Driver Pay From My Perspective

I get regular questions from non-drivers I talk to about driver income. Most seem to think the average driver makes lots of money.

From a driver perspective, the love of driving has to trump the love of money. Take for example the new driver. In the first year, he will probably make 45,000. However, that usually requires close to 70 hours of driving/on duty time. Is this better than working at a $15 per hour job? Driving would probably average out to $22 per hour, so I’d rather drive a truck. Stick it out a year or two and the pay gets much better than $45,000 per year.

Regardless, I love my job driving and watching the travel channel through my windshield.

A big reason many people think drivers make so much many is false advertising, or withholding some information. Billboards advertising $200k or more a year, back of trailers claiming $2,500 a week guaranteed etc. Sure they may gross that but how much are they keeping after expenses. Then you have some O/O make outlandish claims like making $300k a year working 3 days a week only 2 hours a day.

I expected to make 100k a year off the rip going into LTL

That's because that was all I heard when LTL guys were talking about how much they were making. Nobody was talking about seniority or how long it takes to get there.

Isn't it that a rookie stands to make around that much during the first year because they haven't learned to maximize their clock that much yet?

I expected to make 100k a year off the rip going into LTL rofl-2.gif rofl-1.gif

That's because that was all I heard when LTL guys were talking about how much they were making. Nobody was talking about seniority or how long it takes to get there.

I think I read your story when you were becoming a driver. Didn't you get to 100k pretty quickly? How long did it take? My goal/hope is to make at least 80k after a couple of years, and I will be quite pleased.

I've been at it for a little under 30 months. For 2020 I made 60k. 2021, I made 70. I probably would've hit 100 in 2021, but I left FedEx for about 2 months and change and went to Pepsi. I have no idea what my total gross there was, but I was so disgusted with them by the time I left that I didn't care. Didn't even give them notice. They told my their policy, I thought about it and decided it wasn't for me.

I grossed $73k this year. Sure, I would love more. However, I feel this is easy money. I get paid to sit on my butt and see the country. I have a great support staff behind me.

Pay when it comes to trucking gets complicated. Certain types of driving jobs pay differently. Some jobs (OTR) are nearly all just driving. Others like food service require to be more hands on. Less drivers are interested so naturally they're going to need to pay more. I've mentioned where I'm at I have to unload my truck. Granted, it's with an electric pallet jack but there's other drivers I've talked to that would refuse such a job because of that, or that we typically start between midnight and 2am. There's nothing wrong with that, we all have different ideas on what we want to do, and if the compensation is acceptable. Great thing about a CDL is there are so many different opportunities that there really is something out there for everyone.

Aside from kinks with a new system and staffing issues in our warehouse I've found what i feel is a good fit for me and my family. As with all jobs it isn't perfect but it checks enough of the boxes that I'm overall happy. 2021 I made $100,248.67. Paid hourly I averaged 56 hours a week and drove 78,748 miles. I'm coming up on 3 years with this company and have about 50 guys below me thanks to the hiring craze early last year, and the one we're currently in. As Banks mentioned seniority is everything in these types on jobs. I came out quite well but someone at the bottom of the list may only make a fraction of that if they don't have good routes available when it's their turn to choose.

 I made $100,248.67. Paid hourly I averaged 56 hours a week and drove 78,748 miles. I'm coming up on 3 years with this company and have about 50 guys below me thanks to the hiring craze early last year, and the one we're currently in. 

Congratulations sir! We've hired a lot of people as well I'm currently 22nd out of 65. 4.5 years ago I was 35 out of 38.

That's because that was all I heard when LTL guys were talking about how much they were making. Nobody was talking about seniority or how long it takes to get there.

I tell people by year 3-4 you should be sniffing 100k in LTL work but of course that all depends on the terminal.

We've hired a lot of people as well I'm currently 22nd out of 65. 4.5 years ago I was 35 out of 38.

Lucky! I think nearly 3 years ago I started somewhere around 138 or so, maybe even 144, now I'm 133 of 180. They're still hiring like 15 more drivers. It's nice having people below me but I'm not really moving up. These guys that got hired at the beginning of this hiring craze got it made. By the end of their first month or 2 they'd have 20 guys or more below them. Regardless, so far it's kept me from the limited crap weather We've had in our area. Got more trucks coming in March or April which should get me an assigned truck. Mixed feelings about it I really like the Volvos and these new ones are internationals. Most guys that slipseat won't take the 2022 internationals we have cuz they have no power. They've got them neutered so badly to save fuel mileage it's ridiculous. Governed at 70 and it's not uncommon to drop 10-15 mph EMPTY on some of the I80 hills. If I take one I always just set cruise to 63 or 65 so I don't look like a dummy passing everyone just to fall flat on my face on any sort of hill regardless of how much weight I have. Some guys that drive them claim they've been passed by raider express