5 ms·

There’s an endless supply of truck drivers, just a shortage of those willing to be underpaid and abused.

by Guest42 5y ago

flexie 5y ago
And there is a seemingly endless supply of oil and gas. If you pay enough.
- Guest42 5y ago
  The price of oil and gas has been far more inflated than the price of truck drivers since 1970.
flatiron 5y ago
I’ve had friends in the truck driving business and the hardest part is finding people who can stay clean with the drug testing. The Venn diagram of people wanting to drive truck and who recreationally use drugs seem to overlap a touch.
- droopyEyelids 5y ago
  Again, you're only stating half the description. The hardest thing is finding people who won't take drugs _at that salary, with those working conditions_
PaywallBuster 5y ago
Where you get such ideas? The average salary for a truck driver is $70,363 per year in the United States. https://www.indeed.com/career/truck-driver/salaries https://www.indeed.com/career/truck-driver/salaries
- deft 5y ago
  How much do you make per year? I think 70k is underpaying for truck driving.
  - PaywallBuster 5y ago
    I'm not in the US, not anywhere those levels. So just my 2 cents from looking from the outside
- wbobeirne 5y ago
  They said underpaid, not low paid. It's not just a job, it's a way of living that completely dominates your life and taxes your body with the lifestyle associated with it. Clearly not enough people are willing to make that tradeoff for the salary.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    It is still low paid. Money per hour, volatility of income, and quality of life at work including morbidity and mortality risk are just as relevant as money per year. BLS does not incorporate these metrics, but there is an easy way to see if a job is low paid relative to quality of life at work (and outside of work). And that is to see people advise their kids to aspire to be. Doctor, lawyer, engineer, but not truck driver.
- syshum 5y ago
  I dont know how reliable these indeed salaries are, I also know many many many drivers that are making less than 50K a year putting in 50-60 hours a week (or more) and are away from their familes for 5-7 days at a time
  - Guest42 5y ago
    Agreed, indeed says that Pepsi pays 65k and that’s one of the top employers in the industry.
  - opencl 5y ago
    Seems like it includes owner operator pay without deducting the (quite large) expenses.
- judge2020 5y ago
  I can see a lot of people still not taking it at $150k since it forces your lifestyle and free time to revolve around your job.
  - notsureaboutpg 5y ago
    This is delusional. The vast, vast majority of people in the USA cannot hope to make $150k per year, so you'd FOR SURE see people jumping into trucking if it paid that much.
- diordiderot 5y ago
  Median?
- bkfunk 5y ago
  More like a median of 47k, according to BLS, with 90% earning less than 70k: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533032.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533032.htm
- windowsrookie 5y ago
  $70,363/year is $1353/week. Say you're a trucker working 60 hours a week that's $22.55/hour. Here's the day of a truck driver... Most truck drivers are paid by the mile. If you're a long-haul truck driver you live in your truck. Driving all day, then sitting at a warehouse for 3 hours while you get unloaded. You're not getting paid while sitting there but you also can't leave. You have to stay with the truck at all times. Then it's 11pm when you're finally unloaded and you have to find a truck stop to park and sleep at. The closest truck stop is 10 miles away but it's 11pm, it might be full. You only have 20 minutes of legal driving time left on your log book. Do you risk going to the truck stop even though it might be full and you run out of driving hours or do you try to find a street to park on? Most cities don't allow trucks to park on the street so that's a gamble too. If you run out of hours looking for a spot to park you risk getting a fine if you are inspected. State troopers and police can pull truck drivers over at any time for an inspection. If you are fined it's out of your own pocket, not the company. So even if you were doing your job perfectly legally, you ran out of time because the warehouse took too long to unload. Now you might get fined and completely wipe out any income you made today. It also goes on your driving record and future companies won't hire you if you have too many incidents. Now it's 6am and you're not feeling well and need to use the bathroom. The truck stop bathroom has a 15 minute wait but your next pickup is in 30 minutes and it's a 20 minute drive way. Also your kids birthday is tomorrow but you might not make it back in time. Now do this every day for less than $25/hour. All while every car on the road rages at you because your truck is limited to 65mph.
- yardie 5y ago
  Is that 1099 or W2 salary. If it's the former they are effectively closer to $35k once you add in expenses.

There’s an endless supply of truck drivers, just a shortage of those willing to be underpaid and abused.

flexie 5y ago

And there is a seemingly endless supply of oil and gas. If you pay enough.

Guest42 5y ago
The price of oil and gas has been far more inflated than the price of truck drivers since 1970.

flatiron 5y ago

I’ve had friends in the truck driving business and the hardest part is finding people who can stay clean with the drug testing. The Venn diagram of people wanting to drive truck and who recreationally use drugs seem to overlap a touch.

droopyEyelids 5y ago
Again, you're only stating half the description. The hardest thing is finding people who won't take drugs _at that salary, with those working conditions_

PaywallBuster 5y ago

Where you get such ideas? The average salary for a truck driver is $70,363 per year in the United States. https://www.indeed.com/career/truck-driver/salaries https://www.indeed.com/career/truck-driver/salaries

deft 5y ago
How much do you make per year? I think 70k is underpaying for truck driving.
- PaywallBuster 5y ago
  I'm not in the US, not anywhere those levels. So just my 2 cents from looking from the outside
wbobeirne 5y ago
They said underpaid, not low paid. It's not just a job, it's a way of living that completely dominates your life and taxes your body with the lifestyle associated with it. Clearly not enough people are willing to make that tradeoff for the salary.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  It is still low paid. Money per hour, volatility of income, and quality of life at work including morbidity and mortality risk are just as relevant as money per year. BLS does not incorporate these metrics, but there is an easy way to see if a job is low paid relative to quality of life at work (and outside of work). And that is to see people advise their kids to aspire to be. Doctor, lawyer, engineer, but not truck driver.
syshum 5y ago
I dont know how reliable these indeed salaries are, I also know many many many drivers that are making less than 50K a year putting in 50-60 hours a week (or more) and are away from their familes for 5-7 days at a time
- Guest42 5y ago
  Agreed, indeed says that Pepsi pays 65k and that’s one of the top employers in the industry.
- opencl 5y ago
  Seems like it includes owner operator pay without deducting the (quite large) expenses.
judge2020 5y ago
I can see a lot of people still not taking it at $150k since it forces your lifestyle and free time to revolve around your job.
- notsureaboutpg 5y ago
  This is delusional. The vast, vast majority of people in the USA cannot hope to make $150k per year, so you'd FOR SURE see people jumping into trucking if it paid that much.
diordiderot 5y ago
Median?
bkfunk 5y ago
More like a median of 47k, according to BLS, with 90% earning less than 70k: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533032.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533032.htm
windowsrookie 5y ago
$70,363/year is $1353/week. Say you're a trucker working 60 hours a week that's $22.55/hour. Here's the day of a truck driver... Most truck drivers are paid by the mile. If you're a long-haul truck driver you live in your truck. Driving all day, then sitting at a warehouse for 3 hours while you get unloaded. You're not getting paid while sitting there but you also can't leave. You have to stay with the truck at all times. Then it's 11pm when you're finally unloaded and you have to find a truck stop to park and sleep at. The closest truck stop is 10 miles away but it's 11pm, it might be full. You only have 20 minutes of legal driving time left on your log book. Do you risk going to the truck stop even though it might be full and you run out of driving hours or do you try to find a street to park on? Most cities don't allow trucks to park on the street so that's a gamble too. If you run out of hours looking for a spot to park you risk getting a fine if you are inspected. State troopers and police can pull truck drivers over at any time for an inspection. If you are fined it's out of your own pocket, not the company. So even if you were doing your job perfectly legally, you ran out of time because the warehouse took too long to unload. Now you might get fined and completely wipe out any income you made today. It also goes on your driving record and future companies won't hire you if you have too many incidents. Now it's 6am and you're not feeling well and need to use the bathroom. The truck stop bathroom has a 15 minute wait but your next pickup is in 30 minutes and it's a 20 minute drive way. Also your kids birthday is tomorrow but you might not make it back in time. Now do this every day for less than $25/hour. All while every car on the road rages at you because your truck is limited to 65mph.
yardie 5y ago
Is that 1099 or W2 salary. If it's the former they are effectively closer to $35k once you add in expenses.