What's Good Hourly Pay?
Posted by ----Richard----@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 75 comments
I've never been paid hourly for driving before but have an offer driving a tri-axle dump for $22 an hour. Should I ask for more money or is this pretty good pay?
craneguy_86@reddit
It should be $25+/hr. + It is 2025 and that’s on the “low end”……
Technical-Wasabi9118@reddit
I don’t roll foot under $40
Agreeable-Cat8077@reddit
i made 25 driving a class B bottle truck, now 28 driving a box truck or occasional semi less than 25 miles a week and hanging out in the truck the rest of the time. This is a good gig, and in oklahoma 28 an hour is a lot but even then i want more
Fit_Hospital2423@reddit
There is no way to answer that question without knowing where you live. Pay rate vary tremendously across the country according to the area.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
That's fair. I live in Texas, near Houston.
Emergency_Ad1152@reddit
Yeah Houston local pay is ass all across the board.
jmzstl@reddit
Houston is weird because $22/hr isn’t really enough, but there’s also a LOT of jobs offering pay in that range.
Make sure you find out if they pay OT for working over 40 hours.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
Already on that. Yes, OT pay & plenty of it to go around. They showed me that the previous week, no drivers worked less than 55 hours & most worked over 60.
jmzstl@reddit
Transparency like that is nice to see. If you run the numbers and it works out to a comfortable amount, keeping in mind there will be slow weeks too, then it’s really up to you to decide if it’s enough.
Lots of people on here, including myself, would never even consider taking a job that pays that little, but we aren’t walking in your shoes.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
Yeah. Last hourly job I had was $26 which was not trucking. I just feel like I'm in a weird space here because I've got lots of experience driving & plenty of safe miles but zero experience with the particular equipment.
Gonzotrucker1@reddit
No less than $30.
lleu81@reddit
Depending on the area, 35.
Gonzotrucker1@reddit
Yeah but $30 to start with no experience.
Rat_King1972@reddit
Depends on the area. At my company class A drivers start at 25, class B at 22. That’s still better than the 16-18 bus drivers and dump drivers get in my area.
AlgaeNo9582@reddit
Where is work they're paying non cdl yard truck drivers 29.10/hr
Rat_King1972@reddit
Yeah I’m in an LCOL. $27/hr 55 hours a week and the median household income in my city is like $25m
Living-Ad5291@reddit
Also does this company pay prevailing wage?
andycap123@reddit
That’s shit pay. 30 with great benefits or 35 with shit benefits should be baseline
RyuKirito@reddit
If I got paid $22/hr id go back to being a mover at least id get $23/hr 🤣
gamergabe85@reddit
I'm with Southeastern Frieghtlines and I started at $32 then .84 cpm when we do long runs. They're an LTL company so you need all your endorsements except passenger. On a full weeks pay with insurance being taken out i sit around $1,450 week.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
What's your home time like? Right now, I'm home daily.
gamergabe85@reddit
I'm home every night. But the hours are long.
WokeLib420@reddit
$25. I just left a trucking job to make $35 as an electrician. That industry is in shambles.
Cyfyclops3@reddit
I would personally not work for less than $35
ar0but@reddit
Straight pay or OT after 40? 22 seems a tad low, but for where im at you could survive on it
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
OT after 40. My current job runs me ragged & I don't get paid hourly, so when I do the math, even if I made only $22 an hour & worked my current hours, I'd be making a lot more money. The hardest thing to let go of here is a guaranteed $1300/ week minimum, so if there's a hurricane or low workload, I don't lose money. Today, for instance, is a rare day. I started at 3am, picked up a load to bring in. I'm about to drop & hook my next load, which delivers 2 miles from where I park the truck and I'm done.
Again, this is a rare occurrence but at least I don't have to sweat about not working enough and can enjoy my weekend. I'm usually running 14-15 hours, though. Some days even run out of time with those 15 hours & need to PC home.
ar0but@reddit
Is it pretty steady work? End Dump is my favorite kind of work, but up here it's so seasonal it's not even worth getting into unless they have other shit for you to do all winter. Being paid by the hour is super nice, but it's an extremely hard adjustment. I still find myself running like my ass is on fire when I would benefit from taking more time lol. I think if the opportunity to get the hours you want is there, I'd go for it. Assuming the benefits are equal or better than what you're offered now.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
Yeah, that would be a hard transition, lol. Right now, my mindset is that since I'm not hourly, the quicker I get the job done, the more I technically get paid, lol.
I'm going to ask for a bit more money but I've never operated a dump truck so I figure this is a good opportunity to get my foot in the door to open new possibilities.
It's much closer to home & also, my sibling works corporate for them so I've got a lot of inside info, which is nice.
Very steady work. They currently use contractors, mostly. They've only started focusing on growing their own deliveries recently, so they said if planned loads thin out with the season, they pull loads from outside to inside to keep us busy.
coronaaprilfool@reddit
I was just offered (not job searching) $35 to start and $40 after 30 days.
hotdog11inch@reddit
50 to 75
TruckinTuba@reddit
Im not considering anything under $30
CashWideCock@reddit
$25 an hour is average for dump truck drivers where I live.
RuneScape420Homie@reddit
“Good pay” and “bad pay” depends on your cost of living and needs.
If you live in bum fuck no where Louisiana and make 25/HR @ 50/hr a week, you’re a king.
25/HR in Los Angeles ? Ain’t no way Jose.
RealSharpNinja@reddit
Good work and bad work also factor in. Does the company have a good reputation?
Outlaw11091@reddit
I live in BFE Missouri and that's what I make operating a forklift.
...so...I wouldn't be driving a dump truck for that, no.
Dump trucks here make $25...but I still won't do it because that involves some labor and +$3 an hour doesn't justify it for me.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
I'm coming from flatbed, so no stranger to labor but honestly, it seems like less physical labor than I do now. They don't even load their own trucks & only have to hose down the bed between loads if it's 2 different grades of material.
Outlaw11091@reddit
Oh, I'm no stranger to labor, either. I worked at Pepsi delivering soda to all manner of Hellholes...
I value my labor at a much higher price than my driving. Pepsi was paying me $30/hr, so I'd have done as much labor as they needed...
For $22/hour I can drive a forklift with 0 labor or I can drive a dump truck with some labor.......those two things aren't even equal if you remove the labor altogether, it takes a lot more skill to safely operate a dump truck.
gigantic_team257@reddit
I drive a non-cdl reefer box truck and I get paid $24 an hour. I wouldn't take any less than $30-32 an hour
Obamastepson@reddit
Megas rates for first year are horrible. Take what you can get. Stick the hazing year that fends off the weak and reap the benefits of having experience. I’m doing flatbed. Prob worked 50-60hrs and only got 900$ from it..
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
I've been driving flatbed for 8 years. Not new to trucking but new to dump trucks, so I'm in like a weird entry level but not entry level situation, lol.
Obamastepson@reddit
What made you leave flatbed? Also damn 8yrs experience for a dock in pay down to 22… oof
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
Joint problems run in my family, so I know I can't crank down those straps forever & this job opportunity kinda fell into my lap. The thing is that I've never been paid hourly for driving & right now I'm making $77k a year but working crazy hours.
They have us on Texas time, so we get an extra hour on our duty & drive clocks. I'm working 13-15 hours a day with only 8 hours reset required between shifts. Some days I get home with 6 hours before I gotta wake up to do it again. The "perks" of "home daily" lol.
Obamastepson@reddit
Jeez! Yeah i would want to simplify to, sounds like a safe bet for home/health value. Good luck!
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
Thanks!
BeenThruIt@reddit
$22 an hour was fair in 16' for someone with no experience.
GroundbreakingSir386@reddit
Depends on demand if drivers and job opportunity. Oregon pays great and needs drivers but in Florida they don't need drivers because there's less demand which = less pay.
fusillijhericurl@reddit
Theres different factors to consider. There's more than just the dollar per hour rate. How much are the benefits? Do you get paid holidays? Is there an hourly guarantee? Do you get overtime after 40? Is the place close to home? Do they have steady work? Do they have good equipment? 30 or 32 an hour is cool and all but if the place sucks and the work is hit or miss its not worth it.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
All good points. I currently pay $150 a month to park my truck near home because my current employer is 100 mi. away. This place is 20 miles from home. Decent benefits, not great PTO program but smaller, growing company & plenty of work. Also, my sibling is head of HR. With that inside eye, I know that the driver's YTD earnings ranged from $80k-100k last year with 1.5 to 10+ years with the company.
saywhat181@reddit
I haul fuel in a small 3000 gallon tanker (straight truck/tank wagon/whatever you wanna call it lol) I make $23 an hour + commission. If I tally my commissions in with my monthly pay I make anywhere between $28-$32 an hour.
montana77@reddit
How does the commission work?
saywhat181@reddit
Half a cent per gallon pumped, and 20% of service fees. $75 service fee for any delivery under 250 gallons, and I have two customers I go to three times a week that get a $150 service fee. I fuel their yard dogs.
It all adds up pretty quick over the month. When I first started I was like "wtf only half a cent?!" Then I saw my first commission check, and was like "Well!! Ok then!" Lol
AostaV@reddit
Where do you live?
Mississippi? Do it.
California? You will be on food stamps
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
Texas, lol.
Wheres_Jay@reddit
That's too low for Texas.
tdfitz89@reddit
30hr
warwgn@reddit
Canada only domestic regional here. (Out for 5 days, home for 2). I make $27/hr doing mostly dry van, and the occasional reefer.
I’m actually happy with my pay. It’s the most I’ve ever made since entering the workforce after graduating high school 25 years ago.
hoarder59@reddit
I hope that is 27CAD.
Haliguy93@reddit
I mean, if it was 27usd it would be over 37cad
warwgn@reddit
Yes It is.
Eimar586@reddit
$30 or more. This is a skilled trade especially if you have experience. Drivers need to stop working for carriers that pay low.
kakarota@reddit
Depends were you are and your lifestyle. So no one can really give you a good answer. But i personally wouldn't take it unless its union and 1.5x after 8 hours or it pays at least 28 an hour W/ OT after 40.
Jerry_Dandridge@reddit
In in California and with OT I make about 120k plus. Hourly.
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
At $22 an hour?
Jerry_Dandridge@reddit
Not even close. Over $40 but I’ve been with my company for 32 years and I am topped out. Time and a half after 8 hours. I only work 9 a day and back home every day but some animals I work with out 11 a night
johnathan_1@reddit
Sheesh I’d expect to be around 40$ if I worked there for 32 years lol, I’m union small company. It’s all nice and all until the newer people have to pick up the slack for the veterans
Jerry_Dandridge@reddit
Well this is a Fortune 500 company. These fuckers have paid for my houses and have made me a millionaire many times over but I can’t touch that until I’m 59.5. Pension too
johnathan_1@reddit
No at 22/hr will only get you around 50-60k i think im just guessing lol. But as a driver you should be no less than 27 tbh, I prefer 30 but depends on experience. If you have more than 1 year of driving 30/hr is where you wanna be at, if you’re less than a year 27/hr . I’m at 33 or 34/hr rn
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
I understand, thanks. I've been driving just shy of a decade but never a dump truck.
Present-Ambition6309@reddit
I said one that covers your bills, leave some for saving, and have sum “walk’n around money, Gator needs sum new shoes!” Will Ferrell “Get Hard’ 🤣
We all live different lives what’s not enough for some is plenty for others. Hence the rates.
Natural_Elk541@reddit
Take your current average weekly pay, divide it by how many hours you work on average. That will get you your current hourly rate.
Mine comes out to about $31.50/hr, so personally I’d ask for more or would pass, but your situation might be different.
GiantEnemaCrab@reddit
Don't forget to calculate for overtime, which every self respecting company should pay.
Present-Ambition6309@reddit
Naw they ain’t self respecting they just afraid of going to the big house. So they cough it up.
Present-Ambition6309@reddit
Mine came to .18 cents. Dayum I’m easy n cheesey. 😂
----Richard----@reddit (OP)
This is great advice. I'll definitely get on it, thanks!
Mediocre_Ice_8846@reddit
It depends on where you live, endorsements, and what you haul.