Podcast 10: Terminal Rats Are Derailing Trucking Careers

It is a modern form of slavery that has become the status quo of our modern society.

Sir, you seem to be a truck driver yourself. Could you elaborate on your statement comparing your own job to slavery? Don't you get a pay check regularly? Do you have scars on your back from being slashed with whips?

I am making more money as a company driver than my friend who is a bank president, and I don't have the stress of having to explain to the stockholders why things aren't as bright as they'd like to see them be, as he does on a quarterly basis.

Please sir, that statement was over the top! I'm not even going to bring up your arrogant attitude toward the rest of us...

I have found the trucking industry to be made up of mostly lost individuals who are basically unemployable

Old School,

Man... how much are you making? More than a bank president? I'm going to have to pay more attention to you. :P I don't even know what company you work for.

It has absolutely nothing to do with what company I work for.

Yet 292 Swift drivers on glassdoor reporting their annual average, and not a single one earns even half of what the average Bank president does.

I'll let you handle this one Old School. I would rather go to bed than waste my time.

Good luck my friend, you will need it.

Yet 292 Swift drivers on glassdoor reporting their annual average, and not a single one earns even half of what the average Bank president does.

If you're start out at .40 CPM that's the equivelant of making $20 an hour. And that's just starting out. Not to mention the bonuses for safety, idling, passing DOT inspections etc.

Also how many of those drivers used Swift to get their CDL and are still repaying the company?

But what do I know I only got a 110 on the ASVAB 🤔

Ryan, data can sometimes be a good thing to base a decision on, but when it comes to a trucking career the data that you are collecting is totally skewed in the wrong direction. That is the reason I referred to you the other day as trying to find your way through the fog when I made this statement...

Ryan is trying to find his way through the fog, so let's see if we can help him while he's here. Just like every other driver he will stand or fall on his own merit. He's obviously got a decent head on his shoulders, we are just going to have to wait and see how he uses it.

See what kind of data you can collect on Knight Transportation and how their drivers are treated. That is my employer.

Would it surprise you if I told you that I have a good friend who is a company drive for Swift who is making roughly 70,000 dollars per year?

Their is sooo much poor data on the internet when it comes to trucking, and most of it comes from the folks who did poorly at it. That is the reason it is so skewed in the wrong direction. Nobody is going to get rich doing this, it is a blue collar working man's job. You can make a decent living at it, but if you think you are throwing your life away by taking a job that is going to max out around about 60 to 70 grand, then you need to look elsewhere career-wise.

Kirk,

My point was that the absolutely highest paid swift driver out of 292 people wasn't even making half of that of an average bank president. If Old School here can more than double the performance of the greatest reporting Swift driver, he must possess some unworldly powers. That or the more simple possibility: the company you drive for does matter.

It appears it might be that he's driving for sapa just looking at his pictures.

Old School,

I hadn't seen that comment, but I heard a few references to it. I think it must have been in that thread that I stopped reading so Brett didn't have to keep baby sitting his forum. My comment below yours in this thread was before I read what you had said, which does address some of what I had said.

You're right though. I don't see anyone making six figures for Knight Transportation.

Kirk,

My point was that the absolutely highest paid swift driver out of 292 people wasn't even making half of that of an average bank president. If Old School here can more than double the performance of the greatest reporting Swift driver, he must possess some unworldly powers. That or the more simple possibility: the company you drive for does matter.

It appears it might be that he's driving for sapa just looking at his pictures.

And my point was you don't know how many are still paying the company back or how many are rookies who get paid less.

Considering they are sharing their personal salary online makes me think that they are unprofessional but maybe that's just me.