Truckers know the good and the bad of over-the-road (OTR) trucking. The freedom of being out on your own, seeing the country. But with that type of driving come days, weeks and even longer away from home. Where you’re a 20-year-old and just starting out, there’s nothing cooler than OTR trucking. But as you mature, marry and have a family, priorities change.
That’s when some truckers turn to dedicated driving on dedicated routes. There is no substitute for walking through your own front door of your own home to a welcoming family that cares about you. When you do, you feel like a professional, not just a journeyman living from paycheck to paycheck.
What do we mean by dedicated routes? This is a topic of hot debate among drivers, so let us help try to explain.
But all revolve around two simple principles, consistent home time and consistent pay.
In our business, you are the face of the trucking company; you are building relationships with the company reps you meet on the other end of the route. You dress the part, walk the walk and talk the talk. You are the expert for transporting goods on that route.
If you’ve compared salaries on dedicated vs. OTR routes, you’ve probably wondered why they are all different, some higher and some lower than another. You might think if dedicated driving is such a great thing, shouldn’t it pay more? In most every case, it does. But, look at it from a practical standpoint. There are a lot fewer out-of-pocket costs if you driving a dedicated route. You are no longer eating and living on the road for weeks at a time. Many dedicated drivers pack a lunch and are cutting their costs substantially compared with OTR drivers. You will easily spend $150.00 week for meals, hot showers and the like. That’s nearly $8,000 a year. With dedicated routes, you’re not traveling out-of-pocket as much.
As drivers, we are so focused on the cents per mile. And if you are looking at an OTR position, you would be correct. But in real dedicated work, it is your take home pay. As an OTR driver, you may need to make $65,000.00 a year to make ends meet. But that is before ANY road expenses.
Then you call in to a dedicated recruiter and hear comparable or slightly higher wages are being offered. Before you say you need more, do you really? Let’s do the math.
So look closely at your real wages, real needs and real take home pay. We are willing to bet that even a modest increase in your w-2 makes all the sense in the world at the end of the day.
If you’d like to learn more about dedicated driving, check out CRST Dedicated Job Board. You’re bound to find a route that works for you and your family!