Clever CL add

Sounds just like every other add to drive OTR. I've been thinking about going back to driving a truck just for the medical benefits. But it is the first with female mechanics.....:D
 
The problem with OTR companies is they do not pay like they used to when my father and I worked together we would bring home as a owner operator after paying the truck our pay would range between 1500 to 2k a week hauling radioactive material, over sized loads, overweight loads, high explosives , and other specialized freight. When I met my wife I quit because I did not like being gone for 2-6 months at a time. But now I see guys who are proud to make 60 cents a mile in a truck they do not own.
 
Wwildman said:
The problem with OTR companies is they do not pay like they used to when my father and I worked together we would bring home as a owner operator after paying the truck our pay would range between 1500 to 2k a week hauling radioactive material, over sized loads, overweight loads, high explosives , and other specialized freight. When I met my wife I quit because I did not like being gone for 2-6 months at a time. But now I see guys who are proud to make 60 cents a mile in a truck they do not own.
Click to expand...

That's $30-35 an hour plus benefits, and they don't have to pay for a $150k truck. Sounds all right to me.
 
$2 to $5 a mile is over $250/hr. I know attorneys and doctors that don't make that kind of cash -- and with good reason. You're literally talking about a job that we can build robots to do. Do you honestly think that ten years from now, UPS and WalMart will still be paying people to sit in trucks for eight hours a day, when they can have an autonomous truck that doesn't do drugs, doesn't forget to fill out its logs, doesn't get distracted or fall asleep at the wheel, doesn't call in sick or go on strike... And most importantly, doesn't cost a couple thousand dollars a month in taxes and insurance?
 
That was 20 years ago and what I hauled was not the norm. I hauled Radioactive waste , High explosives , over sized and over weight loads I could only travel certain roads and daytime hours on some.
But our average was 2.00 a mile and our trips were about 500-1000 miles and usually sucked because we would set in the truck waiting on loads sometime for 2-3 weeks and that was only because of the timing for pick up.
 
So, at the end of the day, after you accounted for all the time you sat and didn't get paid, you made... 40 cents a mile?
 
shawn said:
So, at the end of the day, after you accounted for all the time you sat and didn't get paid, you made... 40 cents a mile?
Click to expand...
Truck needed to make 500 a day just to pay for itself and then after everything was done I would usually bring home in my pocket around 1500-2000 before taxes so after taxes I cleared 700 to 800 a week on an average.Now I see drivers that are glad to bring home 500 a week.
 
Clearing $26k a year for unskilled labor in this market is still pretty good money.
 
shawn said:
Clearing $26k a year for unskilled labor in this market is still pretty good money.
Click to expand...
I really like how people call truck drivers unskilled labor. I guess if it is unskilled then you do not need a CDL, DOT physical , or drug test just put a HS drop out in the seat and let h them have a go at it. There is more skill and training in driving a truck then other jobs. I bet very few on here could fathom driving and being away from home for 6-9 months and living in a space no bigger then an office cubical. Then deal with people who do not even want you on the road.
 
I've got a cdl. It is unskilled labor by definition. If somebody can sit in the same place for eight hours, isn't morbidly obese, doesn't do drugs and doesn't fall asleep, you can train them to be a truck driver.
 
shawn said:
I've got a cdl. It is unskilled labor by definition. If somebody can sit in the same place for eight hours, isn't morbidly obese, doesn't do drugs and doesn't fall asleep, you can train them to be a truck driver.
Click to expand...
Having your CDL doesn't make you a professional driver. I used to haul things that most people would be afraid to stand beside much less haul it down a busy highway. I have friends that make more than most docs/lawyers and drive only 9 months out of the year. Owning your own truck is expensive....but so is being a lawyer or a doctor.
 
bignick said:
Having your CDL doesn't make you a professional driver. I used to haul things that most people would be afraid to stand beside much less haul it down a busy highway. I have friends that make more than most docs/lawyers and drive only 9 months out of the year. Owning your own truck is expensive....but so is being a lawyer or a doctor.
Click to expand...

And then?

There are highly qualified, highly paid people in every field. They don't work for .60/mile.

Operating costs don't factor into it. All that matters is net.
 
Last edited:
shawn said:
And then?

There are highly qualified, highly paid people in every field. They don't work for .60/mile.

Operating costs don't factor into it. All that matters is net.
Click to expand...

yep.
Just like doctors and lawyers don't really net all that cash either - when you look at what they pay in insurance, loans etc. Not to mention actual operating costs.

Clearly Shawn is the lead asshole here in the "truck driving isn't a skilled profession" debate (see his new signature?) ... but just b/c you can become good at something, and it CAN BE challenging, and SOME PEOPLE are highly skilled, doesn't make it a "skilled trade".
By definition skilled trades require extensive training to do that job in the first place.

I for one am looking forward to robot trucks and droned delivering packages.
Why? B/c the guys I work with are the guys who develop the technology to make those things "smart" in the first place...o_O

Now once the robots build their own scientists and engineers... well, hello Terminator...:eek:
 
RatLabGuy said:
yep.
Just like doctors and lawyers don't really net all that cash either - when you look at what they pay in insurance, loans etc. Not to mention actual operating costs.
Click to expand...

The distribution curve on attorney salaries is actually pretty telling.
 
I give respect to you OTR guys, but I made a lot of good money driving straights w/ a class B, and enjoyed being home at night 95% of the time. It is true though, you do have your drivers and then you have steering wheel holders.
 
Back
Top