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I'm currently trying to get on with either a foodservice(delivering cases to fastfood restaurants) or a line-haul(hooking to two trailers, going 200-300 miles out, and then heading back to home terminal) trucking position at this point. Long hours with those, but from the drivers I've talked to, the $80k-$100k is actually possible in those lines of trucking.
Another line of hauling to consider is getting into hauling fuel to the gas stations. Usually shift work and guaranteed days off depending on the company you're hauling the fuel for.
Foodgrade tanking and general freight trucking are the jokes in this line of work. Pay never really goes beyond $48k/year and then you'll also have inconsistent periods of work.
I'm ready to jump out of this as soon as I get the go-ahead from wherever else I applied to. Been doing this type of work, off and on, for several years and it's time to stop taking these paycuts like a normal thing.
Honestly hauling fuel is one of the worst parts of driving, especially if you have to deliver in the middle of the day. There is no guarantee that you will be hauling fuel in the wee hours and if you have never driven a tanker it is much more skill and experienced than you think. There are a lot of things that can and do go wrong, some of which are caused by lack of skills and other things that are caused by your lack of being able to control the weather and the actions of other humans. Also, there are no *guaranteed days off* with most companies that haul fuel which includes more than gasoline.
Honestly hauling fuel is one of the worst parts of driving, especially if you have to deliver in the middle of the day. There is no guarantee that you will be hauling fuel in the wee hours and if you have never driven a tanker it is much more skill and experienced than you think. There are a lot of things that can and do go wrong, some of which are caused by lack of skills and other things that are caused by your lack of being able to control the weather and the actions of other humans. Also, there are no *guaranteed days off* with most companies that haul fuel which includes more than gasoline.
What about these joints like Loves and Pilot/Flying J? All those guys tell me they work straight 12's and have two consecutive day off a week. Then again, these guys strictly deliver fuel between the refineries and the truckstops themselves.
As far as tanker experience is concerned, I've been hauling smoothbore, food-grade tankers for the past, six years. That's about as rough as one could get.
I was always under the impression that most truckers stay in the 40k-50k range forever.
Walmart pays close to 6 figures. The catch is you have to wear that stupid uniform that makes the drivers look like a half-assed airline pilot.
Costco pays well, but it's probably 80k max for the top guys.
UPS pays close to six figures to the guys who have been there forever with spotless records.
There are some really good Teamster jobs that pay close to six figures with tons of PTO and killer medical and full retirement for the guys who stay forever.
Starting out you'll make apprx 35k, but it's all up from there. The trick is to keep your safety record clean and stay healthy enough to pass a DOT physical and a drug test.
I don't know if I'd call it 'sightseeing', but I used to carry a bicycle on my truck and when I had some downtime I'd ride all over the place. I'd be near a big city like L.A. or Denver and check out the place. It was really cool and I actually had regular bike trips planned ahead for when I'd be in an area.
A favorite was biking around Hollywood and down to the beach. It was a blast!
What about these joints like Loves and Pilot/Flying J? All those guys tell me they work straight 12's and have two consecutive day off a week. Then again, these guys strictly deliver fuel between the refineries and the truckstops themselves.
As far as tanker experience is concerned, I've been hauling smoothbore, food-grade tankers for the past, six years. That's about as rough as one could get.
Loves tends to micromanage and only pays by the load. Pilot/Flying J's wage package isn't very generous anymore since having been bought out/merged by Pilot. A bunch of their drivers haven't had a pay raise in years. Jet fuel is where the money is in hauling Class 3 hazardous materials. I'd stay away from UPT if I were you. You can try getting on with Flying Star or Toot 'n' Totum. Even though those companies pay an hourly rate, it's still quite low for having to deal with hazmat. I personally wouldn't touch any job dealing with hazardous materials for less than $25 an hour, plus time and a half, or double OT after 40 hours. The bennies had better be top notch, too!
Loves tends to micromanage and only pays by the load. Pilot/Flying J's wage package isn't very generous anymore since having been bought out/merged by Pilot. A bunch of their drivers haven't had a pay raise in years. Jet fuel is where the money is in hauling Class 3 hazardous materials. I'd stay away from UPT if I were you. You can try getting on with Flying Star or Toot 'n' Totum. Even though those companies pay an hourly rate, it's still quite low for having to deal with hazmat. I personally wouldn't touch any job dealing with hazardous materials for less than $25 an hour, plus time and a half, or double OT after 40 hours. The bennies had better be top notch, too!
I'm content with my dookie hauling job.
I'm going to keep poking around with these fuel apps. Perhaps after October, things might begin to look a little brighter with those since that accident I had ten years ago falls off by then. It didn't keep me from getting non-HAZMAT jobs, but I feel it's been a hindrance with all the fuel and chemical outfits I've tried out.
I'm also still poking around at Old Dominion, Estes, and even Saia LTL's. Old Dominion guy in Albuquerque is keeping me on hold. Estes has postings for "Regional OTR" in Aurora, but all I ever get are those canned, rejection emails telling me to "apply for another position/position filled"(seems like trucking companies are jumping on the white-collar rejection emails too). And someone on another board told me to hound the Saia terminal in person to inquire about app status.
Only other thing I could think of that will get me on in a heartbeat are foodservice like McLane and O'Reilly auto parts. Only bad thing about those is O'Reilly has you running in the yard until a route opens up and McLane, I'll just have to suck it up and deal with those split days off.
As for split days off, I'd like to smack whomever thought that one up. Can't even take a spontaneous roadtrip anywhere without slipping up and getting fired due to an unintended no-show, or call-off.
OP is long gone. This has been a really interesting thread about "the business." Anyone believing they will find the +2 or +3 standard deviations higher than average pay is mentally ill, alright, or at-minimum cannot game out a detailed business plan for success: that line of thinking built Las Vegas into what it is today. I think the arguments here thoroughly dismantle any real glamour of the job.
Am I knocking it? Heck no! They make the country's commerce go 'round! While I too prefer jobs with minimal people interaction for highest-possible pay, that's just dumb thinking unless you're a NASA or nuclear scientist in some lab building death rays on government grants.
I'd personally be gravely concerned about matters like holding down *any* real job in the face of diagnosed mental or other illness, long term. Good luck with that.
Otto is going to completely decimate the transportation sector. It's going to disrupt/displace 7% of all jobs in America. Until that day comes, it sounds like a good career for the OP, though he will likely be disappointed with how little he will "see" while traveling, aside from wheat and asphalt. But he should be prepared that this career will only exist for him for about a decade, so I'd avoid signing on for any long-term truck loans.
I'm going to keep poking around with these fuel apps. Perhaps after October, things might begin to look a little brighter with those since that accident I had ten years ago falls off by then. It didn't keep me from getting non-HAZMAT jobs, but I feel it's been a hindrance with all the fuel and chemical outfits I've tried out.
I'm also still poking around at Old Dominion, Estes, and even Saia LTL's. Old Dominion guy in Albuquerque is keeping me on hold. Estes has postings for "Regional OTR" in Aurora, but all I ever get are those canned, rejection emails telling me to "apply for another position/position filled"(seems like trucking companies are jumping on the white-collar rejection emails too). And someone on another board told me to hound the Saia terminal in person to inquire about app status.
Only other thing I could think of that will get me on in a heartbeat are foodservice like McLane and O'Reilly auto parts. Only bad thing about those is O'Reilly has you running in the yard until a route opens up and McLane, I'll just have to suck it up and deal with those split days off.
As for split days off, I'd like to smack whomever thought that one up. Can't even take a spontaneous roadtrip anywhere without slipping up and getting fired due to an unintended no-show, or call-off.
If you're super desperate for some type of hazmat tanker experience, give Kimrad a call even though they're on a serious nosedive into the ground, financially. Their pay is at the bottom-bottom of the barrel and their benefits are **** poor as well. They will knowingly hire tweakers to haul hot asphalt. What could go wrong?
Honestly hauling fuel is one of the worst parts of driving, especially if you have to deliver in the middle of the day. There is no guarantee that you will be hauling fuel in the wee hours and if you have never driven a tanker it is much more skill and experienced than you think. There are a lot of things that can and do go wrong, some of which are caused by lack of skills and other things that are caused by your lack of being able to control the weather and the actions of other humans. Also, there are no *guaranteed days off* with most companies that haul fuel which includes more than gasoline.
Fuel delivery is not the good money it used to be. I know BP is getting out of it at least in the Midwest, which they paid a pretty good salary to corporate drivers, now most of the fuel delivery are done by private contract companies. The contract companies have very strict rules and regulations, including speed, gps, time slept etc if they want to continue to supply. If a driver goes over 5 miles the contract company could be placed on hold. With jet fuel, I know BP is selling a lot of it also, as they have sold almost 30 terminals at O hare Intrn. the past 2 years. The refinery in Indiana, is doing well, but the prices that truckers used to make are not the same. I know a person that has been driving his own truck for 20 years, and he's been going down in pay every year.
If you're super desperate for some type of hazmat tanker experience, give Kimrad a call even though they're on a serious nosedive into the ground, financially. Their pay is at the bottom-bottom of the barrel and their benefits are **** poor as well. They will knowingly hire tweakers to haul hot asphalt. What could go wrong?
Might be worth a look, but as far as I've seen, they don't have any daycab positions up in Amarillo if I were to relocate up towards that direction. The milk hauling thing was good for awhile, but like security guard positions, the quality postings could evaporate in a heartbeat.
I definitely miss my Clovis-to-Perryton and Clovis-to-Willard runs that paid a combination of both mileage and loading pay. 8-9 hour/nights and no one to really deal with on either end.
Seemed like the easy assignments paid the most, while all the multiple dairies/night paid extremely less and took almost the entire 14-hour clock to do.
As for automation eventually replacing drivers altogether, I picture many drivers either being forced into harder poverty, or a harsh prison sentence for post-trucking survival methods(ie,. thievery, life-of-crime) if there isn't some sort of back-up plan to mitigate the resultant job loss.
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