Is there any money in it?
2007-08-18 12:36:12 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
There are a couple of different kinds of over the road drivers: there are owner-operators (those who own their truck) and there are company drivers (those who drive the company's truck.
Owner operators typically make about the same or a little more than company drivers after all the bills are paid (both are in the $50,000 / year range) but they have several distinct advantages. First, they can pretty much pick and choose what loads to take and where to go. A broker or company that tries to send an owner operator where he doesn't want to go will usually lose the driver. Second, they have a substantial asset - the truck - that they can take to virtually any town anywhere anytime and find work easily. So, if they decide to winter in Florida and summer in Maine, it has little effect on their pocketbook.
A company driver, on the other hand, is an employee, and goes where he's told, when he's told. He is entrusted with a quarter million dollars worth of the company's assets (truck, trailer, freight, etc) and is held strictly accountable for those assets. He is not, however, saddled with having to change the oil or fix flat tires or do anything when the truck breaks down except call in so that a mechanic can be dispatched out to him. He can go home on Friday when the week ends.
The company driver is typically paid by the mile - on the low end, perhaps a quarter or 26¢, on the high end, maybe fifty or fifty-five cents. He tends to drive anywhere from 1800 to 3000 miles a week.
The owner operator can get paid in a variety of ways - by the mile (90¢ - $1.30 is the typical range, although there are loads that pay several dollars a mile), as a percentage of the profit that the load makes, or any of several other creative accounting practices. It may seem like a lot more, but he has to pay for his own fuel, for his truck, for his insurance, etc.
Truck drivers work long days - currently, they are allowed to work up to 14 hours in a day with up to 11 of those hours behind the wheel.
It's not glamorous, but it's an honest living.
2007-08-18 12:52:40 · answer #1 · answered by Stuart 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Not big money, but good money can be earned if you live on the road and in rest areas and truck stops.... I personaly tried it for a year and it was not for me... I have never met more rude people (not the drivers) when picking up and delivering loads.. there seems to be a consensus that all truck drivers are idiots and a lot of people will treat you in that manner even though they don't know you at all. I met many guys/ladies that have driven for years and love it... the motoring public also thinks that Semi-Tractor Trailer rigs can stop in just a few feet and will cut you off just to make a turn because they do not want to be behind a rig...when in fact you are hauling a rig with a gross weight of just under 80 thousand pounds and the average car weighs about 2500
pounds and can stop in a fraction of what a rig can...
2007-08-18 12:47:10 · answer #2 · answered by RiverRat 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
ah the open road..free as a bird,,great truck stop food and hot ladies,,,high pay and the respect of all the autos on the road...oh what a life.
2007-08-18 14:28:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
yes, many people make their living doing just that.
2007-08-18 12:38:45 · answer #4 · answered by Gary V 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
good money if your dumb as a box of rocks.
2007-08-18 12:38:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋