Airline Pilot Central Forums

Airline Pilot Central Forums (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/)
-   Leaving the Career (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/leaving-career/)
-   -   Long haul truck driver (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/leaving-career/37291-long-haul-truck-driver.html)

RMWRIGHT 02-21-2009 02:00 PM

Long haul truck driver
 
2 years of training and 70k later one becomes a "pilot" , unemployed and
even if one is lucky to land an FO job it starts at 18k per year... In 3 weeks and 3k one can get a CDL class A. Truck drivers start at 50k and owner/operators can make 100k per year. You'd need to invest about 8 years in aviation to make 60k. (2 years school, 2 years cfi, 4 years fo)

Just my 2 cents

Flying Low 02-21-2009 02:23 PM


Originally Posted by RMWRIGHT (Post 564291)
2 years of training and 70k later one becomes a "pilot" , unemployed and
even if one is lucky to land an FO job it starts at 18k per year... In 3 weeks and 3k one can get a CDL class A. Truck drivers start at 50k and owner/operators can make 100k per year. You'd need to invest about 8 years in aviation to make 60k. (2 years school, 2 years cfi, 4 years fo)

kind of. Anyone with the discipline, background, and motiviation to get a Commercial/ATP will be in demand as a driver but working conditions are a lot different. Some companies provide well-equipped sleeper cabs and/or get their drivers home every week; a lot don't. Hotel rooms at company expense are unusual at most companies, unheard of at many.
The travel might seem appealing, but most truck stops are nowhere near the city center or any form of public transit. Parking the rig at a mall or industrial area to go sightseeing is problematic, even if you're not carrying a valuable or hazardous cargo. There is practically no such thing as jumpseating, except possibly on trucks owned by your own company...
and so on. Been there, done that.

probably will end up doing it again, since it's what I know- but hard to argue that professional pilot is any worse.

There are some few good exceptions; the best single example might be household goods/moving where a lot of the work is organization and customer service.

good luck!

Cubdriver 02-21-2009 03:51 PM

Over the Road truck driving and airline life bear some strong resemblances in that both take you away from home for days or even weeks at a time, put you in a strange land where you know hardly anyone at all, put you at the mercy of the local commercial establishment and make you accept accommodations that are unpredictable at best and usually poor.

The airline lifestyle has a clear advantage in this regard because you at least have a hotel room to go to with a full bathroom, usually the option of an exercise room, access to fairly good restaurants and short distances to towns, and enough space to stretch out in or take a walk. None of these things is typical of the truckstop experience. Truckstops have a communal shower, a single restaurant, your truck is your room, you have no place to exercise or walk, and they are always located far away from town.

In addition there are all these prostitutes coming around knocking on doors. If you want to take a dump in the middle of the night or get a pint of ice cream you are going to hike a quarter of a mile past 250 idling trucks. Did I mention that most truck drivers are slobs, also? No disrespect intended, but it is absolutely true. Airline life is better in many ways.

PGTx 02-21-2009 04:07 PM

I know a father/son team that started off driving trucks and within a year hired others and started their own company, let's just say they make a very nice living.

Cubdriver 02-21-2009 04:17 PM


Originally Posted by PGTx (Post 564361)
I know a father/son team that started off driving trucks and within a year hired others and started their own company, let's just say they make a very nice living.

...So they don't get DOT'ed 4 times a day then anymore? :) You have hard sell coming if you want to convince me that truck driving doesn't "suck" from one end to the proverbial other. I have owned trucks personally as well as worked for the biggest names in the business, and I know a thing or two about it. It is a way to survive, which is about all any sensible person can say about it. If you want to get stuck slaving away behind a hard-rubber ring for 14 hours at a time and spend your days and nights making 8 bucks an hour... then have at it!

RMWRIGHT 02-21-2009 04:39 PM

thanks for the comments

just considering it since ive been sending out resumes' like candy with no replies, all but given up on aviation, but see many ads for truck drivers.

i bought into the lie that there would be a shortage of pilots in the future.

understand there is a high turnover rate 100/130 in trucking. sitting here in my $100 a week room in wyoming, 3c outside, unemployed, came to wy cause supposed to have lowest unemployment rate in country. have applied for everything from security guard to direct tv installer and no calls.
i dont have a problem with no "sightseeing" and was a seaman for many years so used to being alone and away for months at a time.

VTcharter 02-21-2009 05:31 PM

Don't let these guys scare you. There are good driving jobs out there, but like anything else, you need to have experience to get them. The big companies aren't where you want to go for great treatment, but the small companies can be luck of the draw. Before I left trucking to start flying, I was making close to 80k with 5k bonus yearly and full company paid benefits with company match 401k 100% to 6%. I worked anywhere from 8 to 14 hours a day depending on the loads that I pulled and had days where I made over 500 bucks. Schedule was 4 on, 3 off then 5 on 2 off, rinse and repeat. Home every day. Drove top of the line assigned equipment...2003 379 Pete with a 600 Cat and 18 speed. I was hauling fuel and loved it. Best trucking job out there for me and I did food grade tankers, shipping containers and swinging doors (reefer and dry), so I have the experience to base that statement on. I had a lot of experience hauling tankers when I landed that job but even my first tanker gig hauling food grade saw me making 48k home every day.

Loved the job and it was a huge decision for me to leave it. I started flying with aviation career dreams long before I started trucking, so when the opportunity presented itself, I made the decision to fly since I had already invested so much time and money into it. I'll tell you though, if anything happens to the job that I have now, I'll jump back behind the wheel of the Peterbilt without batting an eye or shedding a tear (or losing money), and I keep my CDL and medical ready to go just in case!

Cubdriver 02-21-2009 06:25 PM

Ten bucks an hour
 
If you average out what you put in in terms of time from day one in the business and do not jump to the 6 month period you did well after 6 years of slavery you will find you made something like $10 an hour for your work as a truck driver. You may be talking about some final position you had for 6 months where you made better, but I was in the business for over ten years and I know what people made in the industry and I did or knew about everything including the "gravy" jobs you speak of.

I worked for big companies, small ones, drove dump trucks, reefers, flat beds, daycabs, drop decks, did long haul, short haul local, moved rail containers, drove brand new equipment, drove junk, owned trucks, ran long haul and worked day jobs, did local delivery, on and on and I never saw more than about $10 an hour. There are a few jobs in trucking where the hourly rate is not bad, but as you admit it is impossible to get them with less than a few years experience. Jobs like high-seniority LTL routes and those you describe are few and far between and very hard to get. It's just like being the top guy at FedEx as a pilot. These days if you even get paid $15 an hour you are above average. In fact, if you are in the TOP TEN PERCENT of truck drivers in terms of wages you will make about $50,000 a year for a 2,000 hour work year and it goes DOWNWARDS from there.

Don't take it from me, take it from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:

USBLS- Truck Drivers

Also, you should thank your lucky stars you never took a cloverleaf too fast in that fuel truck because if you had, you would be missing in action. Ever seen what happens to the few that did take a cloverleaf a little on the fast side? I have. They are dead and no one could find them. In most cases the entire overpass had to be bulldozed from the damage.

VTcharter 02-22-2009 03:43 AM

I understand your points, I am just trying to saythat from my experience, the trucking industry worked out pretty well. I am sure that I ran into a little bit of "right place at the right time" type of thing, but I still enjoyed the job and made enough to live comfortably. Even in my first job, I averaged over 10.00hr and was home every night with company paid benefits (everything including insurance for the whole family). For my last trucking job, the average went up to 30.00 per hour. Not going to get rich, but I was living very comfortably and was able to take vacations, go out to eat, and generally enjoy myself without having to wait for the next paycheck.

I'm not trying to say that the trucking industry is glamorous and it is true that the really good jobs are fewer in number, but it seems that is the way with the aviation industry as well. People seem to pile into the lower paying poor treatment companies with hopes for a shot at the big time down the road...and those who are going to be happy or are stuck at a lower level for their career (more of the majority today) will end up making about what I made driving truck. Truck driving is not for everyone but it is not for nobody either. Some enjoy it, such as I did.

Oh, and I get the point about taking my tanker into a corner too fast, but its relative. If I take my jet into a runway too fast I am likely to see the same result. I may make it out but I may not. I don't really see the differrence. Follow the rules and operate safely...works in every industry. Thats why experience gets you those "good" jobs, and for me, hauling fuel for the company that I was hauling for was as good a job as I have ever had...flying included!

Cubdriver 02-22-2009 05:39 AM

VT, you are an articulate, positive person so I do not want to irritate you. It is for the sake of clarity here that I take an offensive stance against the trucking job and lifestyle.

Personal outlook profoundly affects how one feels about every kind of work from trash collector right up to President of the United States. This is also true of trucking. If you are in a place in your life that a ten dollar an hour job for 12 hours day will be helpful in allowing you to meet your goals, then you may happy in the trucking industry. The same can be said of the trash collection industry for that matter. I just want to point out that trucking is not better than most other blue collar jobs and in most cases is actually worse.

Pilots are not blue collar workers. Stepping down to working conditions and income levels typical of trucking will be a big step backwards for them. It would only be a way to survive while getting back on their feet. I would describe it as gritty, dangerous, low-paying, uncomfortable sort of a job. I know there are drivers out there with Petes containing Caterpillar diesels of which they are highly enamored, sort of like shiny jet syndrome, and some of them are also reasonably paid. I take your point on this, but that does not change the fact it is a dangerous blue collar job that puts one in trucking yards, freeways and loading docks all hours of the day and night, and chained to a hard rubber ring for most of the rest. Home every night is a tradeoff for having to work like a dog to get the cargo there in a day, box by box in many cases, for all but a few who do that kind of trucking. As I said earlier drop and hook plus home every night is an exceptional job and is only possible with either a big dose of luck, a lot of dues paying, or a lot of seniority at a firm that offers it. Even if you have it all the other conditions still apply, and many of them are highly unpleasant.

The real difference with trucking is the risk exposure of spooling up a 40 ton machine all day at close proximity to concrete structures and other vehicles. In addition, the cargoes are sometimes deadly. Risk exposure to fatal accident is far higher in trucking than aviation, and this can be easily proven.

My logic was flawed in my earlier statement comparing a fatal tanker accident to anything else, because after all if you're dead you're dead and it doesn't matter how you get to the accident site. My point should be, trucking has a higher risk exposure than flying and most other jobs. This is fairly obvious and I am not going to prove it although it would be easy to.

There is one thing about trucking you failed to mention, which is a shining positive for it: any law-abiding person can set up a trucking yard on any backyard location in the US and actually run a profitable business from their home. That is a great feature. It is why I originally got into trucking, I wanted to be near the mountains. Now I prefer to fly there for the day in a Turbo C182, and make it back home by 6 for dinner.

Cheers. :)

SkyHigh 02-22-2009 07:30 AM

Trucking
 
Where I live there are a few trucking companies that specialize in driving local agricultural products to port two hours drive away. If they push it they can make two round trips a day. It makes for a ten hour day but that isn't so bad. I have always heard that they did well but did not know what that meant.

I just processed an application for a guy who has one of those trucking jobs and he makes 86K per year. Not bad for a smoking, drinking, rottweiler owning, soon to be divorced high school drop out.

He told me that he pulls out for he yard at 5:00am and is done usually by 3 to 5:00PM. He gets paid by the trip. $200 per round trip. He told me that some drivers who own their trucks can make more. He spends his day listening to satellite radio and commenting to his dog about the traffic.

I have a friend who has been bugging me to get his pilots license. Till now I have been trying to dissuade him. He owns an excavation company and a few big trucks. I been thinking that maybe I should offer to trade him flight training for a CDL license.

Skyhigh

SkyHigh 02-22-2009 07:50 AM

Frustrating
 
During my time at a regional I specifically remember two guys who left flying the line to pursue other jobs outside of aviation. One left flying to become a long haul trucker and the other left to drive a septic tank pump truck.

Recently at a aviation event I ran into the septic tank guy. He now owns the company and couldn't be happier with his new profession. He owns a secure recession proof business, is home every night and makes a very good living.

It is highly frustrating to have invested so much into aviation only to be worth less than a short haul trucker who probably has less than 4 weeks invested into their career, however it is a common story. I don't know how the trucker is doing. Hopefully he is happy.

SKyhigh

Phantom Flyer 02-22-2009 07:51 AM

That's Where we're Heading
 

Originally Posted by Cubdriver (Post 564608)
Pilots are not blue collar workers.
Cheers. :)

I hate to say it but that's where the industry is headed in the current economic environment. The piloting profession may well become a "blue collar" industry, albeit the higher end of the strata, given the realities of today's economy. I can see airline pilots becoming nothing more than glorified bus drivers (no offense to Greyhound/Trailways employees). It's just a fact of life. It's simply supply and demand economics.

Glad to be flying for fun now !

G"Day Mates:)

waflyboy 02-22-2009 11:17 AM

Cubdriver,

I'm really enjoying your posts in this thread, however I disagree with you on one point:


Originally Posted by Cubdriver (Post 564608)
Pilots are not blue collar workers.

When I compare my job to "traditional" blue collar work, I find many similarities: long, unusual hours often with minimum rest between "shifts", exposure to adverse conditions (weather, fuel, chemicals), working holidays is required except for the most senior members of the work group (even my plumber and dry cleaner take Christmas off), and a larger supply of qualified labor than seats needing to be filled.

Like traditional blue collar roles, our industry generally has relied on labor unions to improve and maintain benefits and pay, although it seems to me recent efforts have had mild, if any, success. Even Boeing machinists made gains this year. With no college degree or formal training, a machinist likely makes more and has better benefits than a second year regional FO. (Less flight benefits I suppose, but who has the money and time to use them?)

SkyHigh 02-22-2009 11:24 AM

Blue collar
 
SO if Pilots are not blue collar workers because they do not make as much as union blue collar guys and they clearly are not traditional white collar guys in respect to wages, respect and quality of life then what are pilots? T-shirt collar workers? :)

Skyhigh

waflyboy 02-22-2009 12:45 PM


Originally Posted by SkyHigh (Post 564812)
SO if Pilots are not blue collar workers because they do not make as much as union blue collar guys and they clearly are not traditional white collar guys in respect to wages, respect and quality of life then what are pilots? T-shirt collar workers? :)

LOL! Time to coin a new labor term...

welle036 02-22-2009 01:24 PM

[quote=Cubdriver;564429]If you average out what you put in in terms of time from day one in the business and do not jump to the 6 month period you did well after 6 years of slavery you will find you made something like $10 an hour for your work as a truck driver. You may be talking about some final position you had for 6 months where you made better, but I was in the business for over ten years and I know what people made in the industry and I did or knew about everything including the "gravy" jobs you speak of.

I worked for big companies, small ones, drove dump trucks, reefers, flat beds, daycabs, drop decks, did long haul, short haul local, moved rail containers, drove brand new equipment, drove junk, owned trucks, ran long haul and worked day jobs, did local delivery, on and on and I never saw more than about $10 an hour. There are a few jobs in trucking where the hourly rate is not bad, but as you admit it is impossible to get them with less than a few years experience. Jobs like high-seniority LTL routes and those you describe are few and far between and very hard to get. It's just like being the top guy at FedEx as a pilot. These days if you even get paid $15 an hour you are above average. In fact, if you are in the TOP TEN PERCENT of truck drivers in terms of wages you will make about $50,000 a year for a 2,000 hour work year and it goes DOWNWARDS from there."

I got my cdl in one month, drove over the road for three months and then was hired to do local deliveries, home every night with hourly pay of 18/hr before overtime. Also, it is a union job and to try to get guys not to take the allowed break time, you can get paid by how much you deliver and how quickly. On average I make 22-23/ hr before overtime. There is zero down time, I get paid the entire time I am working and am home every night. I know three or four other young guys like myself who went to school at the same place went over the road for a few months and then got hired on. You can get hired immediately out of school if you are confident enough in your driving, but it takes time to get really good at backing and driving in city traffic. The top earning guys make over 80k, but they really have to work for it. Lots of super early mornings and long days of hard work. It is pretty easy to make 50k. If you were in the industry ten years and couldn't find a better job that is on you, it is pretty easy to find decent work with a cdl if you have the desire and work ethic.

Flying Low 02-22-2009 01:45 PM


Originally Posted by welle036 (Post 564881)

I got my cdl in one month, drove over the road for three months and then was hired to do local deliveries, home every night with hourly pay of 18/hr before overtime. Lots of super early mornings and long days of hard work. It is pretty easy to make 50k. If you were in the industry ten years and couldn't find a better job that is on you, it is pretty easy to find decent work with a cdl if you have the desire and work ethic.

Good counterpoint to my my experience, I don't doubt it. Still takes a good break to get onboard at one of the union companies, and then you're pretty locked into 8-hr days, 5 days a week (or more), two weeks of vacation a year. Nothing to complain about, but one of the benefits of long-haul driving and professional pilot tends to be the possibility of more than the occasional long weekend away from the office.

At the end of the day, if you work hard and do a good job, someone's bound to notice. And then they're going to try and get you to do it again, only for less money....:D

New B 02-22-2009 02:47 PM


Originally Posted by RMWRIGHT (Post 564291)
2 years of training and 70k later one becomes a "pilot" , unemployed and
even if one is lucky to land an FO job it starts at 18k per year... In 3 weeks and 3k one can get a CDL class A. Truck drivers start at 50k and owner/operators can make 100k per year. You'd need to invest about 8 years in aviation to make 60k. (2 years school, 2 years cfi, 4 years fo)

Just my 2 cents

Unless you can land a local job I would hold off on that idea. Freight is generally very slow now and companies are falling like dominoes.

However as we all know you generally need one year experience to land a local job. The bottom feeder carriers like CR England, Werner, Swift that will hire you straight from CDL school are simply not even worth your time. You'll be lucky to make $30 grand there not $50K. You will live out of a shoebox at least two weeks at a time and be home for only 2 days.

I personally got very lucky and landed a regional slip seat driving job that brings in $800+ a week, not bad for being out just 2/3 days a week.:D


CubDriver is right, 80% of truck drivers are just down right nasty. When you walk across a truck stop parking lot you are treated to the stench of urine. On interstate on/off ramps you will count at least 5 urine jugs strewn across. When was the last time you heard of pilots peeing in a water gallon in the cockpit?


I am in the opposite dilema as you. I am sersiously considering starting my PPL training with the eventual hope of obtaining ATP certification.

SkyHigh 02-22-2009 06:59 PM

In flight relief
 

Originally Posted by New B (Post 564932)
Unless you can land a local job I would hold off on that idea. Freight is generally very slow now and companies are falling like dominoes.

However as we all know you generally need one year experience to land a local job. The bottom feeder carriers like CR England, Werner, Swift that will hire you straight from CDL school are simply not even worth your time. You'll be lucky to make $30 grand there not $50K. You will live out of a shoebox at least two weeks at a time and be home for only 2 days.

I personally got very lucky and landed a regional slip seat driving job that brings in $800+ a week, not bad for being out just 2/3 days a week.:D


CubDriver is right, 80% of truck drivers are just down right nasty. When you walk across a truck stop parking lot you are treated to the stench of urine. On interstate on/off ramps you will count at least 5 urine jugs strewn across. When was the last time you heard of pilots peeing in a water gallon in the cockpit?


I am in the opposite dilema as you. I am sersiously considering starting my PPL training with the eventual hope of obtaining ATP certification.

Pilots use jugs too. Gatorade bottles work the best. I knew one guy who would use air sick bags and threw them out the little side window. The problem was that it was in a high wing twin. The prop always got the bag and would then cover the plane with its exploding contents.

If you think that flying will be much different then trucking is would think again.

Skyhigh

Rnav 02-22-2009 08:06 PM


When was the last time you heard of pilots peeing in a water gallon in the cockpit?
Hate to break it to you New B but everyone has done it at least once while in the cockpit. And bad bathrooms? wait until you fly a jet with loaded passengers and a bad lav. Check out an airplane lav sometime, especially after a turbulent flight, aim seems to be a problem. eeeeewwww!

timeless 02-22-2009 08:24 PM

When I started flight instructing I knew that income wasn't going to be enough. I had a CDL from driving dump trucks during the summer for the family business. I was offered the first job I applied for. I'd be driving a brand new Pete 387 with a 525hp Cat diesel for a mattress factory. They only needed me to work two days a week to cover for the two full time drivers so I could easily schedule my flight instructing around it. I had to unload the mattress at my stops by myself. The customer wouldn't touch them until they were at the end of the trailer. To unload all 120-140 mattresses I'd have to walk 1.25 while carrying a mattress for half that distance. The work was grueling and driving in ND, MN, SD and Manitoba in winter was challenging, but it paid pretty well and I got along well with the factory owners. If I did it full time I would have been making $50,000+ as a 22 year old. Since I already had a college degree and I had invested a decent amount of money in flight training I never considered it as a career.
I've been flying freight for about three years now and I've been exceeding my CDL earning potential for the past 18 months. I don't recommend leaving aviation by choice to become a truck driver, but it's a good fall back plan given the horrible job security of this occupation.

Also, The plane I fly had the lav removed during the freight mod so my trucker powerade bottle skills still come in handy.

RMWRIGHT 02-22-2009 08:33 PM

amazed by the response to my off the cuff remark re: truck driver as option to being pilot, thanks guys !
:)

Flying Low 02-22-2009 08:52 PM


Originally Posted by Rnav (Post 565123)
Hate to break it to you New B but everyone has done it at least once while in the cockpit. And bad bathrooms? wait until you fly a jet with loaded passengers and a bad lav. Check out an airplane lav sometime, especially after a turbulent flight, aim seems to be a problem. eeeeewwww!

A worse than average airplane lav is roughly the same as an average truck stop bathroom, probably better. There are guys out there who are so overweight that they probably can't even see their pee-pee.

But too each their own. My business as an owner-operator cratered pretty badly in the end but it was a lot of fun at times.

Doing fun stuff was the straw that broke the camels back, in the end though.

I used a lot of fuel and time driving around looking for parking spots instead of staying put at the truck stop; then finally my truck got sideswiped by a hit and run driver while parked on the street in an industrial area near Camden Yards in Baltimore causing moderately serious damage; didn't have the cash to fix it and ended up having to sell for next to nothing.

I'm kind of hoping to go back, I probably learned enough to have a good shot at success but right now getting away from various personal commitments to be gone for weeks at a time or just get retrained in a specialized field that I can work locally is tough.

New B 02-23-2009 04:28 AM


Originally Posted by Rnav (Post 565123)
Hate to break it to you New B but everyone has done it at least once while in the cockpit. And bad bathrooms? wait until you fly a jet with loaded passengers and a bad lav. Check out an airplane lav sometime, especially after a turbulent flight, aim seems to be a problem. eeeeewwww!

Let me rephrase. I obviously flew before as a passenger and I have yet to see one urine jug on an airport taxiway or runway. Next time you are on a rural interstate on/off ramp count how many containers are left about. You see the problem I was referring to isn't so much USING a jug but rather how you dispose of it. This is actually an epidemic in the trucking world. There are other even grosser problems that I won't go into.

Rnav 02-23-2009 05:53 AM

Well at least they keep it in jugs. Wish SOME of the rampers would keep the blue-juice in the tank instead of on the ramp so FO's wouldn't have to walk through/around that hazmat ****.

New B 02-23-2009 05:56 AM


Originally Posted by Rnav (Post 565247)
Well at least they keep it in jugs. Wish SOME of the rampers would keep the blue-juice in the tank instead of on the ramp so FO's wouldn't have to walk through/around that hazmat ****.


LOL, tell that to the poor chap that has to mow the tall grass along interstates during the summer. With hundreds of "trucker bombs" lurking underneath the blades. :eek:

SkyHigh 02-23-2009 06:04 AM

Pilot Bombs
 

Originally Posted by New B (Post 565224)
Let me rephrase. I obviously flew before as a passenger and I have yet to see one urine jug on an airport taxiway or runway. Next time you are on a rural interstate on/off ramp count how many containers are left about. You see the problem I was referring to isn't so much USING a jug but rather how you dispose of it. This is actually an epidemic in the trucking world. There are other even grosser problems that I won't go into.

A lot of pilots just throw the waste out the window. No different from trucking and they literally are "pilot bombs".

Skyhigh

ONCALL 02-23-2009 07:31 AM

that's disgusting.

SkyHigh 02-23-2009 09:12 AM

Disgusting?
 

Originally Posted by ONCALL (Post 565305)
that's disgusting.

Try sitting next to a guy in front office of a learjet as he tries to use his coffee cup.

It only gets worse. Truckers I think would even be grossed out by what pilots do to relieve themselves in flight.

Skyhigh

New B 02-25-2009 11:25 PM


Originally Posted by VTcharter (Post 564395)
Don't let these guys scare you. There are good driving jobs out there, but like anything else, you need to have experience to get them. The big companies aren't where you want to go for great treatment, but the small companies can be luck of the draw. Before I left trucking to start flying, I was making close to 80k with 5k bonus yearly and full company paid benefits with company match 401k 100% to 6%. I worked anywhere from 8 to 14 hours a day depending on the loads that I pulled and had days where I made over 500 bucks. Schedule was 4 on, 3 off then 5 on 2 off, rinse and repeat. Home every day. Drove top of the line assigned equipment...2003 379 Pete with a 600 Cat and 18 speed. I was hauling fuel and loved it. Best trucking job out there for me and I did food grade tankers, shipping containers and swinging doors (reefer and dry), so I have the experience to base that statement on. I had a lot of experience hauling tankers when I landed that job but even my first tanker gig hauling food grade saw me making 48k home every day.


Just wondering what company did you drive for?

cl601pilot 02-26-2009 02:17 AM


Originally Posted by New B (Post 565224)
There are other even grosser problems that I won't go into.

Like having to dispose of the dead hitch hiker that you picked up three states back?

New B 02-26-2009 04:53 AM


Originally Posted by cl601pilot (Post 567364)
Like having to dispose of the dead hitch hiker that you picked up three states back?



HAHAHA




No, more like having to walk across a truck stop lot being carefull to avoid plastic bags filled with excrement and used toilet paper. Appearantly some of the "better" ones out here are intent on defecating in their trucks and simply casually tossing it out anywhere.


Sorry, I told you it was gross. You asked for it.:D

RMWRIGHT 02-27-2009 08:32 PM

i see where pinchanickle is looking for customer service reps at kcpr
starting pay $7.16 per hour. isnt the federal minimum wage $7.25 per hour? (i might be wrong) oh well i see where burger king was looking for hamburger flippers starting at 8 bucks. i picked up the cdl manual today
from dmv and starting to study. 20,000 cdl jobs available in usa . btw spoke with go jets yesterday and lady on phone mentioned her ex was truck driver hazmat and made 100k a year.

New B 02-28-2009 06:37 AM


Originally Posted by RMWRIGHT (Post 568746)
i see where pinchanickle is looking for customer service reps at kcpr
starting pay $7.16 per hour. isnt the federal minimum wage $7.25 per hour? (i might be wrong) oh well i see where burger king was looking for hamburger flippers starting at 8 bucks. i picked up the cdl manual today
from dmv and starting to study. 20,000 cdl jobs available in usa . btw spoke with go jets yesterday and lady on phone mentioned her ex was truck driver hazmat and made 100k a year.

Do you have a company in mind? Just wondering, how is the CDL job market in WY?

If you live along the I-80 corridor I'm sure you'll have no problems finding a job.

I used to run through there all the time when I ran Chicago to California. What do you guys do for fun in Wyoming? It seems like such a cold, lonely, calm place.

RMWRIGHT 02-28-2009 08:06 AM

Hey new b
i see alot of jobs on the web
i was looking at used semis, i like the owner op option.
why do companies want trucks that are less than 8 to 10
years old? as long as they run why do they care about age.
aviation isnt so concerned about the planes age as much as
ttaf and smoh. i was working in az as a cfi but the school
closed a few months ago and wasnt able to find anything
else so i came up here to look for any type of job. read where
wy has the lowest unemployment rate in the usa but so far
after 2 weeks nil. there is a cdl school here which costs 5k
for the course but one could buy a truck for 15k and do it
yourself.. ..

New B 02-28-2009 11:02 AM


Originally Posted by RMWRIGHT (Post 568959)
there is a cdl school here which costs 5k
for the course but one could buy a truck for 15k and do it
yourself.. ..

That is really expensive. I made that mistake when I was starting out, I paid four grand. Later found that at a community college you could take a CDL class for something like $1500 or less.


Keep us updated what you do.

pilot1278 03-03-2009 08:35 AM

Hey everyone, new poster...
 
I have also decided to join the ranks of the trucking industry. I was a flight instructor with my 135 IFR mins, but can't get a job locally. With a wife and a newborn kid, it's a bit hard to move for any flight job, especially to get paid less than minimum wage.

Not only that, but my other profession, drafting, is drying up fast. There is just no need for experienced draftsmen anymore, when hungry (AKA cheap) architectural and engineering grads are taking over the market.

I heard the trucking industry is doing well from many sources and so I signed up for classes at the community college. It should be fun and the money should be sufficient to tide us over until my dreams of flying become a reality again.

Once the reality hit that I needed to make this change, I got really depressed, but am feeling optimistic now. You gotta do what you gotta do.

New B 03-03-2009 01:30 PM

Another point to add is you might be elgible to free CDL training under the WIA program. Might be worth a look.

Cubdriver 03-03-2009 01:51 PM


Originally Posted by pilot1278 (Post 571039)
I have also decided to join the ranks of the trucking industry. I was a flight instructor with my 135 IFR mins, but can't get a job locally. With a wife and a newborn kid, it's a bit hard to move for any flight job, especially to get paid less than minimum wage.

Not only that, but my other profession, drafting, is drying up fast. There is just no need for experienced draftsmen anymore, when hungry (AKA cheap) architectural and engineering grads are taking over the market.

I heard the trucking industry is doing well from many sources and so I signed up for classes at the community college. It should be fun and the money should be sufficient to tide us over until my dreams of flying become a reality again.

Once the reality hit that I needed to make this change, I got really depressed, but am feeling optimistic now. You gotta do what you gotta do.


Hi Pilot 1278, welcome to APC. Your sacrifice for family is commendable. Maybe in a year or two the economy will spring back and you can get that nice 135 job.

As far as why trucking companies buy new equipment, is because they make more money by being on the road without failure. Part of that money comes from simply keeping the freight rolling but you also have to realize that if you are bidding on a contract for moving some huge number of time-sensitive loads, you may charge a premium for the added reliability and delivery accuracy. Even without the premium for reliable on-time perfromance, it is usually more the losses from downtime than the cost of the repairs that runs a company into red ink. Trucks can run almost continously 24/7/365, so a million miles a year is not uncommon especially for team-driven trucks, and the amount of wear and tear is enormous. The major components of an OTR truck start wearing out after about 4 years of this kind of use. So, you dump them on the used market then and get brand new ones.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:52 AM.


User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Website Copyright ©2000 - 2017 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands