Carolyn Daniel started waiting tables at the Big Country Truck Stop on I-35 in Oklahoma when she was 27. Now, 23 years later, the Heiburger, Ala., resident commutes to a Petro Stopping Center near Bessemer every Thursday, Friday and Saturday to work in the Iron Skillet. “Truckers are good tippers,” Daniel says. “Working people and middle class people are the best. Rich people don’t tip good at all. The best tipper is the customer you pay the most attention to.” Paying attention to her trucker customers keeps her busy and on her feet because they like to talk. “They often come in discouraged or unhappy,” she says. “They tell me I brighten their day.”
Some call trucking a lonely profession, with miles of open road and no one to talk to but voices on Channel 19. Still, as isolated as the job seems, owner-operators routinely interact with dozens of people.
While many drivers may never meet the white collars who own large trucking companies or write the federal rules of the road, they do come in contact with various professionals whose compensation, skill sets and working conditions are sometimes comparable to those of truckers.
The average owner-operator makes just more than $40,000 a year, according to the 2004 Overdrive Owner-Operator Market Behavior Report. Company drivers aren’t too far behind, averaging $39,000, according to the National Survey of Driver Wages. By contrast, lumpers and truck stop waitresses earn much less, while a new truck dealer or the chief executive officer of a large carrier likely has a six-figure income.
Many non-trucking jobs in the industry offer better working conditions, lots of home time and – because the employees are not independent contractors – better benefits. Still, each has its own drawbacks that an owner-operator doesn’t have to put up with. And none can match the business independence and the pleasure of seeing the country that are the unique perks of the owner-operator.
DISPATCHER
SALARY: $25,000-$75,000.*
BENEFITS: Health insurance, vacation and retirement benefits.
HOURS: 40 to 50 hours a week, possible shift work.
THE WORK: Often stressful. Requires diplomacy and multi-tasking to deal with many different people and problems.
JOB DEMAND: High.
A dispatcher is the carrier employee truckers interact with the most. As such, that person can have a bigger influence than pay or benefits on retaining drivers and owner-operators.
