First Year Gross Pay As Truck Driver

Hello everyone!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but to be honest, I am usually too wore out to get myself on here. I think about what I should post all the time while I am driving, but when I get home I just want to sleep before I have to get right back up and do it again...

I was going over my finances today looking at what I should make by the end of the year, then it dawned on me that I had already completed a full year of driving. If you count school and training, I have been driving for about 16 months.

Since I have seen the discussion of what one should expect to make their first year, etc., I thought I would share the information with you all, specifically for students and newer drivers.

I got my CDL on 6-15-12. Between then and 9-22-12 I was in training and rode second seat with a lease operator for a while after that. I didn't include any of that in the amount I am reporting. Only the full year with a "real" trucking job as a dedicated solo driver from 9-22-12 to 9-26-13, which includes my orientation pay with the company.

I would like to mention that on April 10th, 2013, I had an accident and consequently didn't work for 21 days while on suspension during investigation of the accident. So I am basically missing almost a month of pay here. What happened? I basically drove an empty trailer through a tornado and ended up in the ditch. I won't do that again.

Also, for many months I didn't work extra days, which I do regularly now. In other words, I work 6 days a week and take one day off instead of two. This adds about $800/mo to my check, so if I had been doing this from the beginning the number would also be higher.

So how much did I make in my first year as a rookie dedicated solo driver, taking the above factors into consideration?

$34,499.64

'bout what Brett said it would be, ain't it?

Hey ButtonUp, glad to see you back!!! I'm also glad to hear you survived a really scary incident and seem to have come out of it just fine. Thank God for that!!!

Yeah, that salary is dead on what we usually say will be the average for your first year. From the sound of things you could have cleared $40k if you had been working an extra day a week and didn't miss the time from the accident so it's great to know the potential is there. And thanks a ton for sharing that! It's one thing for us to say "Here's what you can expect" but it's quite another to have you come back and let us know how it actually turned out. Very cool.

What kind of miles have you been turning in a typical week and how far are they sending you from home before getting you back by the weekend? Are you running a regional or dedicated route?

Hey ButtonUp, glad to see you back!!! I'm also glad to hear you survived a really scary incident and seem to have come out of it just fine. Thank God for that!!!

Definitely was scary. Luckily, I didn't end up on the other side of the highway, and there wasn't anyone else around me.

What kind of miles have you been turning in a typical week and how far are they sending you from home before getting you back by the weekend? Are you running a regional or dedicated route?

Without taking a hard look at my records, I can say I drive between 2100 and 2600 a week. I am a "floater," which means they will send me to other locations occasionally besides my usual one. If I run my usual run 5 days a week that's 2100 miles (paid miles). With the extra day, that's another 420+ miles, depending on where they send me.

I am home every day. I share a truck with another driver who drives at night with a slipseat arrangement. Only twice have I not made it home. Once, I drove about 8 hours and stayed in a hotel, then drove back the next day. I was given the option, and chose to take it as there was some incentive pay involved. I was in a daycab at the time. Another time I ran out of time and decided to sleep at the rest stop 20 minutes from the terminal , but there have been several similar occasions since where I've just gone ahead and went to the terminal without any negative repercussions.

In the 13 months I've had this position, I've only been live loaded once, live unload maybe 3 times. Everything else is drop and hook.

Sounds like you found a dream driving job pretty much. Glad to hear the score between you and the tornado is 1-0 in your favor lol.

Yeah, that does sound like a nice job you've found there. Great pay for being home everyday that's for sure. And all drop and hook is really fantastic!

They have a lot of opportunities like this for drivers that live within 50 miles of the terminal , or yard. I know I have suggested it to others on here. I don't know all the cities, but I can tell you St. Louis, W Memphis, Indianapolis, Channahon IL, Brownstown MI, Columbus OH, Prescott (?), and Dallas are a few.

Yes I got lucky!

Just doing my best to be safe and avoid any more accidents or doing anything stupid.

Yesterday I got worried. The Indianapolis yard is about the size of a shoebox, and I blindsided a trailer into the back corner. Well, I ended up less than an inch from the trailer next to me, and I didn't have enough room to pull forward to get the trailer over any more. I literally started to panic. I unhooked (barely enough room to get out), hooked up to the trailer next to me. Couldn't crank the landing gear any because it was so close, so I drug it out a little (dirt lot), got the gear up, backed it into a different spot that opened up while I was backing the other trailer, then hooked back up to my original trailer and got it centered. Took almost an hour. Luckily there wasn't anyone around... usually it is very busy.

But I have to say, I found this website before I went to school, and it was a huge part of my success!