There is nothing flattering or unflattering about a statistic. It's a number. The mean (average) salary is $110k.

But if you mean relative salary to other professions, truck drivers are way above. And they are way way above when adjusted for education level prerequisite. I don't know why you make it seem like these guys are making minimum wage? What other profession makes this kind of money without only a high school diploma and such good job security? Not a lot.

There may be some exceptions, but the rules linked are pretty clear so it's not that restart rule is utilized constantly, it would not make any sense. Also, at the end of the day, it's up to the driver how much they want to work. Most likely those doing maximum hours are doing it because they want to earn more money. And at that hourly, who would blame them.

But it's beside the point as you are not arguing that work hours should be limited (and they aren't either), they just want more money.

So question, how much should a high school equivalent job earn in your eyes? Obviously low 7 figures is not enough and the fact that they guys are earning more than teachers, nurses, etc... who have college level requirements as comparison confirms that.