Postal Letter

Do truck drivers make good money?

Like the ones that travel pretty far and usually only make a few stops.(not like ups or fedex) Also is it safe? I'm not one of those ugly butch chicks that you usually see driving those things. but I love to drive and am currently unemployed so I thought it might be a good career change. Also it says the school's only 4 weeks. It this a good idea?

Public Comments

1. i love to drive also but imagine driving for several days...it can be very tedious and tiring. also, ignorant people tend to always tailgate and cut off large trucks since trucks are generally slower due to the weight. it will definitely be a tiresome and job but if you're motivated to do it, go for it. they should pay decent but i'd suggest going to school and finding something that can pay a lot more in the future...just my personal opinion. good luck in whatever you do. ;D
2. my uncle was a driver. i wouldn't recommend it he was away from home for weeks at a time. he got paid by the mile but was a very stressing lifestyle. he went from cali all the way to new york and pretty much everywhere you could think of. i remember he would get paid around 900 a week but he wouldn't have much rest he would sometimes drive 20 hours without stopping, sleep for 4 hours and drive another 8. there is rules they have to follow such as only driving certain hours and having to sleep certain hours, but since they have deadlines and want to drive as many miles as they can in the week to get a good check, drivers sometimes brake the rules.
3. The money all depends upon a number of things. I drove for several years, and there is a certain romance to the job that a person either likes, or doesn't. I drove for a company, and was paid by the mile. Driving that way the miles are paid by an ICC mileage calculation of from city to destination city. It doesn't count the number of miles you might need to drive within a city. That can kill you if you are driving the east coast where it is almost all like city driving, and where the cities can be quite large. My company also paid a percentage bonus of the gross whenever I had to cross into another state from where I received the load. That, plus the mileage pay made some trips quite good. Also, I drove a reefer. I had all pallet loads that were refrigerated. This helped me keep money as compared to dry freight loads where I might have a 'tailgate' load. That is where I had to move all the freight to the rear of the truck, and then the receiving dock people would take it from there. Many people will hang around this type of company so that they might get hired by the driver to do the unloading for him. Some are pretty good, while others don't do such a good job for you. In any event, the money to pay them comes out of your pocket. If you have your own truck (most schools are set up to help you finance a truck of your own.) you pay all the expenses of fuel, maintenance, repairs, etc. If one of your tires gets ruined while you are on the road, and must call a company to bring you one, the cost of the tire, and to mount it for you can cost you dearly. You better have a good bank account to pay for it because you will not make any money on that trip, and possibly not much of the next trip from that expense. Driving for a company with an 'over the road' job, you get mileage, but do not have any truck expenses. You will pay for your own meals, and lodging, and any other personal expenses. Most of your lodging costs can be eliminated if you have a sleeper cab on your truck. Most good truck stops that are full service will also have bunk rooms, and showers, but this all comes out of your pocket for the cost. Very good money can be made with either working for a company, or independent with your own truck. The key with working for a company as a company driver is to get a job with a company that pays well with either a weekly pay, or mileage with a minimum weekly guarantee. In one with the weekly guarantee you know that no matter what happens, you will still get that amount of pay. Keep in mind that with any driving job, you had better know a pretty good bit about truck maintenance, and repairs. You could have to do some work yourself just to get to where you need to go. If you have your own truck you would have to either lease to some company, or seek out the loads yourself. If you lease to a company you should make sure that you can 'trip lease' if you are at some location where you delivered, but the company doesn't have a load for you. In that way you can call around to some of the companies to search for a load that will be going in a direction you want, and that will pay the most. Above all, you must not have any ties at home that you worry about. You can be away for days, weeks, or months at a time. I was fortunate in a way as the longest length of time I was away was only two months, then home for a few days. But, the key in an over the road driver making money is that if that truck isn't moving, you are not making any money, but your expenses keep going. You will drive until you are ready to drop. To start out when you are just coming off a good home rest for several days or so, your first day out on a trip you can drive almost non- stop for 600 or 800 miles. You could even find yourself over driving the legal limit in time. However, your second day of driving while on a trip will be less miles. Your body might not be as fresh no matter how much rest you might have gotten on your hours off. A driver that has been around a while will be able to pace himself in his daily miles. He will plan out his trip when he knows where it is that he will be going. Before he leaves he will know the miles, stops he will make for food, fuel, rest, etc. He will also know just how long it will take him to get to each place. Then he just drives that trip from one stop to the next. He times it so that he stays within the legal limits of hours per day driving, and with the proper layovers. There is no two ways about it, driving over the road is a tough, and tedious job. You can make a good amount of money, but you will give up any personal life until you have three or more years of experience. It can take that long, or longer before you can find one of the better driving jobs. That holds true for either drivi