Profile For Moses O.

Hi Moses I dont have any experience as a truck driver to give you an advice but I was in your situation. That is the only reason I am commenting. Few months ago I got laid off and I was making 90K. The only reason I came for driving is because I love driving and I am not even thinking about how much I am going to make for next 2 or 3 years. All I am thinking now is how to be a good driver and I want to learn as much as I can. People may have different opinions but my advice is just don't go for driving only to make money. Do it only if you love it.

Thanks JJlearner. It's the programmer in me that always analyze the pro & con of everything. Being Asian, I'm also money minded :D But in reality, I think I can find peace on the road. A few years ago, I drove from Kansas City to South Florida for relocation. I enjoyed being on the road, seeing the country side, the farm land (enjoyed Arkansas, Atlanta stressed me out!). I used to drive from Kansas City to Tulsa Oklahoma to attend the state fair, all the road trips intrigued me, seeing dense fog cover the road on both side of the car at 4 am, like a scene from Sleepy Hollow.

As an IT person, I lost interest in technology, Netflix, computer game, all those just become a "meh" for me. For my side hobbies, I do scuba diving, underwater videography, landscape photography....... my point is, I don't think I have problem to adapt to the outdoor on the road lifestyle. I would like to get out of the 9-to-5 lifestyle as soon as possible, but I also need to find a smoother way to transition out of that office lifestyle. I hope it make sense.

Another reason I'm drawn to trucking is, I want to see the country. Like I said, I plan to retire in Asia in 5-8 years. Trucking would give me the opportunity to see many parts of the country that most people won't see.

Here s another hurdle...most boarding facilties will not take a pet more than 30 days. i checked this out too. In NJ they wanted $700 for a month of boarding my cat and limit all animals to 30 days.

they say it is for the "mental and physical well being of the animal".

Thanks Rainy, it's something I thought about too. I checked with my vet and was told they do help client to board pets more than 30 days as some people go on military mission, and have to leave their pet behind for boarding. The mental state of the dog is what pain me. The vet said we should leave behind a few pieces of our clothes so the pet still can detect our scent. There is a lot to think about, if Prime has a pet boarding facility in Springfield, MO, imagine all the possibilities!!!!

Thanks Rainy. I read through all 12 pages of your pay discussion thread and it helped.

As for LTL, it won't fit my current lifestyle. Like I said, I have a 12 years old dog. I don't think LTL will allow pet in truck, and LTL may require overnight from time to time which could cause issue with arranging dog boarding and get home in time to let the dog out.

It gets me emotional to think about this, my dog doesn't have much life left, if he get to live until 15 years old, great. If I become OTR driver, I would like to spend his last few years be with me 24/7. He has been with me the past 10 years, helped me through tough time and keep me company so he's important to me.

Thanks again for all the support and education. Hopefully things will work out eventually with my current unemployment situation.

Since money seems to be your biggest goal (nothing wrong with that) have you considered linehaul? If there are any in your area.

Last year was my first full year and I made 75k, and didnt work as much as I could. Generally linehaul is among the highest paying trucking jobs we have a lot drivers over 100k some into the 120s, it may take 3-5 to get to that point but you should have no problem bringing in 70-80k.

Thanks Bob, yes I briefly looked up LTL, I think the company I was checking out is XPO Logistic. Regardless, I still need to pay my due of getting my CDL, have 2-2.5 years of OTR experience before I can consider the next gig where the money is. Once I have the 2+ years experiences, sounds like the money is there ($80K-$120K) whether is working for Sysco, Walmart, FedEx etc.

Thanks Rainy and Turtle! I didn't know you can be trainer while driving company. I'm sure it will be something to consider. It's good to hear that Prime increased their CPM as their website still showing .42 cpm.

I'm still having hard time to gauge performance. I thought once you hit the road, the dispatcher tell you to go to destination A, you just keep driving, take break in between and sleep when the ELD tell you you run out of time soon. As long as I'm being nice to customer and dispatcher, no speeding or accident, I would have done my job. I think I need to do more research about "what's consider as high performance trucker".

I'm giving myself until June before I commit to switch career to trucking. What's stopping me from doing it right now is the fact that during orientation and training, I don't know what to do with my dog. None of my friend would want to look after my dog for 2 months (TNT phase etc). So my worse case scenario would be attending Prime while boarding my dog for 2 months, which could cost a lot money.

Just curious...what makes you think 80k with isn’t possible with Prime, or any of the major carriers after two years of experience?

Fairly certain Rainy and Turtle are at that level with Prime.

I'm just being conservative, and may be lack of industry knowledge. This is how I see it at the moment: Prime pay 0.42 cpm for solo company refrigerated. Assume I drive 2500 miles per week (is it normal for solo driver?), I also think with ELD, after detention, waiting for load, 2500 miles/week is the average? So, 2500 x $0.42 = $1050 take home pay per week.

I know some weeks are better than other weeks, either you have fuel bonus etc. I just haven't seen anyone discuss pay after 2 years with Prime as solo company drivers. Those that I have seen turned lease + trainer after 1st year with Prime.

Thanks for the insight. Rainy D, you don't sound mean at all, in fact I welcome candid information.

I actually left out some detail about my plan/consideration. I'm considering give up IT. My first step is to get my CDL through Prime Inc (I already called them, they're okay for me being from Florida, my pet size is okay, and my Green Card immigration status is okay). I understand that a new CDL driver would make $40-50K as company driver (I'm only interested in company driver). I want to be OTR company driver for Prime Inc for 2 years to 2.5 years to pay my due and have verifiable driving record/experience. Then once/if I leave Prime Inc, I could work for companies who pay more (more than $80K) and catch up on saving money (OTR or Local doesn't matter, I just want to grind grind grind).

I don't see myself working in trucking for more than 10 years as I'm 43 years old now. I would like to retire in my home country of Asia when I turn 50s so I can be close to my siblings and friends. The cost of living in Asia is good, so I don't need a boat load of money to retire early because I have been making US dollar and saved up a bit. If trucking pay in the $80K range (after 2 years of experience), combine with my existing saving/mutual fund etc., retire in my 50s in foreign country seems attainable.

I did a lot research about trucking life style, I don't have family in the USA, just me and my dog (dog is 12 years old). Being away from my house weeks at a time shouldn't be a problem (just need to pay someone to mow the lawn).

Besides Sysco, I came across video in Youtube about Walmart distribution center driver. Even FedEx Expedited could pay a lot. I think many of the jobs doesn't require you to unload like Sysco to get great pay.

So with that said, is my plan way off in term of the potential money to be made?

I got layoff from my web developer job in late January. After spent 18 years in the IT industry, I really got tired of it. Over the past few years, I didn't follow the new trend and technology of the industry because I'm now middle age, and was focus on hobbies, personal life enrichment, travel etc.

Now that I have to put myself out into the IT job market, I realize the IT pay is not that great. In my case, after 18 years, I'm not being pay $80K/year (In South Florida market). While looking for another Web Developer job, almost all employers only pay $65k-$75K and they want 5+ years of experience on NEWEST technical knowledge and experience that I don't have. I recently tried to learn the new skill but without actual working experience in those skills, recruiters just turn me away.

I'm considering switching career to be trucker, mainly because I think the money is good. What caught my attention is because I come across CDL job posting like this: https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Delivery%20Driver%20Sysco&l=West%20Palm%20Beach%2C%20FL&vjk=fe20e7e53b83bee2

I'm wondering, does anyone can speak from experience, about the pay? Whether is working for Sysco, Walmart etc. Some employee even list $100K-$120K as CDL A driver.