Trucking has supported our family for two generations now. You have been given very good advice so far and there is little I can add to it but........I do have a good many a storys!

Our newest addition is a 99 volvo w/N14 red top and has been on the road for five weeks. Last wen. night she spun the #6 rod bearing and ruined a crank and rod. So Far it has costs us(not including labor((yet)) we do our own) $13,774 and it's rising daily due to the fact the truck sits idle. A reman engine from cummins is $16,000 +tax. The tow bill alone was $724 for 96 miles. It sucks, no other words to desrcibe it.

We make money by offering great dedicated service to a handfull of companys in the area. We haul quarry, scrap metals, heavy equipment, and most recently autos.

From all the years in the industry I can say don't go with anything that requires a truck to go off highway constantly......dump trucks/trailers, log trucks, or trash trucks. They do get decent money but..... the maintanenece for the equipment is horrific! Everything on the undercarriage that takes grease will have half life and the unit never will stay clean. We have destroyed four dump trailers, one tandem dump, and three road tractors in 18 years.....all but one accident was the result of driver "incompetency".

There is no money in freighter container transport. They do good to break even.

Specialty hauling of any kind is a good thing, but nothing lasts forever. It will end eventually.

I think the major deciding factor should be your family life. If you are single w/ no dependants and have a decent amount of savings.....go for it. If you don't fit the exact mold above..........fuggetaboutitttt!!!

Now what I like to call " The Truth About Trucking"-

Trucking is THE most cut throat business in the US.
You will not make money in the beginning due to the fact you will accept any load offered just to be working, few will give profit, most will give loss!
Large companys and the gov have screwed OO completely. A large amount of OO cut each others throats to get the scrap hauls the large company's didn't want or wouldn't take.
The people who make money in trucking are the independant shop owners, parts manufacturers, Insurance companys, and oil companys.
Truckers who worry more about looks than performance and reliability are in one of two situations.....1- their prioritys are in the wrong place and they won't last long....2- they have too much bloody money, and it didn't come from trucking!


I'm not trying to discourage, it has supported many a family member and many a friends for the last 2 decades but, we have went through major changes over the years.

We started with two tandem dumps and in five years grew to 16 trucks on the road at one time. That lasted for almost 8 years and the number slowly started to dwindle over the next few years untill we had only one truck running. In the last two years we have went back to four trucks and are looking to grow again in the near future.


Moral of the story- If I could go back I'd have paid attention in school and became a game warden or a professional student, but wrench turnin and truck drivin is what I know!

Good luck Blaine!

 

25 years ago, I made a decent living as an owner-operator. After all said and done at the end of the year, I made better wages than just driving for someone.

Today....I don't know how the guys are even making a living. Everything has skyrocketed EXCEPT the revenue.

I had a good contract. The truck got $2.10 loaded mile, one way and many times I got a back haul that pretty much paid expenses for the round trip. Still, I only made better than average driver wages.

When you own a truck you have to WORK the truck. When you aren't working the truck you are working ON the truck. Time off is spent with a handful of wrenches and a grease gun. If you are lucky, the current break down will only cost $500 in parts.....if you need TWO bolts it'll be twice that much. My wife used to say that just replacing a bolt ran a minimum of $350 and went up from there

There can be a lot of satisfaction owning your own rig but I'm not sure the headaches that go with it are worth it.

 

Dont take this the wrong way, but the notion of paying a dump truck driver $70/hr is TOTALLY ABSURD. That is 145K/yr. $25/hr seems about right for the job.

 

I think that is 65-75 per hour for the truck itself. I doubt the driver makes that much.

 

yup. that is for the truck and driver. drivers make on average about $20/hr, with the rest going to the truck.

 

Thats exactly what I am talkin about "DRIVERS MAKE ON AVERAGE $20 PER HR THE REST GOING TO THE TRUCK" what a bunch bull, the rest goes to the trucks owner, cause thats were the money is ya gotta own the truck..... I know some one is gona flame me for that statement but its true. For what it worth I am 46 years old and been driving straight trucks since 81 got my A license in 92 and have driven for 3 fuel companys and one dry goods , the owners of those companys for sure aint workin paycheck to paycheck like me or most company drivers.........

 

What is about the average hour wage for a truck driver that drives for a company? I know they get paid by the mileage. I am just curious about what the average hourly wage is broke down.

I too thought about getting into the business at one time. I may have had a bad day at work or something. I then lurked around on some truck driving forums and quickly wised up. Still am thinking about getting my CDL's just to drive a dump truck or garbage truck part time maybe.

 

I was making $9.75/hr back in 1995. Typically 60 hour weeks. We made a decent amount on the overtime, which was time and a half. One week in 6 was short because of the way the 4/2 rotation worked in the pay period. I typically brought home around $950 every two weeks, sometimes a little more. I didn't think it was too bad at the time; I was 25 and the only bill I had was rent. (ah, those were the "good old days.")

I checked recently, and the same yard is making $12.50 an hour. And yes, I have thought about going back.

Mileage pay varies. I made $0.29 per mile when I was a company driver at Swift. When I had a good dispatcher, I made good money. When I had a bad one, I broke even.

Some companies claim to pay as high as $0.50 a mile. The common wisdom in the industry is that most drivers all make about the same gross figure per year; that is, the higher the RATE, the lower the weekly mileage.

-blaine

 

Do the math. At this evening's price of $2.879/gal in Amarillo, TX, that dump truck burns between $35 and $40 per hour in fuel, assuming it's going down the road at 65 MPH. Subtract that out of that $70 (average) per hour, and you get down to $35 or so left. When $20 goes to the driver, that leaves $15 per hour to pay for insurance, taxes, maintenance, tires, etc...

The owner of that truck, once the truck's expenses are paid, gets probably $1-$2 per hour.

FLEET owners can drive down the cost of some of those expenses (through volume purchases) but even then, you're still looking at only $3-5 to the owner per hour.

Big Bucks in trucking these days comes usually in the hauling of highly specialized commodities. Trade shows are one area. Ammunition and Explosives (A&E) Team drivers are another area. I think there's also some money to be had still in HazMat transport.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. Anyone who has all the chrome and lights and shine has either dedicated/specialized freight, or an alternate income stream to supplement the trucking.

I should note here that there's a LARGE disconnect between what shippers are paying to have their freight hauled, and what truck owners are being paid to haul it. I think it's safe to say that at least 75% of freight moving on highways today has been brokered at least once, and probably twice. Each time it passes another broker's desk, another 10% comes off the bill. NO ONE but the brokers are happy in that scenario.

-blaine

 

Ranger fan hear is my trucking start pay over the years.....

1980 Army Duece driver 400 month ( I know that don't count but thats were my truckin started)

86 Home heating fuel and diesel 6.40 pr hr.
87 agricultural dry goods 7.40 pr hr
89 - 2002 home heating fuel and diesel with a Haz Mat lic. , 9.00 pr hr- 14.00 pr
2002- present Home heating fuel and diesel 13.00 pr hr - 16.00 pr hr and mega ot when its cold upto 80 hrs a week by permit. As you can see there is nothing to be proud of there pay wise. I only drive Dec thru Mar now cause I started my own biz and do that April- up to Dec.......

Frankenbiker I do appreciate your words they are informative and I can tell your a seasoned driver, I am headed towards the OO that has a contract with a large carrier hauling gas , diesel , home heat and jet A or maybe a stone quarry . the guys that haul the fuel seem to stay busy and I see only a small turn over of the OO's , the quarry guys also seem busy but I think that during a hard winter they shut down....... Anyway I aint after the big bucks just a better livin....btw we have had 3 swift drivers at my present company and a JBHunt and Yellow and a slew of other companys but no former OO's, but one guy did go OO bought a new doublsleeper Pete 90,000 dollar, for fuel transport 1 1/2 yaers later he was bankrupt, probly cause he bought all the bells and whistle brand spanky new, bottom line is ifn your gone do this kinda work ya gotta be able to think smart and not impulsive.........

Jaaaaaaaaackman

 

a tri-axle dump gets $75/hr
$20/hr to the driver= $55 left


now lets look at some expenses.
registration @ $1800/year
insurance @ $25,000/year for each truck
tires are $425 each front,
and $350 each rear.
preventive maintenance done every 10,000 miles
(thats about every 2 months), just about $500
average fuel, $235 per day,and that price is low only because of the 5,000 gallon tank in the yard.

the only reason there are 15 tri-axles in the yard is that without your own trucks in the paving industry, you are at the mercy of the asphalt plants and quarry's. if they don't send you the trucks you call for, you are s.o.l.
while it is allot cheaper to let the immigrants deliver your product and pay the quarry for the "free" trucking service they provide, it is not trustworthy enough to rely on them.

 

Lots of good arguments here.I'll add one more.I've been repairing trucks since the early 80's.I've seen many drivers try their hand at self employment.For every 20 or so drivers maybe 1 succeeds.Most of the rest end in bankruptcy.