Pay rates in the Trucking Industry are all over the scale. Top scale local ( pick-up & delivery, or P&D ) drivers at the Nationwide LTL Companies ( Yellow/Roadway, Conway, ABF,FedEx Freight, R&L ) are at or above $25.00 per hour, with good health & retirement benefits. BUT most are running 12 hours a day or more, dragging 48 foot trailers around city streets, and making 20 to 30 stops a day. Smaller regional LTL companies often pay less, or have complicated " pay incentives " ( stops per hour ) that screw the drivers who have to sit in traffic or drive rural routes.
Over the Road ( OTR ) drivers are usually paid so many cents per mile ( .40 to .50 cents for solo drivers is now average ), BUT they are often NOT drawing pay unless the wheels are turning. Also, many Nationwide Truckload carriers only pay half rate for empty miles, which punishes the driver for the company's inability to line up another load. Layover pay ( Per Diem ) is often around $30 dollars A DAY, barely enough to buy meals at truckstops. Delays at customers, breakdowns and flat tires, having to live unload the freight, pallet charges, all these and more, are often not paid either. Now throw in time away from home, living in the truck for weeks at a time, little or no access or time for personal health or doctor visits, blizzards, tornados, traffic, unfamiliar and beat - up roads in unfamiliar cities. No thanks...
All the issues of OTR driving cause many drivers to leave for local work, which only continues the driver shortage cycle in OTR companies. Many drivers switch to private carriers, or companies with trucks, ( as opposed to trucking companies ). United Warehouses, Holman Distribution, Boeing, Exide batteries, Bridgestone & Les Schwab Tires, food service and restaurant suppliers, and many manufacturing companies have fleets of trucks and drivers, although some of these companies are farming out the drivers to personnel & temp agencies or Third Party Logistics ( 3PL ) companies ( Steelcase did this years ago ). This detatchment causes issues with communication and loyalty, on both sides.
The irony of OTR and Commercial truck driving is that, while the trucks are much more comfortable and easier to drive ( A/C, power steering, air ride, better sound and temperature insulation, condo cabs with big beds and microwave ovens, XM satellite stereos ), the legal requirements for Commercial Drivers have increased greatly. Drug tests, ( both random and when changing employers ), Bi - Annual Physicals and often company - required " Physical Capabilities tests ", good hearing and vision, no color blindness, no Type 1 Diabetes ( though this is changing a bit ), at least 2 years Class 1 CDL driving experience AND a clean driving record ( good luck on that !!! ), at least 25 years old for insurance reasons. I'm glad to be closer to the end of my driving career than to the beginning...