What Truck Drivers Need to Know About Their Earnings and Pay

Do Truck Drivers Make Good Money?

This is one of the most complicated questions you can ask about trucking. Why is that? For one most drivers get paid by the mile. And another is most of these drivers will be forced to work up to 70 hours a week over 6 days in order to make their paycheck and in most cases without any overtime pay. Whenever a driver sits around to load or unload on any given day, and they are getting paid by the mile. They usually do not get paid for this time. So, unless the wheels are moving the driver is making no money while waiting. These wait times vary widely but, in most instance, this can add up to 3 or 4 hours. Not only do drivers not get paid during this time every day but they also must work. They will be required to check in at the guard shack, drive around the yard and hook and unhook trailers to name a few. So, until this driver gets back on the road there is little to no money to be made. The exception here is if you are paid hourly. There are some driving jobs paid hourly. Usually, the local variety so this does not apply to your typical over the road trucker.

What is the Average Daily Trucker Wage?

When I drove for Amazon, I averaged about $225 day before taxes. This was working a shift that usually lasted up to 14 hours a day. Amazon made sure they got their money’s worth out of me. In order to make this I had to drive at least 400+ miles that day as well as wait parts of the day at distribution centers throughout the Southeast. In retrospect it was barely worth it. I received no benefits from my company because they were subcontracted by Amazon. Also, I was expected to run night and day. It did not matter. So, it was common that I was tired while I drove for Amazon. Because they would constantly flip my schedule. You are treated more like a robot than a human worker. My CPM or cents per mile paid was fifty cents. I would never go back into that driving job because in the end of the day it only came out to about $16 an hour and I was forced to sleep in the truck every other day. So about 50% of the time I lived in the truck. Also, after 40 hours there was no overtime. And even on holidays there was no time and a half. Talk about Amazon having a good deal? I would say so.

Unpaid Time

Another issue drivers run across often is their truck or trailer may break down and require repairs. Whenever this happens and you are paid by the mile there can be times where you will not be paid much or anything at all for weeks at a time. Some companies offer breakdown pay. Some do not and even the ones that do you will usually have to bring it up or beg in order to receive that small daily stipend while your truck sits in the shop getting repaired. I stayed in a Holiday Inn in LA for over 2 weeks while I had a truck getting repaired and did not get paid one dime and only had my hotel room partially reimbursed. So, if you want to make money in trucking you better have reliable equipment and even then, plan for an occasional break down to eat into your earning power when they do occur.

Getting Paid Practical Miles Over Hub Miles

Whenever you are behind the wheel of a truck cruising down the highway adding up all the money you are earning at each mile marker beware. Likely you are getting ripped off. Yes, you heard that right. Most truck companies will pay in what the industry calls practical miles and not for the actual miles in which you are driving. For instance, if you drive an actual one hundred miles according to your odometer the company may only pay you ninety miles. Why is this? Because they are using the highly adopted pay by practical mile system that usually benefits the company so they can pay you less and make more profit themselves.

Companies that Pay You as 1099 Subcontractor Versus a W2

It is common today for a lot of truck companies offering their pay as a 1099 subcontractor vs a W2 employee. This is just one more way they can rip off the driver. By doing this they are effectively lowering their tax liability which in turn means you will be paying more taxes out of your bottom line in most instances. In effect this will double your payroll taxes because as a W2 employee the company would normally cover half of this. Just one more little dirty trick the trucking industry uses to try and lure drivers with larger paychecks that appear tax free. But you will be paying more taxes as a 1099 driver.

Escrows

Now let us talk escrows. Some companies will require that you pay $100 or other amount out of each check to cover something they will call an escrow. These usually run from anywhere from $1000 to $2500. You will never see this money back. I have paid two companies these funds in my career and have never seen any of it come back to me. Talk about highway robbery? This is another trick trucking companies will use to get extra money out of their drivers hard earned wages.

Overtime After 40

Yes, you heard that right. You may have thought overtime was after 40 hours worked. But no not in the trucking industry. For one most drivers to do not get any overtime. But for the ones lucky enough to usually it kicks in after 50 hours and not your standard forty. For some reason truckers are held at a different standard than every other worker out there in the economy. Don’t they work just as hard? I would argue that they work even more as someone who has been behind the wheel and driven several hundred thousand miles, I know what is involved.

In a Nutshell

Most drivers need their wheels turning in order to make any money. The paid by the mile is the industry norm. So, when they are sitting in a traffic jam, at a shipper or receiver, fueling at a truck stop or even doing their pre-trip and post-trip inspections, none of this is paid time. In the end this may create a more dangerous environment on our highways because drivers are rushing to push every mile, it means creating unsafe driving conditions through heavy traffic or storms. This pay by the mile system may make a truck driver drive faster in order to help make their paychecks and pay their bills. A lot of the external factors that may limit a drivers pay are out of their control but when it comes to making up time doing it on the highways is not in the best interest of public, environment, or the driver if he never makes it to his shipper or receiver in one piece.