Making The Most Money With A Cdl

David, that was one of the most epic things I've ever read! We've had over 42,000 comments in this forum in the past 18 months or so and we've had some real doozies. But that was as good as any I can remember. Seriously I'd love to figure out a title for that and post it as an article here on the website. People really need to read that. That is the epitome of the character and spirit you need to really thrive in trucking. Anyone can learn to shift gears and back into a dock. Those are just basic job skills. But it truly takes a special person to get out there and live it day in and day out. It sounds to me like you could be on the cover of a book about it!

Hey David that was deep, appreciate the input.. I myself am exmilitary and know what the transfer to civilian life is like. I didn't get close to my 20 but have a lot of family who has.. It's the type of perspective that's good to hear, your talking about asking yourself what you want and having the experience to talk about it.. Although I am in my 30s I have to say I know I can get what I want out of life from trucking.. I don't know what you mean by don't expect to get a house car etc out of trucking.. It's not IT pay granted but I am ok with the pay in the upper 20% of the industry, hence me trying to reach out to other minds and understand what it is and how to get it..

I didn't mean to imply the house, etc. were unimportant - just at certain stages of life you (and family if part of the scenario) need to decide what is important in the lifestyle arena! You can certainly make enough to have the house, car, etc. and it will be imperative to focus on this if you have a spouse and kids! We, on the other hand, have been down-sizing for several years. We have a handle on our small house and we've been using only one 4-wheel vehicle for years. I ride a 650 Suzuki Burgman as my primary transportation - both are paid off. So, I didn't imply you can't or shouldn't expect these perks -- but PLAN your lifestyle! I had a wise man tell me a LONG time ago: in most of our lives we can have EITHER lifestyle OR career - most often we can't have both.

"... in most of our lives we can have EITHER lifestyle OR career - most often we can't have both. "

-David L.

Touché.

-mountain girl

David, that was one of the most epic things I've ever read! We've had over 42,000 comments in this forum in the past 18 months or so and we've had some real doozies. But that was as good as any I can remember. Seriously I'd love to figure out a title for that and post it as an article here on the website. People really need to read that. That is the epitome of the character and spirit you need to really thrive in trucking. Anyone can learn to shift gears and back into a dock. Those are just basic job skills. But it truly takes a special person to get out there and live it day in and day out. It sounds to me like you could be on the cover of a book about it!

Thank you, Brett. I'm a BOOMER - I can't help it! I love it when I pull off my helmet and see folks expressions that an old gray bearded geezer is on that 650 Burgman! I'm not ready to hang it up.

I "wish" I was independently wealthy and could just travel for the rest of my days, but since that isn't going to happen - well, I'll make my adventures!

I am so blessed to have a spouse willing to let me loose for one last "career". She has been a nurse for 35 years and with Hospice for over 15, so she has had the opportunity to grow after raising kids. From the Hospice perspective we've learned how many times people focus on jobs and promotion expecting their desired lifestyle to miraculously appear and then catastrophic disease or other life changing events happen and quality of life comes down to managing pain! I know it's not going to be all rainbows and unicorns, but I figure a few years driving a truck will give me a new outlook on life - not a bad option at my age! Shoot, if we were young marrieds without kids I'd probably run solo with her as my navigator. We've always wanted an RV!

Oooo I follow what your saying now, I misunderstood you at first.. Wow lifestyle or career, I literally just had an epifany.. that is wise advice.. I think personally I am after the career at this point to be able to retire with a lifestyle haha.. I am introverted and aside from my daughter I prefer my family in small amounts to be truthful.. Miss the travel from the service ya know.. I have heard a few times a lot of people die when they quit working, not to be rude but what drives you to not just retire at 62 your set with your 20?

Oooo I follow what your saying now, I misunderstood you at first.. Wow lifestyle or career, I literally just had an epifany.. that is wise advice.. I think personally I am after the career at this point to be able to retire with a lifestyle haha.. I am introverted and aside from my daughter I prefer my family in small amounts to be truthful.. Miss the travel from the service ya know.. I have heard a few times a lot of people die when they quit working, not to be rude but what drives you to not just retire at 62 your set with your 20?

1/2 pay and twice the "me" - Momma ain't havin' none of that!

If I were inclined to work around the house, play a little golf, not make too much $$$ to mess up my early Social Security then yeah, I could hang it up. I'd got stark raving NUTS in about a week and/or SWMBO would bury me deep in the back yard! I'd rather take a running start a new career while I'm still relatively healthy and go until I pretty much have to quit! CinCHouse cannot "retire" for about 7 years so I'll shoot for that as my next retirement "goal".

Oooo I follow what your saying now, I misunderstood you at first.. Wow lifestyle or career, I literally just had an epifany.. that is wise advice.. I think personally I am after the career at this point to be able to retire with a lifestyle haha.. I am introverted and aside from my daughter I prefer my family in small amounts to be truthful.. Miss the travel from the service ya know.. I have heard a few times a lot of people die when they quit working, not to be rude but what drives you to not just retire at 62 your set with your 20?

1/2 pay and twice the "me" - Momma ain't havin' none of that!

If I were inclined to work around the house, play a little golf, not make too much $$$ to mess up my early Social Security then yeah, I could hang it up. I'd got stark raving NUTS in about a week and/or SWMBO would bury me deep in the back yard! I'd rather take a running start a new career while I'm still relatively healthy and go until I pretty much have to quit! CinCHouse cannot "retire" for about 7 years so I'll shoot for that as my next retirement "goal".

LMAO !! Half the pay and twice the me.. You are squared away sir..

I'd not suggest Central Transport or YRC (Yellow / Roadway merger). I"ve not heard good things about these LTL companies.

Just curious what you have heard bad about YRC? I work for YRC and as with all jobs there are pluses and minuses but I am VERY happy with them. I planned on trying to take a pic later and make a post about the pay. I just picked up my check that has my totals from my first 6 months with them. I've grossed 32,000 in that 6 months. I do pay union dues, which my total for this year will be higher than normal because of the initial cost of joining, but standard dues are $50 per month. My families insurance is FULLY paid so I look at my union dues as the cheapest insurance I have ever had lol. I think the benefits package may depend on the local union so it could be different for someone else.

I'm currently at 85% of scale and will receive a 5% increase each of the first 3 years until I reach full scale.

Not trying to sell YRC on anyone, just hate to see someone not take a look at a company that has been VERY good to me so far based on hearsay.

Woody

So LTL is basically long haul with multiple stops and not a full trailer? do I understand this right? Why does LTL pay so much more? is it simply bc of many more hours?

LTL normally has freight for several companies on one trailer (or two we pull a LOT of doubles) so their combined freight fills the trailer. In LTL there are linhaul drivers and city drivers. The linhaul drivers, which is what sixstring and myself are, pull the freight from terminal to terminal then that freight is broken down and delivered by city drivers. This means I am never setting at a customers location waiting for them to unload my truck. Once in a while I may have to wait at a terminal for the dock workers to complete my trailer but I spend far less time setting compared to the short time I was OTR. I get paid for all my wait time and at a respectable wage.

When LTL is going cross county then it goes from terminal to terminal and is picked up by different drivers so the freight can keep moving. So a driver might take a load out of Indianapolis and take it 600 miles west to another terminal where he stops and goes to a hotel for his 10hr break. While he is on break another driver will take that load and keep it moving until it reaches its final terminal or he hits the farthest terminal he can. So its sort of like a team driving mentality, they try to keep the freight moving.

The higher pay is not because of more hours. Being a driver you only have so many hours in a day you can run no matter who you work for. Some may disagree with what I am going to say but one of the big reasons LTL pays more is there are still LTL union companies. This helps keep pay higher for all LTL workers since the non union companies are competing with the union companies for quality workers. There are other factors as well I'm sure, but this definitely effects the wages.

Woody

While we are talking about LTL one thing I would like to point out. It can be more like a job than a lifestyle compared to OTR. Especially if you are on a bid run like I currently am. This can be good or bad depending on what you want. I am home every other day and make GREAT money plus benefits. While I enjoy seeing my family more often I will be honest and tell you that there are several things about OTR that I miss.

Since I drive day cabs my company puts me up in hotels every night I am out. It's nice sleeping in a real bed and having a shower in my room when I get up, but I miss my sleeper cab lol. I miss being in PA one day and TX a couple days later. I REALLY miss driving during the day! Yes its great not having much traffic to deal with but one of the reasons I wanted to become a trucker was to see the country and you don't get to see much when its dark. When I get off my short run bid I will see a little more sunshine when driving but still not nearly as much as when I was OTR.

With what I make now I don't know if I could go back to OTR and being gone for weeks at a time, but who knows some day I may have to look at walmart.

Woody