Profile For Jake G.

Location will trump experience. So if you're willing to move, then you're going to be able to put yourself in a position to have better opportunities. Linehaul trucking pays some of the best wages in the trucking industry. Drivers make between 70-100k a year. Rookie linehaul drivers will generally make more than experienced OTR drivers. LTL companies will also hire student drivers - some have their own driving school and will PAY YOU to get your CDL A. I give a list of LTL companies in my thread.

Great info! :) It looks like you did a ton of research and figured out how things fit together. Glad I bumped into you. I'm beginning that same journey. I assume 70-100k is after a few years in the company. Right? Unless you meant less time than that. Are there any other sources you would recommend me to read about LTL and linehaul? I saw truckingboards.com in your thread. As well as inquiring into linehaul companies in my area. Anything else? Would linehaul involve more time stuck in city traffic?

Hey everyone.

I’m new to all this so please keep that in mind when you answer. I don’t know the lingo or many of the basic concepts, although I'm reading a few ebooks on it right now. I’m trying to come up with a good plan or path to take. I realize this is a large question I’m asking and that it has multiple answers, many of which are not simple. Go ahead and give me your advice based on what you’ve learned, or, If you know a book that answers all this, go ahead and tell me it’s title, please.

Let’s say there is a guy who is not afraid to work his ass off. He has a history of not getting burnt out, serious work ethic, etc. And, he learns fast. You give him a text book to study or train him with procedures to understand, he memorizes it all quickly.

I'm learning that with trucking, there are different arrangements that make very different annual incomes. Some 40k. Others over 100. Working for companies, lease purchase, team, flat bed, Propane, etc. I imagine these arrangements take different amounts of time to get into. Perhaps some options take several years whereas other options are only 1 to 2 years before you could be in that particular set up. I also imagine some of those options have a problem of job availability whereas others are more so a sure shot with less competition. I’m already aware that OTR means you probably loose contact with all your friends and family. I’m ok with that. I’m a loner anyway, and single. I don’t mind staying "single" for years. I’m willing to move wherever in the country to get the best trucking job.

So what I want to know is, 1) Which arrangements pay the highest? How would you maximize the money you can make in a year? 2) BUT, among those options, which ones don’t take too long to qualify for. If it takes many years to get the qualifications, I'd probably skip it and go for a different arrangement that takes less years. Again, we're talking about a workaholic here. I take everything i do in life very seriously. 3) And, among those, which arrangements have more of a problem with availability and competition? Which have less of an availability problem?

If you know of any arrangements that fits all three parameters, what are they? And, if you have any advice of how to make it happen, I’m all ears.

Thanks a lot. Sorry about the long winded-ness.