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Company Drivers Most truckers start off as company drivers. Actually, most truckers remain company drivers. Most truckers will tell you not to become an owner operator until after a few years experience. Company drivers don't pay for tolls, scale tickets (the charge to weigh your load at the truck stops), maintenance, lumpers. Some companies however will required that you pay some or all of these things up front and you get reimbursed at the end of the pay cycle. Some companies give you expense money when you leave the terminal to handle expenses. Some expenses like lumper fees are paid as needed with what's called a t-check or com-check. For the most part the largest responsibilities are delivering and picking up the freight on time, interacting professionally with the customers in the process and driving like a professional driver. Oh, and making sure that your weight distribution is legal. Oh, and keep up with the condition of your vehicle. No not fixing it, doing pre-trips and paying attention to the condition of it so you can get it to a shop if need be. The object is to always drive road ready safe vehicle. Company drivers of good companies can make a nice living with less amounts of stress (I mean compared to an Owner Op). To work with a good company you will need a good driving record and DAC report. If a company driver is responsible and does the job right he or she will do well. Note: Do not blow off appointment times or schedules. People need to be able to depend on their schedules. Sometime operations in the company are planned based on appointment times of freight delivery or pick-up. If they used what called JIT (stands for just-in-time) warehousing your delivery could shut down an entire shift or possibly a plant depending on how long you goof off. Don't goof off
What Do Company Drivers MakeHourly Paid Company DriversSome truck drivers get paid hourly. Many of the hourly paid company truck drivers drive either locally or regionally. There is a pretty large gap in the rage of their pay within the same job descriptions especially when comparing some of the union jobs to non union truck driving jobs. The range can be all the way from $7 or $8 dollars up to $16 dollars for straight trucks depending on the company.If you drive a tractor trailer hourly it can be from around $10 to $26 dollars. For a more detailed look at wages and even more information check out the Dept. of labor report of earning for hourly truck driving jobs. Over the Road Company DriversThere is no quick on answer the question, "how much does a company driver make?" Especially not over the road company drivers. Many other questions must be asked to get a close to accurate figure.A new company driver pulling a regular dry van hauling regular freight over the road can expect to get around $25,000 to $34,000. An experienced driver pulling regular dry van hauling regular freight over the road can expect to get around $35,000 to $55,000 An experienced driver pulling regular dry van hauling regular freight with an excellent driving record (which mean he or she could go to more selective companies can get $45,000 to $70,000. If you specialize for instance heavy hauling, low boys, household, cattle, hazardous materials, even refrigerated you can expect to get paid more. For top pay in your qualification range you must search they won't come to you! To get the most accurate figures though you can simply pick up your local newspaper and look at what is being advertised in your area. Like I said there is a lot of variations. Smaller companies pay different amounts to drivers in different areas of the country. Of course it changes again if your driving regional, over the road, cross country, or intra-state. All said and done a company drivers can make as much or more than an owner operator driving the same equipment and hauling the same type of freight, with the right company, if he or she keeps a clean driving record. Find a good company and get some experience.
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