Is $69,000 a year enough for driving a truck?

[Freightmaster1]

Is $69,000 a year enough for driving a truck?

“If this legislation were to pass, the big carriers would be able to pressure shippers and receivers to load their drivers who are on the clock sitting at the loading dock,” Lewie Pugh, OOIDA executive vice president, said.

www.freightwaves.com

 

[Toliet Paper]

The good ole ATA screwing drivers for for 20+ years

 

[XCCX]

The good ole ATA screwing drivers for for 20+ years

Yes, ATA is not a representative of drivers.

 

[BIG R GUY]

Is $69,000 a year enough for driving a truck?

“If this legislation were to pass, the big carriers would be able to pressure shippers and receivers to load their drivers who are on the clock sitting at the loading dock,” Lewie Pugh, OOIDA executive vice president, said.

www.freightwaves.com

The good ole ATA screwing drivers for for 20+ years

Yeah. So the American truck drivers best friend,(yeah right),the ATA wants to know if a driver can live on $69,000 a year? And they say that is what the average truckload driver made in 2021. What about all those carriers that say they pay $80-90,000? Ask all the people who work in those cushy jobs at the ATA in Virginia if they can live on $69,000. The head guy makes over $1.8 million working 29 hours a week. Why isn’t he working 60-70 like truck drivers?

 

[LTLAnonymous]

$69k to be away from family and friends for days on end? Where do I sign up?

 

[Freightmaster1]

Yeah. So the American truck drivers best friend,(yeah right),the ATA wants to know if a driver can live on $69,000 a year? And they say that is what the average truckload driver made in 2021. What about all those carriers that say they pay $80-90,000? Ask all the people who work in those cushy jobs at the ATA in Virginia if they can live on $69,000. The head guy makes over $1.8 million working 29 hours a week. Why isn’t he working 60-70 like truck drivers?

Yeah! But you got to understand those cigars are expensive in DC!

 

[BIG R GUY]

$69k to be away from family and friends for days on end? Where do I sign up?

You are there, Ted. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.

 

[LTLAnonymous]

You are there, Ted. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.

Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.

 

[LS2Silver]

If yall read the article and go to the comments, 1984Sideways actually responded. He kept it to one single quite lengthy post.

 

[Toliet Paper]

Yeah! But you got to understand those cigars are expensive in DC!

Ask Bill Clinton

 

[ABF381]

If yall read the article and go to the comments, 1984Sideways actually responded. He kept it to one single quite lengthy post.

It's alive!

 

[ED FORCE ONE]

If yall read the article and go to the comments, 1984Sideways actually responded. He kept it to one single quite lengthy post.

Ya see FFE is a clue , and post longer than Santa Claus beard

 

[LTLAnonymous]

He's on a forum for the deaf as well. Some people from TTR tracked him down a while back. He's the best.

 

[White]

The ATA remInds me of anoTher groUp representIng y’alL, Yet not doing much.

 

[Panhandler92]

Yeah. So the American truck drivers best friend,(yeah right),the ATA wants to know if a driver can live on $69,000 a year? And they say that is what the average truckload driver made in 2021. What about all those carriers that say they pay $80-90,000? Ask all the people who work in those cushy jobs at the ATA in Virginia if they can live on $69,000. The head guy makes over $1.8 million working 29 hours a week. Why isn’t he working 60-70 like truck drivers?

Can I also do 0 hours per week and make $382,188?

 

[Freightmaster1]

I checked with an veteran industry watcher on this article and here's his comments...




The US Bureau of Labor Statistics put the mean (average) annual wage for heavy truck or tractor-trailer drivers at $50,340 in 2021. The median (half make more, half make less) was $48,310. Only the top 25% make more than $59,000 a year. Now, those drivers may be employed by the larger carriers that have raised wages several times in the past couple of years (and in 2018). Still, those wage numbers aren’t as high as the ones we hear from industry sources, which I believe cover a narrower band of truck drivers and trucking companies than the BLS surveys.


In 2019, the mean tractor-trailer driver wage reported by BLS was $46,850. That gives us a 7.5% jump in the average heavy truck driver wage in two years. The average US wage that year was $53,490, so that figure jumped 8.9% in the same period.


The average US wage in 2021 was $58,260. There’s a 13.6% gap between the $50,340 mean truck driver wage and the average US wage. I think in the first years of the 2000s the gap was only 1% to 3%, but it expanded quickly as US wages on average began rising. Interestingly, the average wage for courier and express delivery drivers last year was $62,720. So I’m skeptical when I hear that truckload drivers on average are making as much as $69,000 a year. Maybe at larger truckload carriers with high volumes and hundreds or even thousands of trucks.


Even if you narrow the BLS data to Truck Transportation drivers (local and long-distance TL, LTL, HHG, specialized), the 2021 average is still only $52,240. (You can check the BLS data I’ve cited here: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533032.htm).


So it seems in trucking there are pay leaders and pay laggards. But these annual wages, at least in the case of truckload drivers, are based on per mile pay, not fixed salaries. And the miles can be more important than the per mile rate. Raise per mile pay 10% and then see miles drop 10% and truck drivers aren’t going to see that wage increase. I hear that some truckload carriers are moving toward an annual salary, or hourly pay, at least for some regional drivers. How do you think that would affect driver compensation and retention?

 

[Jaloc]

Let's be honest this is nobody's first career choice. Most of us will not let our children become truck drivers.

 

[Double Nickle]

Yeah. So the American truck drivers best friend,(yeah right),the ATA wants to know if a driver can live on $69,000 a year? And they say that is what the average truckload driver made in 2021. What about all those carriers that say they pay $80-90,000? Ask all the people who work in those cushy jobs at the ATA in Virginia if they can live on $69,000. The head guy makes over $1.8 million working 29 hours a week. Why isn’t he working 60-70 like truck drivers?

Anyone making over the $69,000 mark was left out of this fake survey.

 

[Jaloc]

Anyone making over the $69,000 mark was left out of this fake survey.

That's for sure top LTL drivers make double. I'm at $96,000 with 7 weeks left in the year.

 

[seabreeze]

If a man can't get by on 69k per year, you may want to come home more often and see who's eating your groceries.