Truck Driver Salaries: Owner Operator Trucking Jobs

"You know the difference between a fairy tale and a trucker tale? A fairy tale starts with: 'once upon a time...' and a trucker tale starts with: 'You're never going to believe this sh*t'...". - Don Floyd

Name: Don Floyd
Job Title: Long Distance Truck Driver/ Owner Operator Trucking
Where: Don's owner operator trucking job is based in Enid, OK
Truck Driver Salary: $66,000 = $0.60 per mile x 110,000 miles. See truckers cost per mile calculation below. (Owner operator trucking jobs typically pay more than just being a truck driver.)
Years of Experience: 31 years of truck driving experience, 10 years in owner operator trucking jobs

Truck Driver Salaries: Owner Operator Trucking Jobs

Job Description of a Truck Driver: To drive a truck with capacity of more than three tons to transport materials to specified destinations. In owner operator trucking jobs, the driver is also responsible for finding and scheduling loads.

We all wonder what it would be like. We've bought the little pieces of the puzzle, but we've never put it all together. What is it like to be a long distance truck driver? And what are the benefits and drawbacks of owner operator trucking jobs? I own a Pabst Blue Ribbon trucker hat. I own a 64 ounce thermos that is waiting to be filled with truck stop "high octane" coffee. I've driven 600 miles in a single day. But, there is still so much to learn about long distance truck drivers.

Salary Stories recently interviewed truck driver Don Floyd about his many years on the road. Don explained the job description of a truck driver, the differences between owner operator trucking jobs and other truck driver jobs, truck driver salaries, and just how much coffee it takes to keep a driver going. If you've ever dreamed of a life on the open road, keep reading!

How much are average truck driver salaries?

Median Hourly Rate by Years Experience - Job: Truck Driver, Heavy / Tractor-Trailer (United States)

Long distance truck driver salaries start at about $15.00 per hour, while experienced truck driver salaries can be upwards of $21.00 per hour (this salary chart has national median salaries). But most long-haul truck drivers don't get paid by the hour, they get paid by the mile. There are a couple types of truck driver employment options. You can be a company driver or there are also owner operator trucking jobs. Then there are even more options from there. With owner operator trucking jobs you can have a net-lease contract, where the company you're driving for pays for all of your gas and oil and licensing and everything else associated with driving a truck thousands of miles... and then they pay you about $0.60 per mile. The net-lease contract is particularly nice because you no longer have to worry about the truckers cost per mile calculation, because they're all paid by your employer.

How Many Hours Do Owner Operator Trucking Jobs require?

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The hours of a long distance truck driver are actually federally regulated. A truck driver can't work more than 18 hours in a day, 10 hours of which can be driving. If you figure on averaging 65 miles per hour, you would be driving 650 miles every day. But, that's if you were driving in your dreams. In the waking world, traffic exists.  Lots of it. Traffic is the bane of a truck driver's existence; so when you ask a trucker what their favorite state is, don't be surprised when they say Texas. It's big and its roads are empty.

What Else is There to Know about Owner Operator Trucking jobs? Is it really different from just being a long distance truck driver?

Doing either job requires a trucker to drink lots of coffee. A truck stop can go through 7 to 10 gallons of coffee in an 8 hour shift. If it's in the morning, it can be even more.

Does your salary need a lift? Find out with PayScale's Salary Calculator.

By Adam Phillabaum for PayScale Salary Stories

Related Links

• Adventurous Trucker Stories
• Podcast from a Long Distance Truck Driver
• Median Owner Operators' Salaries
• Job outlook and Job Description of a Truck Driver
• More about Owner Operator Trucking Jobs

Comments

[Jenni]

To Ron-And anyone else thinking about it

I also wanted to address your question. My husband drives OTR (over the road) for a company that mainly ships food. Of course he ships whatever they have available, but the majority is food. In any given economy, you know that people eat. So one thing you might consider if you decide on trucking is what the company hauls. If they haul furniture or electronics, well, you know that in a down economy that perhaps you might not have as much work. Also, we have noticed that my husband has "peak seasons" so we set our budget on an average or even a less than average. With our company, the health insurance is taken out of our checks before they are sent home. He is given a spending allowance. He gets a 401k. With trucking there are all these neat little programs at the truckstops where they fuel up, earn points and can buy things with those points. This comes in handy when I cant afford to give him spending money or if he just wants to buy me a birthday gift. There are some great perks come income tax time. Also the perks of being able to add your family members to a rider program makes vacations cheaper. He will pick me up, and then instead of taking his hometime at home, we take it at whatever place we have planned and use the truck as the "motel". Doing this we have been to D.C., New York, Las Vegas, Las Angelos, Hollywood, to my folks, to his folks, and to just some random places. These are things we could have NEVER been able to afford before. Trucking can be a very rewarding career choice. It can also be hard on the family so I would also recommend looking into the internet provided at the truckstops, skype, a webcam, and a laptop. Also getting a cell phone with unlimited minutes or a friends and family type plan. Ron, I hope whatever you decide that you find success.

Jenni

[Diana]

This comment is for Ron: I don't know where you live but my husband is a truck driver and he used to be long haul but when I met him 20 years ago I knew that driving for an Owner Operator was not really the way to go. I had a job that had benefits and a 401K and Insurance but with an O/O all my husband had was expensive health insurance that he paid half and the owner paid the other half. I told my husband that he needed to find a different kind of driving job so my husband was very lucky and got on at ConWay he was home every night and had the weekends off they had great benefits and pay scale there was one year that my husband made 65,000.00 and once again was home every day because he ran at night. My husband worked for ConWay for 8 years and he now works for UPS Freight and now makes even better money. My suggestion to you is to find a company and believe me it was hard for my husband at first to drive a one stack Mac with a window in the back (those were his words) but now that he looks back at it all truck driving has been very good to us. Ther are other companies out there that pay as well as ConWay but you have to have a good driving record to get on to those kind of companies.

[Ron]

I've been hit hard by the recession. My company made parts for GM
and now im down to a couple hundred a week. I have heard many good and bad things bout driving. Will someone give me the real lowdown on driving? I want to find a career and the only thing i really know about driving is from the movie FIST--lol Thanks to anyone for the advice!!!

[Ryan]

I got my CDL class A 6 years ago and I was stupid and left it because I listened to the wrong people.
I been driving a school bus for 6 years and I need more money and less stress. It's depressing to think that kids get worse and my pay has not increased in 2 years. I have to go thru Truck Driver school again and get my 160 hours to comply with Fed. Regs. It sucks but I will get a 16K dollar pay raise starting out.

[Tim H]

I have been driving on and off for 3 years. Car carrier,container,reefer,and dry van. Clean driving record. I want to know how to make the big bucks. I see these beutiful rigs rolling down the road and know someone is making the money. I would consider buying my own rig but I am not educated enough to go that route. I love to drive and am dependable so I would like to be rewarded for that. Any Ideas??

[altec bucket trucks]

truck drivers do make some pretty good money. But they have to make good money or else most of them wouldnt be doing it. I wouldnt want to spend so much time away from my family.

[doitherselfer]

Check it out you might learn something.

[Mario]

Does anyone have any info on Long Distance Moving Truck drivers as far as salary is concerned? I heard its something like 60% of the load but i don't know if that's for owner operators or just employee drivers. How much do they make a year? Any help is appreciated.

[Truck Driving Jobs]

Man, the hourly rates sure don't go up as much as they should with more years of experience.
-Jack

[vernon peters]

hi!
i got my cdl class a license with x,t, endorsements in november
1998. i'm looking for a truck driveing job. i live in maine, and
keep hearing that they have a freeze on maine because they don't
have the freight to get me home. if anybody is reading this and need a driver, please let me know. sincerly,
greenhorninmaine

[charles cole]

Want to know of owner operator jobs in alaska and were to find out about contract jobs posting also interested in hauling from alaska to lower 48 have truck and trailer just looking for jobs.

[Trucking Jobs]

Very encouraging blog and good to know there is still hope for those who have been hurt by this economy.

[Jan]

Agree, absolutely agree.

If a woman cannot have the right as a mother, to look after her own children without welfare, then what is this world coming to? Will the troops be pulled because the Government can no longer support the funds? think about it, and get back to me.

[Team Drivers]

Team Driving Millionaires has been released and is getting great reviews! Team Driving Millionaires is a guide showing couples how to get into the trucking industry and become financialy independent in a rapid amount of time.This is an exellent team truck driver job guide that will change lives!

[joseph f carrington]

i want to drive, driving for 3 years

[jason tidwell]

i want to be a truck driver for a long time

[Bald Eagle]

I like to know where this author got his information about the driving and working hours from. Looks like someone yet again talking about information they have no idea about. If you read the Federal Regulations about hours of service you would find out that the LEGAL working hours are as follows:

2003 Rule
Property-Carrying CMV Drivers
Compliance Through 09/30/05 2005 Rule
Property-Carrying CMV Drivers
Compliance On & After 10/01/05
May drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty. NO CHANGE
May not drive beyond the 14th hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty. NO CHANGE
May not drive after 60/70 hours on duty in 7/8 consecutive days.
A driver may restart a 7/8 consecutive day period after taking 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.
NO CHANGE
Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) drivers using a sleeper berth must take 10 hours off duty, but may split sleeper-berth time into two periods provided neither is less than 2 hours. CMV drivers using the sleeper berth provision must take at least 8 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth, plus 2 consecutive hours either in the sleeper berth, off duty, or any combination of the two.
Passenger-carrying carriers/drivers are not subject to the new hours-of-service rules. These operations must continue to comply with the hours-of-service limitations specified in 49 CFR 395.5.
This is for over the road drivers.

For local drivers it is as follows:

New Short-Haul Provision
Drivers of property-carrying CMVs which do not require a Commercial Driver's License for operation and who operate within a 150 air-mile radius of their normal work reporting location:
May drive a maximum of 11 hours after coming on duty following 10 or more consecutive hours off duty.
Are not required to keep records-of-duty status (RODS).
May not drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty 5 days a week or after the 16th hour after coming on duty 2 days a week.
Employer must:
Maintain and retain accurate time records for a period of 6 months showing the time the duty period began, ended, and total hours on duty each day in place of RODS.

Drivers who use the above-described short-haul provision are not eligible to use 100 air-mile provision 395.1(e) or the current 16-hour exception in 395.1(o).

Department of Transportation, http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos/hos-2005.htm.

I would advise the writer of theis article to do ALL of his research prior to writing an article that is as mis leading as this one is. There is NO WHERE in the regulations where a driver can work 18 hours a day. And the drive time is limited to 11 hours a day!

[HiringTruckDrivers.com]

Truck driving jobs listed with US trucking companies. Company drivers and owner operators can review carrier profiles for trucking employment opportunities.

[mustafa]

Another good resource for trucking jobs and truck driving jobs is
http://www.truckdrivingjobsin.com

[Curt Morehouse]

Another good resource for trucking jobs and owner operator jobs is http://www.truckdrivingcdljobs.com

[jose]

i want to be a truck driver

[RedBeard]

I have a middle-of-the-pack job as an over-the-road driver. I've been doing this for about 3 years. I spend about 3 weeks on the road, 3 days at home. Last year I made about $52,000 - or about $1000/week. I drove about 2500 miles a week for that, though. And I do have to live in the truck for those 3 weeks on the road.

Anyone in the United States can easily get into a truck driving job. The problem is that probably about 75% of those who go through the process of getting a CDL (Commercial Driver License) and hire on with an OTR (Over-The-Road) company leave the industry within 6 months. They just can't handle the lifestyle of the road. I happen to thrive in it.

You do have to pay your dues to end up making good money in trucking. The average driver gets his start by signing a one-year contract with an OTR company. The company, in turn, pays for the driver's CDL schooling and sends him out for 4-6 weeks of training on the road. That makes for up to two and a half months away from home - about the same as basic training in the military. After that, the driver is assigned a truck and dispatched on his first load - at about $0.25-$0.30 per mile. During the course of the first year, he gets raises to put him in the $0.35-$0.38 per mile range, then it goes up from there.

The top paid company drivers get around $0.50-$0.60 per mile. Those top paid drivers are typically pulling flatbed or tanker trailers, which is more specialized than your standard "dry van" trailer (commonly called a "box" or "cabinet"). Flatbed pullers have to have a lot of knowledge about, and do a lot of work with, load securement. Tanker pullers spend a lot of time loading and unloading, and have to be a lot more careful turning and stopping so their load doesn't slosh around and tip their rig over or push them into something.

And yes, my favorite state to drive in is Texas. Outside of the larger cities, I load up on the coffee, put the hammer down, turn up the stereo, and rack up some miles on the money-meter, er, odometer.

[shiyas yousef]

i want a driver job . my licence is indian

[Troy Dudenhoefer]

The great thing about trucking jobs is that there are a lot of them! There are thousands of trucking companies and millions of trucking jobs in this country. The trucking industry isn’t going anywhere and unless they build railroad tracks in the place of every highway in the country, truck driver jobs are here to stay. The fact is, there are great career truck driving opportunities and thousands of different trucking companies to choose from.

Like in any other industry, you will find that there are great trucking jobs and bad trucking jobs. For example, in the restaurant industry you could work in fast food or a five star restaurant. The trucking industry is no different. The majority of truck driver jobs fall into the $30,000-$45,000 salary range. Most of these truck drivers will be gone for 2-3 weeks with this type of trucking job. I consider this to be the fast food type job of all the truck driver jobs available.

The best truck driver jobs will pay over $60,000 dollars a year and truck drivers can make as much as $100,000 or more with a great trucking job. Then add the fact that a lot of these top paying trucking companies enable truck drivers to be home everyday and you have a five star trucking job.

If you happen to be in the market for a career change, give trucking some serious thought and consideration. Most trucking companies offer excellent benefits and like any other job market there are different levels of jobs available. The truth is that you can make a lot of money being a truck driver and it doesn’t have to be a lifestyle.

You can make more money that most college graduates and enjoy all the freedom these trucking jobs have to offer. There are trucking jobs available and truck drivers don’t have to live in a truck or be away from home with a five star truck driver job! That is the great thing about a top paid truck driver job. Good luck!
http://www.richtruckdriver.com

[Angel]

I think the salaries of the truck drivers are based on their type of jobs.
I know a website which will provide good services and recruiting people who know to drive. The people working at this site are really different from all other recruiting sites. I am very much sure about this. If you want to get Services division which provides transportation and logistics services to customers "Trucking"

[Angel]

It is good to here that there are job opportunities for attending Heavy Equipment Operator schools verses learning on the job.

If somebody want to know about the job opportunities, Don’t worry that you are not getting a job. It is very easy to get a job, if you know perfectly how to ride a truck. Then your problem will be solved. I came across one such website which provides all the information about this. So, it is not at all difficult to find a job. How easy and fast it was to find a job at "Trucking"

[rob]

where is the best place to look for owner operator trucking jobs?

[AKSHAY VYAS]

I HAVE A COMMERCIAL DRIVING LICENCE SINCE JAN-2004. I WANT TO GET A JOB AS A TRUCK DRIVER THAT IS WHY I AM OFFERING MYSELF. I AM FROM INDIA. IF YOU TAKE INTEREST IN ME SO I AM EAGER TO GIVE MY JOB RESUME TO YOU. YOU COULD SEND ME A MAIL ON MENTIONED E-MAIL ADRESS.