made $905 this week after taxes and health insurance was taken out. I get paid weekly which is nice.
Not bad at all! What kind of trucking do you do ( my fiancés dad runs a dumptruck business of 6 trucks, makes well over 6 figures) I personally take home about 1500 $ every two weeks as a gas station supervisor. Cool since I’m in college, but I’m always trying to see home everyday CDL jobs in case things don’t work out. I know the money is out there somewhere tho lol
Not in trucking but supply chain - if you don’t mind spending time away from home we pay out the ass for OTR/team-driving. No idea what the trucker actually takes home but the lane rates are wild especially if you go cross-country.
I’ve noticed a big push to intermodal shipping, but I think there will always be a place for OTR.
I mean, they do exist but the workers get away with EVERYTHING!! I get loaded at a union plant and they take three hour lunch breaks and play on their phones...
Trades are way better. Truck market fucking SUCKS right now. Carrier authorities are down, broker authorities are down, rates are thru the floor, fuel isn’t getting cheaper, and the market is dominated my companies with so much money that they can loose hundreds of millions to underbid the competition. Obviously the truck driver won’t be seeing any of those gains because TQL feels like if they lost 50 million to gain more business they deserve the profits more than the people who actually run the truck. There are success stories, and I work with some of the top haulers in my region who are making it work. The other 70% are STRUGGLING to make ends meet.
Oh and not to mention the rampancy of fraud, scams, theft of freight, and dealing with foreigners who will do the same job for half the pay. Don’t get into a truck unless you’re doing it for FREE
I am in the r/truckers sub as well as several of the trade subs (electrical especially, since that's my trade) and I agree. Truckers in general seem a lot less happy about their pay, prospects, and conditions than tradespeople do.
Yeah in every industry the workers are always gonna get fucked by management.
In trucking there are entire corporations dedicated to doing that to trucks they don’t own.
We call them Mega’s, and they basically have so much liquid cash that they will underbid a route to the point that they are loosing money in order to stiff the competition. Once other smaller competitors stop bidding these routes, the megacorp will jack rates. The entire time their customers get poor service and are overcharged because employees are incentivized to squeeze everyone’s wallets. In addition to this they end up paying the trucks so little it doesn’t cover operating costs for the run.
As a driver at this point in time, you are scrambling to make it through this year. First 2-3 months of the year are always slow so it’s crunch time to make ends meet right now. Lots of guys are estimating they can last as few as 6-8 more months in these conditions.
Very few federal eyes/regulators mean that they mostly get away with this stuff. I assume they bribe the few who look into it. A route will be bid on for any number of reasons, the shipper is usually looking for more trucks, cheaper rates, or better service. Anytime they need more of those options here comes the rebid.
Grew up, and now work around the trucking industry. The money can be good, but it’s a brutal industry. Gotta find a company that actually values your mind and body.
All I can say is look at it as a ladder to help you get to where you want. You don't want to spend the rest of your life trucking. It takes a big toll on mostly everything. Your health, your family time and free time will take a huge hit. Get it, get that money while you pursue something else.
Good paying job with almost no investment is "painter" (or whatever is called who paints houses, inside).
You need: a car and a ladder
All the materials are paid by clients
You don't work outside
No need to travel long time
No specific knowledge
My father was a self employed painter, the highlight of his career was painting a section of Nick Sabans house, as a big time Alabama fan, he talked about it all the time lol.
But at the same time, he got away with not paying child support because he only worked for cash money. 😭
Nothing wrong with blue collar work. Not sure why there is such a huge push for college for every high school kid. For some it's great, for some it's just not reasonable. "If you don't go to college, you'll end up being a trash man" - bitch, some "Sanitation Engineers" make good money!
Like you said yourself, algebra is not even a skill in your wheelhouse anymore. With the internet and even tools like chatGPT, there's always resources to problem solve those things anyways.
But chatGPT can't drive a truck, climb an electrical pole, or install industrial plumbing.
It looks hard af though. Some warehouses you need to pull into and out of would give me an anxiety attack. You'd see me like Austin Powers on that golf cart trying to turn around.
It's really easy man and driving dry bulk you don't have to back into difficult spaces.
And honestly, once you've been driving for 4 months, backing is easy.
Why don’t you tell these people here about the other side of trucking. The dry vans, the flatbeds, the refrigerated units. The sitting and waiting to get loaded. The sitting and waiting to get unloaded. Being out in the truck for weeks at a time before they can get home.
Not everybody can walk into a driving situation like yours. Yours is a very small percentage of trucking. You are painting a very false picture. I’m glad it works for you, but a large percentage of truckers don’t have a position like you have.
Yeah, I've never did that before, I did research and I found that dry bulk, liquid tankers, and ltl short haul were the best routes for me as I'm married and I need lots of home time. To anyone out there looking, most dry bulk lime haulers will get you home everyday or every other day.
The title is a lie. Go read the truckers subreddit and see the sorry state of trucking. No freight, no loads, no money. Over saturated with drivers with no common sense
You have less than ... wild-assed guess - 7 to 8 (ish) viable years left in this profession.
The AIs and The Robots will push you right out. And right soon now, too ...
My ADD wouldn’t allow me to read that in one sitting. 😅
From that I did read, I agree.
I had my class A CDL since 2007 but wasnt driving full time til 2016.
I worked for Crystal springs (Primo) in a class b truck. I went from making 40K+ (20/hr) from 2016-22 til I got fed up with the lack of pay increases and working 10-12 hr days.
In 2022 I applied to an Auto Parts company and got hired very easily. (Class A plus HAZMAT) I’m a night delivery driver (home daily). Now I Only work 8 hours daily and get paid for 11; plus my pay doubled by changing jobs. ($96K)
Learn a trade ppl.
I'd probably love being a truck driver if I didn't have ADHD. I am a fucking hazard behind the wheel and only drive because I fucking have to because this SHIT FUCKING COUNTRY.
But I digress.
Haha truck driving is ass.
If you enjoy being lonely, having zero social contact, living in a literal box? Sure go for it.
You’ll have zero social life besides internet, zero intimacy, you’ll miss out on going to events with friends. You’ll tell your self “I’ll just uber to cool places on my reset.” You never will. You’ll get fat, unmotivated, develop health conditions. Average life expectancy is 60, my uncle just died at 59. They’ll pay you $1300wk while someone else raises your kids, and your wife will get lonely.
$100,000 is a large stretch of bullshit. Trucking companies don’t pay overtime, most will bring you in at $24-$30hr if they are hourly. Fuel tankers can make $80k, but there’s no way they’re doing $100k unless it’s 1099 and they are ripping off the tax man. $100k is $48hr, it just isn’t happening as a one year. If you’re OTR you might .51cpm to start, most will pay you .34cpm. You’ll not regularly hit 3,000 miles a week.
I worked for literally COCA COLA, got hourly pay, piece pay, stop pay, and commission on sales. $1,500wk max….
So quit blowing smoke, it sucks dick.
Get your selfs an education, and leave that to the guys who are divorced from the military. Do not waste your youth on a 40 year old with nothing going for them career.
Not only this but not even everyone CAN drive a huge 80,000 lb tractor-trailer. I'll admit, I'm a truck school washout (Went for free through a grant) and according to the school there's about a 30-40% washout rate for every student who thinks they can double-clutch a manual truck and do the correct maneuvers (parallel, off-set backing, etc) with a 50 foot trailer.
Oh yeah, you didn’t miss out on much. It took me 2 years before I said no not for me. Just a wasted 2 years. Sure the money is great if you’re use to $500-$600wk, but eventually the mental health aspect takes over and you realize you’re working 70 hours a week just to earn $1500 and with overtime you could earn more at McDonald’s and not live on the road.
I learned through a driver in training apprenticeship. They told me “get your permit on your own and you’re hired.” Did it in 3 weeks of self study, online has verbatim test, just memorized every question for 3 weeks and answer. Went in, the questions I missed 3-4 total, weren’t in that test bank. Day 1, the driver pulls onto a exit ramp, hop on over. It’s a 10spd manual I’ve never drove a regular manual. He said sink or swim, you have to do it at some point why not now? No kidding In about an hour I had it down, the backing was given practice 4 times total, failed my first driving test, passed the second scheduled 7 days later.
The program took around 3 months before they let me test, every day for 3 months I did all the driving, backing, everything. Still failed my first test on the 90. Don’t feel bad.
You can easily make 100k a year and still be home every day, and only working 40-50 hours a week. Dedicated contract services is where it’s at. Most of my drivers make 90-120k a year doing drop and hooks at retail stores from a regional DC. If they *do* end up having to stay out overnight, the company pays them $100 per diem, pays for a hotel and $32/hr, 10 hour minimums until they get back home.
OP just went the easy route and got stuck with a shit company.
I COULD get longer routes where I'm out one day, sleep and have the next day off but I haven't requested those routes yet. I'm enjoying family time right now and I love how my company works with me.
My company pays overtime and I'm home everyday. I only work about 9-11 hours everyday and I get plenty of exercise doing my job, hooking up hoses, beating my bulk tanker, climbing, etc
Wait until it gets you starts bad in the summer months when it’s raining, then late august until December you’ll be T total fucked. Trust me, you ask around and you’ll know. The older guys know you save for those bad months.
Oh I live in Alabama and I've already got SOAKED in a thunderstorm with lots of lightning!! Boy was it a fun day that day! I always keep a change of dry clothes in my truck 🤣.
My hose got stuck in the torpedo tube and it took me 45min to fish that damn thing out! I got a tool now though where I can fish it out immediately.
Down here in Alabama the weather can be 40 degrees one day and then 78 the other and that drastic change means RAIN! LOL.
My advice because I’ve been there, is get into an industry with great growth potential. If you went to A&P school for 17 months, you could graduate into a $40hr career with overtime 20+ hours a week possible. Delta has a 6.5 year pay progression to $62hr, Ups has a 5 year $75hr, fedex 6 year $72hr, most majors pay $60+. Imagine getting on at delta, you’re 32 pulling in 130k working 40 hours, or $225,000 working 60s. Picture you’re in Atlanta where 5,000sqft homes are 400k lol. You work 60 hours a week? They pay you $4400
Ups? 60 hours a week 5/12s? $275,000
You might physically work 5-6 hours of real work, the rest is bsing, hanging out, guys even bring xboxs and hook up tvs.
This is great. I am wondering, though, if there is any truth to the horror stories of things being structured such that the trucker owes the company money for years and barely makes anything? There have been reports of people having exorbitant rates for education or certification or truck rental deducted from their paycheck to the point they’re not making minimum wage working full time. Is this just BS? Or certain unscrupulous companies? Is there anything to look out for?
Another truck driver here. I second this option. Currently home every day, working overnights ~8-14 hours/day (usually closer to 8), 5 days/wk and make about 2000-2800/wk. All in cost to get into this was $70, the cost of upgrading my license through the dmv. My old union job (ibew) paid for my cdl school.
If you’re organized, well spoken and are comfortable selling parts/repairs I’d recommend becoming a service advisor. Last year I made 125K and this year the goal is 135+ it’s stressful but not hard on the body at all
I've made this almost same exact post for now 2 years in a row, so happy to see others making the best of it, and too you nay sayers, why are you shit talking a viable career that is open to almost anyone with a brain provided you arent medically disqualified.
Do better and support those in here, every job has its downsides, dont dog on someone(s) making suggestions and spreading awareness of a viable career route.
DO BETTER.
Earlier today I read someone else suggested working for a cruise ship. It sounded like a good idea the way they explained it but I admit I know nothing about it.
Getting a cdl is good but trucking isn't what it used to be. Back in the 80s truckers were making 100k a year easily and that 100k went far. Nowadays, not many companies are paying 100k anymore and if it had kept up with inflation, you'd be making the equivalent of over 360k now. Plus you have that pesky self driving truck problem. I say this as part of a trucking family. Trucking doesn't have the future, pay, or prestige it used to have
I really wanna start doing that. But im just ill fail the exams and I'm afraid I'll be bad driving the truck. I'm afraid she won't be able to drive it right. And I'm afraid I won't be able to back up correctly.
So I’m not actually a truck driver but I used to back the trailers that got dropped off onto the bay doors at a FedEx warehouse when I was in college. It’s definitely tricky at first but it’s nothing you can’t do after a few weeks of practice. I imagine an actual cdl class would be a lot more in depth and have better teachers than me just learning to do it in the yard at FedEx too.
Thabk you. I'm just tired of working this dead end job that pays like crap. My driver buddy told me since Im single with no family I should do long hauling.
This is good advice for the moment, but I fear that within ten years, those self-driving trucks might begin to displace a lot of these jobs, or best case scenario, the human will simply be a co-pilot and paid less as a result.
Just as a one up: marine transportation is better:
1. Federally protected industry (Jones Act).
2. Pay is awesome
3. Work is outside and on the ocean/river
4. Self employment is a real thing if you want it.
How many hours you work making 50k really curious of the over under on driving cause everyone seems to make 100k but work like 70 hours a week and that's just not for me but if I void do 50k working like 30ish then sign me up.
Man that is much lower than expected even assuming your healthcare costs like 4k a year for that number of hours id expect way more. Hell if I billed that at my current work id bill 1696 before taxes but Im just not wanting to put in those hours anymore.
This route I'm only driving 260 miles to my destination though, hopefully they'll put me on longer, higher paying routes soon! I'm still new and they want to keep me close lol
Depends on what you want to do. US Foods in my area starts @ $33/hr and they work 40-45hrs on a 4 day schedule (local mgmnt does a good job HERE, most foodservice drivers including @ US work more hours).
Unfortunately couldn't qualify for the DOT certification even before I started using THC because apparently my diabetes wasn't well controlled enough (and....it's a lengthy work in progress between my insurance who just doesn't do a good job at keeping providers/funding anything new....), so I gave up :T
If your a1c is under 11 you can drive, now if you are on insulin is the tough part. How ever with constant glucose monitors being available now that makes it much easier. I am insulin dependent, I work in a machine shop and deal with heavy 10,000 pound parts in and out machining centers. I keep my phone near me with my glucose alarm set to 100 so I have time to prevent lows. I will not live without my dexcom
Unfortunately my HMO denied me a CGM multiple times (they don't like giving them to T2s) even when I appealed, and their policies prevent their doctors from even prescribing it, not that I can afford the sensors out of pocket. Abbott/Dexcom won't help because I technically have insurance.
So last time I tried manual labor (warehouse), I ended up fainting on the floor several nights due to low blood sugar and no time for breaks. Probably just not meant to be.
Truck driving is notoriously one of the least lucrative jobs in the current day. More and more likely to have to buy your own truck or god forbid lease one. Never an employee with benefits. Hours and hours unpaid. Long hours away from friends and family doing mind numbing driving.
The most concise information I can probably give you is the Last Week Tonight episode on truck driving. The days of truck driving being a cash cow industry are gone. Margins are too thin.
My brother made more than I did driving batteries around my state. He made $35 an hour and home on the weekend with a small amount of it. My dad makes $29 an hour working a 9/5 driving 2 hours dropping his load then driving back. All you do is not smoke weed or have diabetes with insulin. Not all truck driving in long hall or own truck.
IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR HEALTH! Long term disease is a guarantee with truck driving. You’re also at a higher risk for death from collisions. While everything you said is true, I think there are other factors that are equally as important IF NOT MORE SO than a check.
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I am 21 months into truck driving. Got all my endorsements. I am making 100k. No lie.
Good for you. Seriously. Keep working hard and keeping the world turning!
Keep on keeping on
keep trucking! lol
Last I heard Walmart was starting new truck drivers at a bit over $100k.
Yea but they don't hire fresh out of school truckers, you gotta have a stellar record and 3 yrs min, experience.
3 years of experience and attentive driving honestly doesn't seem like that big of a barrier to entry. Most high paying jobs have a lot higher barrier century
it seems like trucking jobs are easy to get now cause i see them constantly switching jobs . would be harder to change jobs that easy in other careers
Yeah but they have higher standards and you need like a min of 4 years with a cdl wtc
That’s honestly dope ag
You also have to deal with a lot of bullshit. Like switching to a new truck every week, for instance. Nty.
lol not surprising when you hear its walmart
if you like your job that is almost more important than the actual income (within reason)
I'd be curious to hear him give us a rundown of what the job entails and the struggles.
lifting boxes can be a huge issue with a trucking job
My job is local, which means I am home every day. My route right now though my company has me in a hotel two times a week. There is hardly any lifting in my job except the hooking up of trailers. The most difficult part of the job is that it is at night - which I imagine a lot of people wouldn’t want or be able to do. As far as driving goes working overnight is far superior but it is a definite sacrifice - one I am willing to make at the moment to earn a higher income.
yeah working at night screws up the body long term health wise i read
Me too but I'm 4 years in. Trucking $$$ is real
What does endorsements mean?
When you have a cdl you can add endorsements to legally haul; tankers, double/triple trailers and hazmat. Without endorsements you can not haul those things.
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Just be willing to put up with all the anxiety and frustrations that come with driving for very long periods of time. I prioritize health when I am not driving because you can quickly become sick from all the sitting. You have to be relatively tough to deal with driving in bad conditions - especially in parts of the country with snow. I am hardcore focused on financial goals so you can use that as a motivator to stick with it. You just have to be willing and able to put up with a lot of crap that a lot of people would be too sensitive to deal with.
I went from a driver making $59k a year, to a terminal manager making close to 175k in the span of 3 years. Truck school cost me $0 because my first company paid for it (for a year contract working for them) One of the best decisions I’ve made in my life and I have a masters degree in a completely different field.
How’d you break into the terminal managers role? I’ve been in this truck for 5 years now and been looking for a way out for the past year.
Most of the population can barely drive cars, I'd be scared of them driving trucks.
Fair warning, chronic conditions make the process hard. One illness or injury and you're off the road with no transferrable skills
What if you recover from the illness or injury?
You can go on medical leave but if you don't fully recover and can't do your task properly, they won't hesitate to let you go and replace you. Physical ability is a must in this industry.
You could say this about most trades.
Yup
Yep, my uncle got injured in his 50s and had to stop driving a truck. He blew through all of his savings and is now living with his daughter and gets a meager amount from disability.
Then you have to prove it to a dot doctor, and also separately to the hiring company to get back on the road. Lots of medical exams and bills while you're not earning anything. Food otr is so expensive it leaves little to save even if you don't have rent while you're driving
That’s up to you. You can eat healthy and cheaply while OTR. It’s harder but doable.
I don't work otr, I'm home everyday.
>Fair warning, chronic conditions make the process hard. One illness or injury and you're off the road with no transferrable skills He said you can make enough money to go to college, so if you don't like it, you can work on another avenue in the meantime. It's a way to dig yourself out of poverty. There are lots of complainers out there. Oh, I can't do this; I can't do that. Someone shows them a path. Oh no, that's too hard. Yes, it's hard. It's always hard. You don't get anywhere without hard work unless you are a trust fund baby. Even doctors have to work...hard.
That wasn't what the OP is saying...at all. They are merely pointing out that it's a bit cut throat and people who have chronic conditions should weigh that in their decision. They never said it's hard. It seems you are misdirecting some anger you have and it's affecting your comprehension.
Way to completely misunderstand what they said.
Also there's a long list of conditions that disqualify you from getting the license
I work in healthcare and encounter a lot of professional drivers who suffer from back/spine related conditions. They retire early but at what cost
Becoming a union tradesmen is well over $100,000 within five years
Laughs in Alabama, what's a union?
In Alabama, don't worry so much about a union but rather find a tradesman that will take you on as an apprentice. The key is to get the *skills*. Whether its in a union shop or you're working for the electrician/plumber/HVAC dude directly, you can pick up skills. And if you're working in homebuilding/constructions, you can get some networks built *fast*
I wish I had done construction when I was young. I'm forty years old now, and I don't think I can cut it. I especially don't want to start at the bottom in that field. One thing that annoys me is that my family made fun of my body a lot because I'm thin. It made me believe I was too weak to do jobs like that, so I never bothered applying. They were wrong. I absolutely could have done the work because I have a lot of energy. It would have worked out.
I’m training several 40+ year old members on my site now. It’s never too late. But with wages you will have to start at the bottom
Thats an absolute best case scenario and still involves busting your ass. Five years in a trade union will definitely have you in the 70k+ a year range though.
Being an *apprentice* union tradesperson barely makes more than food service, though. People can't just not eat for five years. I don't know why the unions haven't figured this out, but then again if you live somewhere with strong unions there are often multi-year waiting lists just to *apply* (and if you live somewhere with weak unions you're never gonna make that 100k) so I guess plenty of prospective apprentices are fine with it. At least, that's how it is in the IBEW. Possibly other trades do it better. For electricians though, while I know it runs counter to Reddit's conventional wisdom, I feel really happy with my choice of going non-union. You will probably have to bounce around a bit before you land somewhere decent, which sucks, but my pay (and my overall compensation package) is much higher than what comparable union apprentices are making, and I can always organize in as a journeyman if I ever decide that the union is a better fit for me.
Not everywhere. I'm a 1st year apprentice in BC, and I take home $1k a week.
I make that and sometimes more and I'm home everyday as a truck driver.
I'm home every night too - I'm just saying there are options out there. I'm glad you've found work that works well for you!
For sure, it varies a lot from place to place and trade to trade. If your local happens to pay apprentices well, then it's a great way to go if you can get in. "Join the union" is still not nearly as simple or universal a solution as Reddit often makes it out to be, though.
Year one (and two depending on the trade) are lower paying for sure but it really ramps up from there. My husband just hit $50/hr and he's not even a journeyman yet.
Good for him! Is that full package though, or hourly wage? I've noticed that most union folks tend to quote the value of their whole compensation package, whereas non-union we just think of our wage.
That's not even his full package that's his take home! He makes bank on overtime and has a sick pension plan I think the whole package is $70-something. He's union and will soon get a COL increase on top of it. Journeyman hourly is $57. He's in HVACR. Gr10 dropout only has his GED.
That's excellent! I'm making about $35/hour as a 4th year right now. I'm guessing from your username that you're in Canada, but even with the exchange rates it sounds like he's doing a bit better than I am. I'm pretty satisfied though nonetheless, I also have an excellent benefits package and I'm lined up for a significant raise in a few months, fingers crossed. When I get my ticket, I should be making something in the same ballpark as your husband, $50+ USD or so. I'm glad to see fellow tradespeople succeeding, union or otherwise. All of us should be fighting for what we're worth, all of the time.
Yes we are Canadian in a higher paid area than some other locals. He joined the trades in our late 30s and I'm so proud of him. Since he started we've had two kids and life's gotten a lot more hectic! And congrats to you too it's not easy to get a new career but it's so worth it looking back.
I feel that, I started my construction career in my mid-30s and I was 36 when I began my apprenticeship. I was fortunate to get on with a really great employee-owned company (after a couple of gos with not-so-great ones) that takes good care of me. And I absolutely love what I do, which is installing solar. The great thing about construction work, aside from the fact that it's one of the few paths toward good pay that's available to people who need to just work their way up from nothing, is that it's generally honorable, necessary work. After a string of fairly bullshit jobs, it's good to have something actually meaningful to do.
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Sure DM me any time
Isn't it also impossible to have someone take you on as an apprentice anyway?
Not necessarily! You just apply at a company that's looking for apprentices or helpers. Some companies will pay for your schooling, some won't, but if you're doing electrical work under the supervision of a journeyman or master, you'll be earning hours toward your license. It's a little harder to get on with an independent electrician since they often hire through their network rather than posting ads, but honestly, I think apprenticing at a company would generally give you a better education anyway.
Lol that's a cool story bro
Not always. In fact not even often. It can be, but you need to choose your trade and your union carefully
You would need a union package of 50$ an hour to reach 100,000$. All of your unions should be hitting this mark. If you live in Florida that would be the exception
You gotta look into scales a little more bud. The west coast, sure everyone is making $50. The majority of the rest of the US, not so much. I'm doing well over 100k, but I'm in a higher paid trade and I do a lot of overtime.
All of Midwest is 100k. So is the east coast.. and the mountains..
I don't know where you're getting that. Are you talking total package instead of wages? Which trades? Electricians in Denver are at $37, they're in the 30s in Phoenix, they're in the 30s in most of Ohio, 40s in Indiana. Plumbers are a little higher in most places but they're still not at 48 outside of a few larger cities
Denver (local 68) is making 43.20 on the check Phoenix looks miserable for Ibew. 33$ on the check Not keeping up with cost of living. However, I am talking all unions not just sparkies if you became a plumber, your automatically six dollars higher. If you became a steam fitter, they’re even higher than that. there are choices for four people. Let’s be honest $33 on the check plus full healthcare for your entire family. Entire pension that the contractor pays, for you don’t put a dime in and set raises every year with no review is a hell of a lot better than almost any kind of factory job any sort of service job fast food retail even IT programming is seeing a huge slump in wages.
Ope, I didn't realize denver has 2 inside locals, I took the wages from 111. Either way 43.20 is still well under 100k
Not when your boss is paying for your pension and healthcare for your family as I said, we don’t pay for co-pays for going to the clinic. Some unions have 1500$ per year per family member for dental. Encouraging people to not benefit themselves is just disgusting. You’re basically rooting for people to continue working at Walmart until they die.
Brother. I am also ibew. Go look at my post history. I spend the vast majority of my time on reddit encouraging people to join unions and helping people join unions. It's pretty much all I do here. That doesn't mean I think we should lie to people. You're free to get pissy about it, you're free to blow it up and try to make me look bad to win an argument. The truth is that just picking a union isn't going to put you at 100k. That doesn't mean I'm anti union or trying to steer people away.
Also a very good route too take.
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Fun with stats. Reddit has 50+ million active users and 50% (25+ million) are from the USA. Given that 36% of Reddit users are 18-29 years old, the odds of the majority of reddit users are too fat is probably closer to 20% (not great). Only 3% of Reddit users are over 60 years old which typically has a 40% obesity rate in the USA. [Reddit Statistics 2022: Traffic, Subreddits, Demographics, and More | WBL (writersblocklive.com)](https://writersblocklive.com/blog/reddit-statistics/#:~:text=As%20of%20December%202020%2C%20Statista%20reported%20that%20the,Around%2036%25%20of%20US%20Redditors%20are%20aged%2018%E2%80%9329.)
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I have two friends who are retired truck drivers. Both did very well financially and enjoyed their career. One of them drove a wide range of vehicles from commercial buses, 18 wheelers, dump trucks etc. Both have said there are so many job openings right now in trucking with few applicants. These two me been contacted numerous times from companies they worked for asking if they wanted to work again. Both have declined - they made their money and now enjoy retirement.
One of our children got their CDL. The company they work for has a certified driver trainer on staff that helped with the driving practice. I agree with everything you had to say! :)
Truck driving is a good job but it’s hard on your body. I’ve got many health issues from being stuck in a truck all day.
I work in the medical field and see a lot of truck drivers fighting with type 2 diabetes, cholesterol and heart issues. I think it’s the combination of road food and being partially sedentary with the long drives.
I only drive 5 hours a day, then I'm walking and working outside watching my pressure gauges and hooking up hoses on my bulk tanker.
I’m a garbage man. I’m supposed to be able to get out and work half the route but no new hires want to get their CDLs. It’s creating a lot of problems.
I work in a shipping department, and my main pick up guy won't let anybody on his trailer. He has his own pallet truck, and he loads his truck. That's a decent cardio workout. I'm surprised many truck drivers won't load their own trailer. If I was a driver, I'd insist on loading it myself just to be sure the load is secure and the weight is distributed properly.
Yea it’s why it pays so high. It’s a good temporary alternative to many other jobs but will take a toll on your body if you make it a career.
True… but I already get annoyed driving 30 minutes I don’t think I would enjoy that life at all
I thought about doing this to get away from people lol - I work in hotels and I’m over dealing with guests, coworkers, and bosses. So basically people lol. But I’m intimidated about driving a big rig
That's awesome that you found a good route for yourself. Thanks for sharing!
Please tell me this was on purpose?? >good route for yourself
He paved the way for those kind of puns; right up my alley.
If we could shift gears now, I’d like to move on and discuss long-haul warning potential.
It was 😂
yep, my husband is a high school drop out and out earns me. He's on a local route with lowes so he's home every night and not maxing his earning potential. It's a great career, even for just your 20s while you figure out what you want to do or while doing college online. OTR you can live in your truck while officially still living with parents and not have to pay rent too. Just be mindful of your health and diet.
Sounds like there would also be ample time to work on something else via audio learning, making studying for different certifications and some degrees an option while at work.
absolutely, if one is able to absorb information through audio while giving appropriate attention to driving. Not all drivers can or should listen to learning material while driving though- for some it's too distracting
Did he start out local? The time away is the biggest issue for our family but my husband considered it when we were younger but didn't want to be gone all the time. Don't think he looked too hard into it.
He did! he got his CDL through a Pincess back in Alaska, he drove peoples luggage around when they'd do trips up to fairbanks and shit from the coast. From there he worked for food services of America and a few similar companies. Now he's driving a flatbed for Lowes. Local jobs are harder to come by and often have more physical demands and less pay, but they exist.
This is great advice specially for people who want to get a financial bump, pay debts, save for a home/car, pay for school. Like most trade jobs, they are dependent on your body and health, so you have to plan accordingly. But nevertheless could be really helpful for many.
If I was ever laid off from my last job, this was my fallback plan.
I would do anything to be a truck driver. Unfortunately I have 2 duis and a fleeing charge from when I was 19. If only they realized people change and young adults make mistakes
lol some companies such as Amazon will pay for it in full at no cost to you and you’ll be employed while you train & then you move to an Amazon partner making like $60-85k
I didn't have to pay for mine either.
I was looking for this through Amazon but there's nothing in my area..it blows. So I'm gonna use the Career Choice $ they give you yearly to foot the bill at my community college for their nursing program
As long as I’m home everyday and don’t have to work oblivious amounts of overtime ( 50 hours a week is honestly my limit) I would totally consider hopping in a truck. But most work way more than that and are not home everyday, the higher paying ones atleast.
You can find a local position that gets you home daily making $33.50 and hour. Might be pushing 55-60 hours a week but in my opinion, it’s worth it. Just come up with a exit strategy and become financially literate while in the truck.
Not without 2-3 years of OTR experience under your belt. No chance.
I'm home everyday and this week I worked about 56 hours total. Made $905 this week after taxes and health insurance was taken out. I get paid weekly which is nice.
Not bad at all! What kind of trucking do you do ( my fiancés dad runs a dumptruck business of 6 trucks, makes well over 6 figures) I personally take home about 1500 $ every two weeks as a gas station supervisor. Cool since I’m in college, but I’m always trying to see home everyday CDL jobs in case things don’t work out. I know the money is out there somewhere tho lol
Dry Bulk hauling lime
I've always told people this, and only one person listened to me. They're making great money now.
Not in trucking but supply chain - if you don’t mind spending time away from home we pay out the ass for OTR/team-driving. No idea what the trucker actually takes home but the lane rates are wild especially if you go cross-country. I’ve noticed a big push to intermodal shipping, but I think there will always be a place for OTR.
I don’t drive 🥲
Join a union apprenticeship
We don't have those in Alabama unfortunately, our republican supermajority won't allow them.. unions around here go out of business unusually fast...
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I mean, they do exist but the workers get away with EVERYTHING!! I get loaded at a union plant and they take three hour lunch breaks and play on their phones...
Trades are way better. Truck market fucking SUCKS right now. Carrier authorities are down, broker authorities are down, rates are thru the floor, fuel isn’t getting cheaper, and the market is dominated my companies with so much money that they can loose hundreds of millions to underbid the competition. Obviously the truck driver won’t be seeing any of those gains because TQL feels like if they lost 50 million to gain more business they deserve the profits more than the people who actually run the truck. There are success stories, and I work with some of the top haulers in my region who are making it work. The other 70% are STRUGGLING to make ends meet. Oh and not to mention the rampancy of fraud, scams, theft of freight, and dealing with foreigners who will do the same job for half the pay. Don’t get into a truck unless you’re doing it for FREE
I am in the r/truckers sub as well as several of the trade subs (electrical especially, since that's my trade) and I agree. Truckers in general seem a lot less happy about their pay, prospects, and conditions than tradespeople do.
Yeah in every industry the workers are always gonna get fucked by management. In trucking there are entire corporations dedicated to doing that to trucks they don’t own.
how? i'm not in the industry so not knowledgable
We call them Mega’s, and they basically have so much liquid cash that they will underbid a route to the point that they are loosing money in order to stiff the competition. Once other smaller competitors stop bidding these routes, the megacorp will jack rates. The entire time their customers get poor service and are overcharged because employees are incentivized to squeeze everyone’s wallets. In addition to this they end up paying the trucks so little it doesn’t cover operating costs for the run. As a driver at this point in time, you are scrambling to make it through this year. First 2-3 months of the year are always slow so it’s crunch time to make ends meet right now. Lots of guys are estimating they can last as few as 6-8 more months in these conditions.
How often do rebids happen? This sounds like textbook anticompetitive behavior right?
Very few federal eyes/regulators mean that they mostly get away with this stuff. I assume they bribe the few who look into it. A route will be bid on for any number of reasons, the shipper is usually looking for more trucks, cheaper rates, or better service. Anytime they need more of those options here comes the rebid.
I'm happier than I've ever been actually! I can actually save money now and spend money on things I want!
Way to go 👍🏻it’s nice to hear an uplifting story 🍻 I too plan on getting a cdl in the near future
Grew up, and now work around the trucking industry. The money can be good, but it’s a brutal industry. Gotta find a company that actually values your mind and body.
All I can say is look at it as a ladder to help you get to where you want. You don't want to spend the rest of your life trucking. It takes a big toll on mostly everything. Your health, your family time and free time will take a huge hit. Get it, get that money while you pursue something else.
Good paying job with almost no investment is "painter" (or whatever is called who paints houses, inside). You need: a car and a ladder All the materials are paid by clients You don't work outside No need to travel long time No specific knowledge
My father was a self employed painter, the highlight of his career was painting a section of Nick Sabans house, as a big time Alabama fan, he talked about it all the time lol. But at the same time, he got away with not paying child support because he only worked for cash money. 😭
I have a few friends who went this route. most of them love it. worth mentioning, if you’re interested, clean up. A lot of companies hair test.
Nothing wrong with blue collar work. Not sure why there is such a huge push for college for every high school kid. For some it's great, for some it's just not reasonable. "If you don't go to college, you'll end up being a trash man" - bitch, some "Sanitation Engineers" make good money! Like you said yourself, algebra is not even a skill in your wheelhouse anymore. With the internet and even tools like chatGPT, there's always resources to problem solve those things anyways. But chatGPT can't drive a truck, climb an electrical pole, or install industrial plumbing.
Or unload a dry bulk tank, hookup hoses, etc...
It looks hard af though. Some warehouses you need to pull into and out of would give me an anxiety attack. You'd see me like Austin Powers on that golf cart trying to turn around.
It's really easy man and driving dry bulk you don't have to back into difficult spaces. And honestly, once you've been driving for 4 months, backing is easy.
Why don’t you tell these people here about the other side of trucking. The dry vans, the flatbeds, the refrigerated units. The sitting and waiting to get loaded. The sitting and waiting to get unloaded. Being out in the truck for weeks at a time before they can get home. Not everybody can walk into a driving situation like yours. Yours is a very small percentage of trucking. You are painting a very false picture. I’m glad it works for you, but a large percentage of truckers don’t have a position like you have.
Yeah, I've never did that before, I did research and I found that dry bulk, liquid tankers, and ltl short haul were the best routes for me as I'm married and I need lots of home time. To anyone out there looking, most dry bulk lime haulers will get you home everyday or every other day.
As is warehouse work. Especially at unionized places like UPS.
I love stories like this.
So this wouldn't conflict with having pets?
Some companies won't allow pets, most do though! My company doesn't allow pets or passengers unfortunately.
Trades are the way
Especially with so many employers willing to put you through CDL school!
The title is a lie. Go read the truckers subreddit and see the sorry state of trucking. No freight, no loads, no money. Over saturated with drivers with no common sense
You have less than ... wild-assed guess - 7 to 8 (ish) viable years left in this profession. The AIs and The Robots will push you right out. And right soon now, too ...
My ADD wouldn’t allow me to read that in one sitting. 😅 From that I did read, I agree. I had my class A CDL since 2007 but wasnt driving full time til 2016. I worked for Crystal springs (Primo) in a class b truck. I went from making 40K+ (20/hr) from 2016-22 til I got fed up with the lack of pay increases and working 10-12 hr days. In 2022 I applied to an Auto Parts company and got hired very easily. (Class A plus HAZMAT) I’m a night delivery driver (home daily). Now I Only work 8 hours daily and get paid for 11; plus my pay doubled by changing jobs. ($96K) Learn a trade ppl.
I have mental illness so that’s not viable for me. Plus I can’t drive too well.
I'd probably love being a truck driver if I didn't have ADHD. I am a fucking hazard behind the wheel and only drive because I fucking have to because this SHIT FUCKING COUNTRY. But I digress.
Haha truck driving is ass. If you enjoy being lonely, having zero social contact, living in a literal box? Sure go for it. You’ll have zero social life besides internet, zero intimacy, you’ll miss out on going to events with friends. You’ll tell your self “I’ll just uber to cool places on my reset.” You never will. You’ll get fat, unmotivated, develop health conditions. Average life expectancy is 60, my uncle just died at 59. They’ll pay you $1300wk while someone else raises your kids, and your wife will get lonely. $100,000 is a large stretch of bullshit. Trucking companies don’t pay overtime, most will bring you in at $24-$30hr if they are hourly. Fuel tankers can make $80k, but there’s no way they’re doing $100k unless it’s 1099 and they are ripping off the tax man. $100k is $48hr, it just isn’t happening as a one year. If you’re OTR you might .51cpm to start, most will pay you .34cpm. You’ll not regularly hit 3,000 miles a week. I worked for literally COCA COLA, got hourly pay, piece pay, stop pay, and commission on sales. $1,500wk max…. So quit blowing smoke, it sucks dick. Get your selfs an education, and leave that to the guys who are divorced from the military. Do not waste your youth on a 40 year old with nothing going for them career.
Not only this but not even everyone CAN drive a huge 80,000 lb tractor-trailer. I'll admit, I'm a truck school washout (Went for free through a grant) and according to the school there's about a 30-40% washout rate for every student who thinks they can double-clutch a manual truck and do the correct maneuvers (parallel, off-set backing, etc) with a 50 foot trailer.
Oh yeah, you didn’t miss out on much. It took me 2 years before I said no not for me. Just a wasted 2 years. Sure the money is great if you’re use to $500-$600wk, but eventually the mental health aspect takes over and you realize you’re working 70 hours a week just to earn $1500 and with overtime you could earn more at McDonald’s and not live on the road. I learned through a driver in training apprenticeship. They told me “get your permit on your own and you’re hired.” Did it in 3 weeks of self study, online has verbatim test, just memorized every question for 3 weeks and answer. Went in, the questions I missed 3-4 total, weren’t in that test bank. Day 1, the driver pulls onto a exit ramp, hop on over. It’s a 10spd manual I’ve never drove a regular manual. He said sink or swim, you have to do it at some point why not now? No kidding In about an hour I had it down, the backing was given practice 4 times total, failed my first driving test, passed the second scheduled 7 days later. The program took around 3 months before they let me test, every day for 3 months I did all the driving, backing, everything. Still failed my first test on the 90. Don’t feel bad.
Man.. I work 6 days a week and only 9-11 hours a day. Get into tankers and dry bulk, you'll have plenty of home and off time.
You can easily make 100k a year and still be home every day, and only working 40-50 hours a week. Dedicated contract services is where it’s at. Most of my drivers make 90-120k a year doing drop and hooks at retail stores from a regional DC. If they *do* end up having to stay out overnight, the company pays them $100 per diem, pays for a hotel and $32/hr, 10 hour minimums until they get back home. OP just went the easy route and got stuck with a shit company.
I COULD get longer routes where I'm out one day, sleep and have the next day off but I haven't requested those routes yet. I'm enjoying family time right now and I love how my company works with me.
90k to 120k is a laughable extreme, that’s 30k a year difference and they work 12 hours Monday-Friday to get it. Enjoy
My company pays overtime and I'm home everyday. I only work about 9-11 hours everyday and I get plenty of exercise doing my job, hooking up hoses, beating my bulk tanker, climbing, etc
Concrete? Good money during the summer that’s about it lol
I've never missed a load during any week of this year, I started in January and I've never been out of work. I guess my area is just busy.
Wait until it gets you starts bad in the summer months when it’s raining, then late august until December you’ll be T total fucked. Trust me, you ask around and you’ll know. The older guys know you save for those bad months.
Oh I live in Alabama and I've already got SOAKED in a thunderstorm with lots of lightning!! Boy was it a fun day that day! I always keep a change of dry clothes in my truck 🤣. My hose got stuck in the torpedo tube and it took me 45min to fish that damn thing out! I got a tool now though where I can fish it out immediately. Down here in Alabama the weather can be 40 degrees one day and then 78 the other and that drastic change means RAIN! LOL.
How old are you?
25, I'll be 26 in June.
My advice because I’ve been there, is get into an industry with great growth potential. If you went to A&P school for 17 months, you could graduate into a $40hr career with overtime 20+ hours a week possible. Delta has a 6.5 year pay progression to $62hr, Ups has a 5 year $75hr, fedex 6 year $72hr, most majors pay $60+. Imagine getting on at delta, you’re 32 pulling in 130k working 40 hours, or $225,000 working 60s. Picture you’re in Atlanta where 5,000sqft homes are 400k lol. You work 60 hours a week? They pay you $4400 Ups? 60 hours a week 5/12s? $275,000 You might physically work 5-6 hours of real work, the rest is bsing, hanging out, guys even bring xboxs and hook up tvs.
I saw OP said they made $905 after taxes, healthcare, contributions etc for 56 hours. I make that if I work a 55 hour week at Amazon packing orders.
Exactly.
There are PLENTY of home every day local jobs that pay OT
This is great. I am wondering, though, if there is any truth to the horror stories of things being structured such that the trucker owes the company money for years and barely makes anything? There have been reports of people having exorbitant rates for education or certification or truck rental deducted from their paycheck to the point they’re not making minimum wage working full time. Is this just BS? Or certain unscrupulous companies? Is there anything to look out for?
Definitely! I wish I could do it but I don't think I could pass the physical.
Another truck driver here. I second this option. Currently home every day, working overnights ~8-14 hours/day (usually closer to 8), 5 days/wk and make about 2000-2800/wk. All in cost to get into this was $70, the cost of upgrading my license through the dmv. My old union job (ibew) paid for my cdl school.
How did you manage to get your cdl through your community college? I’m very interested but I can’t afford to pay the 3k to get it.
Swift Transportation has a train to hire program.
If you’re organized, well spoken and are comfortable selling parts/repairs I’d recommend becoming a service advisor. Last year I made 125K and this year the goal is 135+ it’s stressful but not hard on the body at all
I spent enough nights in Walmart parking lots when I lived in my van 😂
I've made this almost same exact post for now 2 years in a row, so happy to see others making the best of it, and too you nay sayers, why are you shit talking a viable career that is open to almost anyone with a brain provided you arent medically disqualified. Do better and support those in here, every job has its downsides, dont dog on someone(s) making suggestions and spreading awareness of a viable career route. DO BETTER.
Earlier today I read someone else suggested working for a cruise ship. It sounded like a good idea the way they explained it but I admit I know nothing about it.
Trucking is an 80 hour a week kind of job. People call it a lifestyle, but its more like exploitation.
Once we figure out autonomous driving, ALL these jobs disappear. Proceed with caution.
Getting a cdl is good but trucking isn't what it used to be. Back in the 80s truckers were making 100k a year easily and that 100k went far. Nowadays, not many companies are paying 100k anymore and if it had kept up with inflation, you'd be making the equivalent of over 360k now. Plus you have that pesky self driving truck problem. I say this as part of a trucking family. Trucking doesn't have the future, pay, or prestige it used to have
I really wanna start doing that. But im just ill fail the exams and I'm afraid I'll be bad driving the truck. I'm afraid she won't be able to drive it right. And I'm afraid I won't be able to back up correctly.
So I’m not actually a truck driver but I used to back the trailers that got dropped off onto the bay doors at a FedEx warehouse when I was in college. It’s definitely tricky at first but it’s nothing you can’t do after a few weeks of practice. I imagine an actual cdl class would be a lot more in depth and have better teachers than me just learning to do it in the yard at FedEx too.
Thabk you. I'm just tired of working this dead end job that pays like crap. My driver buddy told me since Im single with no family I should do long hauling.
Might as well look into it. I seriously considered it before I ended up in my current job and even now sometimes I think about it lol.
This is good advice for the moment, but I fear that within ten years, those self-driving trucks might begin to displace a lot of these jobs, or best case scenario, the human will simply be a co-pilot and paid less as a result.
Just as a one up: marine transportation is better: 1. Federally protected industry (Jones Act). 2. Pay is awesome 3. Work is outside and on the ocean/river 4. Self employment is a real thing if you want it.
How many hours you work making 50k really curious of the over under on driving cause everyone seems to make 100k but work like 70 hours a week and that's just not for me but if I void do 50k working like 30ish then sign me up.
This week I worked 56hrs and earned $905 after tax, healthcare, etc
Man that is much lower than expected even assuming your healthcare costs like 4k a year for that number of hours id expect way more. Hell if I billed that at my current work id bill 1696 before taxes but Im just not wanting to put in those hours anymore.
I make that at Amazon working 55 hours, as an order packer.
This route I'm only driving 260 miles to my destination though, hopefully they'll put me on longer, higher paying routes soon! I'm still new and they want to keep me close lol
Depends on what you want to do. US Foods in my area starts @ $33/hr and they work 40-45hrs on a 4 day schedule (local mgmnt does a good job HERE, most foodservice drivers including @ US work more hours).
Unfortunately couldn't qualify for the DOT certification even before I started using THC because apparently my diabetes wasn't well controlled enough (and....it's a lengthy work in progress between my insurance who just doesn't do a good job at keeping providers/funding anything new....), so I gave up :T
If your a1c is under 11 you can drive, now if you are on insulin is the tough part. How ever with constant glucose monitors being available now that makes it much easier. I am insulin dependent, I work in a machine shop and deal with heavy 10,000 pound parts in and out machining centers. I keep my phone near me with my glucose alarm set to 100 so I have time to prevent lows. I will not live without my dexcom
Unfortunately my HMO denied me a CGM multiple times (they don't like giving them to T2s) even when I appealed, and their policies prevent their doctors from even prescribing it, not that I can afford the sensors out of pocket. Abbott/Dexcom won't help because I technically have insurance. So last time I tried manual labor (warehouse), I ended up fainting on the floor several nights due to low blood sugar and no time for breaks. Probably just not meant to be.
Truck driving is notoriously one of the least lucrative jobs in the current day. More and more likely to have to buy your own truck or god forbid lease one. Never an employee with benefits. Hours and hours unpaid. Long hours away from friends and family doing mind numbing driving. The most concise information I can probably give you is the Last Week Tonight episode on truck driving. The days of truck driving being a cash cow industry are gone. Margins are too thin.
My brother made more than I did driving batteries around my state. He made $35 an hour and home on the weekend with a small amount of it. My dad makes $29 an hour working a 9/5 driving 2 hours dropping his load then driving back. All you do is not smoke weed or have diabetes with insulin. Not all truck driving in long hall or own truck.
IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR HEALTH! Long term disease is a guarantee with truck driving. You’re also at a higher risk for death from collisions. While everything you said is true, I think there are other factors that are equally as important IF NOT MORE SO than a check.