Question:
I have several questions that I would like to ask those that are familiar with the trucking industry.

How much is pay per week really, before taxes? Will I really get the 40k a year advertised in my first year?
How many miles do you get per week?
How many days of the week are you actually on the road and how much standing around?
What companies should I go with for my first year of OTR experience?

Also, I saw an ad in a trucking magazine from DHE (www.godependable.com) and others as well that offered up to $3300 per week. Is this estimate possible and if so, what should I get experience with? Flatbed is what I am guessing.

Answer:
$3300 PER WEEK
Sign me up!!!
Just be forewarned.........the flamethrowers will be coming to tell you the absolute downside of trucking and why you shouldn't do it.

Answer:
No flamethrowing here.
#1. Is $40,000 possible? Depends. I have been driving for 9 years, 8 1/2 of them as a company driver. In those 8 1/2 years, I would say that 7 of them I grossed over $40,000 (but just barely). And that amount you get the first year is likely what you will gross your second year, your third year, etc. etc. etc.
#2. How many miles? Again, depends. If you are pulling a flatbed, there is more time involved with loading and unloading. When I was pulling flatbed ( 5 days a week) I was getting about 2000 miles, and couldn't seem to get above that. Granted, all 2000 miles were not paid.
#3. How many days of the week are you actually on the road and how much standing around? In flatbed? I would say you will be waiting to load and unload more, but again, that depends on what you are hauling on flatbed.
#4. What companies should I go with for my first year of OTR experience? Noone can answer that but you. It depends how much you want to be home, what you haul, where you want to go, what you want to make. But make that "companies" singular. Don't jump from company to company. Stay with one for a while, and build up experience. Chances are, the company down the street (that is claiming to be the greatest thing since sliced bread) will give you the same treatment and pay as what you get at the first place.
You will never get $3000 per week as a solo company driver. If they are claiming that, it is for teams. If they claim you can get $3000 per week working for them, ask them to put it in writing, and guarantee you that. I would sell my truck in a second for $3000 per week as a company driver, no matter what it involved hauling.

Answer:
I agree with revvassago. He pretty much spelled it out without sugarcoating anything.
As far as making $3300 a week, I'd venture to say that's for a lease program and that would most likely be gross $$ per week, not what you take home.

Answer:
Yeah, I was thinking about doing van but then I read some post's here and there and they open my eyes to flatbeds. It seems to me that I will need to go with flatbeds to do the oversized loads someday and van driving just wont cut it in the long haul for what I want to do. It seems to me that hauling freight is more lucrative also. Am I wrong in this assumption? I am going on what I see advertised by the companies on magazines such as OTR, RPM for truckers, Pro Trucker, Driving Force, and Big Rig Owner that I got at the local truck stop. It looks like if you have 2 years experience with flatbed then you can really make the big bucks.
There is this one ad in OTR volume 24, number 8, on page 92 it says that you can make 12,000 a month driving between Oklahoma and Texas which is right up my ally. They ask for 2 years exp. Anyway, I would like to know from some insiders if this money is possible driving bulldozers back and forth and is the work generally steady? And on flatbeds, who unloads the cargo?
I have a cdl with no otr experience yet. I would like to drive a flatbed truck someday. What is the best way to go about this. Any companies I should go to after a year of otr experience?
And about that 3300 a month, that is for solos. The teams get " 6,500 per week to the truck ". Whatever that means. It is for a run in California.
P.S. May I ask revvassago, why do you only make around $40,000 a year? Do you prefer hometime instead and work less or is this just typical for everyone? Reading that makes me think twice about all this advertising that I read.

Answer:

Sounds to me like you misread the information. Now that you mentioned what teams were getting, I'm inclined to think that what you thought was $$$'s is actually miles per week. Just thought I'd point that out.

Answer:

I do household goods, which is much more lucrative than freight.

Take those magazines with a grain of salt. The "articles" in them are paid for by the companies they are talking about. They are nothing more than ad magazines. They don't have to tell you what you will likely make, just what you "could" make, if they let you (which they probably won't).

Sure, if you buy a truck.

Almost always the receiver will. BUT, you have to deal with straps, tarps, etc., which is the hard part.

The "to the truck" term applies to owner/operators. You need to look at the wages for "drivers".

Average 100,000 paid miles per year @ $0.40 per mile, and you get $40,000 per year. Don't expect to get more than 100,000 paid miles for the year. Many on this message board don't even get that (90,000 to 95,000 PAID). Remember, just because you run 120,000 miles per year doesn't mean they pay you for all 120,000. Most carriers base their mileage on routing programs that don't actually account for all miles driven.
As a company driver, you can expect to get around $0.30 - $0.35 per mile starting out. After you have some experience, you will go a bit higher. If you gross $1000 per week, you are doing fantastic. I have only grossed $1000 per week as a company driver about 7 times in 9 years.
Want to make more than that? Buy a truck. But then you have the added headaches and costs involved like insurance, fuel, truck payments, insurance, maintainance, repairs, insurance, fuel, taxes, fuel, insurance, fuel, insurance..................
Did I mention insurance and fuel?
You can make a living doing this, but you will never become a millionaire.

Answer:
I appreciate all the info, it is serving me well.
If I go with a company then who pays for the fuel and toll fees and weight stations? I thought the company paid for all that but I read in some posts that the driver has to take advances out of his own paycheck to pay for that stuff. So I guess the driver pays for that even if he is a company driver? What am I missing? Doesn't sound right.

Answer:

As a company driver, you are only responsible for driving the truck, feeding yourself, and loading and unloading. Most companies pay for at least some tolls, and they pay the fuel, insurance, taxes on the truck. You are an employee of the company, whereas the owner operator is not (some would disagree with this, but for simplicity's sake, you aren't). The company you drive for takes taxes out of your paycheck, just as a job flipping burgers at Mc Donalds would.
As far as weigh stations go, you don't pay a fee for crossing a weigh station (unless they pull you in back and fine you for something). If they do, the company usually pays fines for truck related violations, and the driver pays for driver related violations (log book violations, seat belt, etc.)
Just out of curiosity, where did you get your CDL? It surprises me that you are asking these questions.
Remember, some of us here are company drivers and some are owner operators. Don't lump everyone into the same group.
I'll give you an example of the difference between a company driver and an owner operator.
As a company driver I was earning $0.35 per mile, averaging 2500 miles per week. My gross wages were $875.00. Out of that $875.00 came Federal and State taxes, Medicare, Soc. Security, everything you expect from a wage check (about 23% of the check)
My expenses were about $80.00 per week in food.
SO, after taxes and road expenses, I netted $593.75 per week.
As an owner operator, I gross about $7000 per week last month, averaging about 2000 miles per week. Out of that comes my expenses:
Fuel - $1100
Truck Payment - $639.50
Insurance - $200
Labor - $1250
Maintainance - $150
Accountant - $50
Food - $80
Self Employment Tax - $953.24
So I took home $2577.26. Seems like a lot, huh? Don't forget, that the household goods market dries up between Mid-December and Mid-April. SO, I have to earn enough now to cover 16 weeks of low revenue.

Answer:

Think twice about EVERTHING you read and hear and that includes
here.
Answer:

That's useful information. I think that is where it goes so wrong for O/O that just start out. They see this big money, spend it like their kings(cars, their truck, home, toys) then when things get tight from a slow down they have to sell off everything cause then can't make payments.
Budget, budget, budget.......

Answer:
This is the kind of answers I've been looking for. Again I thank you for all the help you've provided me.
Another question that popped up, how much do you pay for tires and how regularly do you have to change them out ? every 60k miles? I am thinking long term of being an o/o.

Answer:

I suggest 'short' term. Get your feet 'wet' first you may not be
a 'swimmer'.
Answer:
Tex - Texarkana to Laredo is a long way. Which part do you hang your hat?
From an OTR company driver perspective, I believe for the 12 months from when one starts with training/orientation at his first company, a driver will not quite gross $30k as taxable wages. Year 3 can put him at $40k. Only with a lot of luck and hustle and skill will he have a chance to top $50k a year in his first decade.
A company driver will generally front the money for tolls and load weight scales. Turn in the receipts and the company will reimburse the driver. Some companies provide toll cards/electronic passes. Fuel is almost always put on the company fuel charge card.
I agree with the others. 12,000 a month is the top possibility for paid miles, not dollars. Talk about average miles per week is good for conversation, but in a given week, 1800 to 3400 miles is in the range. (Dedicated routes aside.)
If it was good money easy, we wouldn't need you. All the available slots would be filled...

Answer:
The last set of tires I purchased were approx $250 ea. This was a Yoko 22.5". The Goodyear was $350. 24.5" rubber will be a bit more.
Call your local tire shop and get some basic prices.
Used rims were $50 ea (blasted/painted).