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Comment by s0rce | Hacker News Reader

Depending on what and how far a trucker hauls, the national median salaries range from as little as $40,000 to more than $264,000,

I checked the source for that and it seems in all areas the $264k is from "Big Ass Freight and its just one number. Thats not a median salary. Actually presenting the median salaries for different distances traveled would be way more useful...

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I worked for a startup that sourced truckers for a while. Yeah that $264k number is completely unrealistic. It’s like saying that custodians can make $200k a year because there is some insane hazardous materials custodian job at a lab in the arctic.

They also probably got it by taking something like peak monthly earning for an ice road driver and extrapolating without accounting for seasonality and expenses (or only partially accounting for them).

BART cleaning arguably involves insanely hazardous materials- https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/bart-janitor-made-270k...

Police officers in Oakland make $650k. It is absolutely insane.

ONE police officer collected close to $600k total, if you include massive overtime and non-cash benefits including pension contributions and health and other benefits. The truth is that almost everyone else made much less. https://www.kqed.org/news/11873608/dozens-of-oakland-police-... for the details.

Oakland also suffers from a massive supply shortage and working there carries a high risk premium, so it’s not surprising that they have to offer higher salaries to experienced law enforcement officers. Basic law of economics still holds.

Bureau of Labor Statistics reports[1] the national median pay was $47,130 in 2020 for the profession.

[1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/h...

Specialty, hazmat, oversized loads are the higher-paying jobs. Drivers need more training, experience, and licensing, that is why they command higher pay.

Yeah, the pay for truckers qualified to move spent nuclear reactors for Uncle Sam is a bit higher than those qualified to move plastic crap for Sam Walton.

Walmart requires their drivers to have a hazardous materials endorsement.

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