The trucking industry is a billion dollar industry in the U.S. alone. Truck driver’s salary has been on the rise over the past ten years, and there’s plenty of work to go around. Understanding the differences in driving employment in the industry is an important key for finding the right niche for you. Do a little research before you decide which type of truck driving best suites your personal abilities. Below is a quick summary of the different types of driving positions and where the salary falls on the high-low range of income averages.
Rookie driver’s expectations
You should know beforehand that rookie drivers are paid less than veteran driving. The money is in the time spent on the job. Experience gets you more money. If you’re looking to join the industry, a company that offers its own training for drivers is the best way to get hired. Most companies don’t like to hire rookie drivers, so this type of company would be a sure thing for employment after training. Use your first year of employment as on the job training. Even though you may have finished your schooling, there are some things that can only be learned from hands-on experience and situations. During your first year, you will encounter plenty of troubleshooting situations, and learn more about how the industry functions.
The structure of how truck drivers are paid
It’s no secret in the industry that if you’re looking for the big bucks, over the road is the way to get paid. In layman’s terms, this means you get paid for the miles traveled (as opposed to time spent driving). Depending on the extra small work you put in, you can make quite a bit more money this way than being paid by the hour. If you choose to own your own tractor and trailer, then you should expect to gross around a hundred thousand per year. This may sound like a pretty penny, but that’s just the “gross” income. The amount of money you will spend keeping up your vehicle and supporting your career can sometimes take over half of that gross amount.
What type of truck and trailer are you hauling
It absolutely does matter what type of rig you’re running. The pay is different depending on the type of load you’re transferring. If you’re driving a flatbed truck, you could make significantly more. Usually, when a company has a load to deliver that isn’t suitable for a dry covered trailer, they will outsource the work to a local flatbed driver. Also, you can make more scrap by driving a refrigerated truck. Transporting perishable and fragile freight can bring in quite the paycheck.
Originally posted on September 12, 2015 @ 10:29 pm
