The best way to answer this would be to start with the gross income, or before tax figure. Net income depends on many personal factors that have little, if anything, to do with the job. So, we’ll deal only with gross income here.

Typically, a driver will run somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 miles per month, and since most long-haul drivers are paid by the mile; we just need to do a little math. The actual rates vary, according to a number of factors such as experience, where you live, and the type of operation, or the company you work for.

Starting pay might be as low as 25˘ per mile, and in some areas of the country, this is a fair starting wage. At that rate of pay, a driver doing 10,000 miles a month, or 2500 miles a week, will earn $2500.00 per month. At 30˘ per mile, the monthly rate would be $3000.00, at 35˘ per mile, it would be $3500.00, and so on.

A driver with several years experience, working in a area that has higher rates of pay, such as southern Ontario or the lower mainland around Vancouver could be paid as high as 45˘ or even 50˘ per mile. At 45 ˘ over 12,000 miles, a driver would earn $5400.00 per month, or $64,800.00 per year.

If the driver is paid extra for loading, unloading, waiting, or clearing customs, those extras will need to be added to the total.

When all is said and done, an experienced driver, working a normal amount of mileage, could be earning somewhere in $45,000.00 to $55,000.00 range. But again, this figure is highly dependent on a number of other factors.

Jim Park