Regarding hotel, he's not paying for it. PAM is, and he is getting some small stipend for expenses, I think. Not sure how it works exactly, but I know he's not paying for the hotel. If he was, he'd be sleeping on the street because there's no way we could afford it right now. I haven't worked in two months due to a family crisis and THEN my 90 year old mother fell & broke her arm. So, we need him out driving SOON....and making some $$$$.

Y'all be safe.....Nina

good to hear from ya Nina...sorry to hear that Bob is havin' the problems he is. It will get better for him. Patience is necessary for survival out here.

__________________
Keep that diesel burnin' and those tires turnin', but get there safe to keep on earnin'!!

It's too bad that we all (myself included) can't remember our own short comings at the exact moment a fellow man or woman is having one of their own.

Hello, I worked for PAM for 2 years and was also a trainer. I had both good and bad experiences. I averaged my first year 3200 miles a week. I worked hard for it and always drove as much as I could each day, I took whatever run I got and stayed on good terms with my dispatcher. Yes, the layover pay sucks. And there are slow times of the year, but it balances out over the year. I made over 30,000 my first year. And after my second had a savings of about $30,000. I took that money and moved to Europe, Denmark that is.
I did know some people that didn't get many miles. There was always a reason. One person would only drive 8 hours a day, another person would only drive during the daytime, and some just complained about every run they got. Dispatchers can't really work with that and if they have a hot load, then who are the going to call. Every company will have complainers. Its trucking, get used to it. The grass is always greener on the other side syndrome.
Most of the dispatchers at PAM really care about the drivers. But if you complain alot and don't consider the dispatchers as people too, then don't expect to get good runs. Many other companies offer more money per a mile but don't give you the miles or they have complicated systems that make driving a headache. PAM is pretty smooth.
And best of all, the drivers liaison for PAM is like the companies mother. She has rank right below the president of the company and has been there since the company was formed, and she is always on the side of the driver if the driver is treated unfairly.
SIMPLE RULES FOR SUCCESS and Money.
1. Don't shop in truck stops.
2. Run your driving life like a business(Budget and Plan and Set Goals)
3. If you must complain then be mature and objective. Make sure that the actions you choose will bring about the desired effect.
P.S. Don't listen to crybabies. Its a waste of energy
4. Always keep your logs caught up.
5. Don't ever drive more than 5 over the limit.

If you read this far then you must have a lot of free time. I hope that you can get something out of it.
-KALIBUS

I made it home 2 days before Christmas. All the other PAM drivers that I keep in contact also made it home to their families for the holidays.

Hubby was home on the 22nd of Dec. and was home til the 28th with Roehl so PAM isn't special in home time in fact when hubby was with PAM they kept delaying getting him home.

Hopefully my breakdown problems are behind me. After threatening to quit, I was given a 2007 International 9400 with only 60,000 miles on it.

Kalibus....I read your long detailed advice for how to succeed with PAM. I only have one problem with all that you said. My husband was a dedicated driver. He was never nasty to the DM. He gave good ETA's to his DM. He always got his load on time and safely. He drove the hours he was legally able to and it was both day and night. He would eat only once a day and it was never in truck stops. I can't understand how you say DM's are good when we would arrive for a delivery in Detroit ahead of schedule on a Friday morning, inform the DM of this and still sat until Monday afternoon for a load. Same thing happened in North Brunswick, NJ. The miles were never there 1800 miles at .22 cpm adds up to a lousy paycheck. Also when we were in Vermont, we sat and sat waiting for a load. With PAM you better be willing to sit and wait because you sure will be doing that a lot.
BTW my husband is now with Roehl Transport. He started April 22, 2006 with them. We just got his W-2 and he made a little over $32,000.00. That's for 8 months of driving. So $30,000.00 for a whole year isn't impressing me any.

How's it going Nina? Things working out for you and your husband?

I'm new to this trucking thing... so new I'm not in school YET and preparing to begin shortly. I've given my notice at my employment. I haven't lost my job, as they're holding my position until I am certain of what my future holds, so I'm just taken off the schedule "until further notice". Nice of them I thought My husband and I are both planning to get our CDLs and team drive cross country. Originally, we were going to go to Tennessee and begin Swift training on Apr. 11th until I ran across page after page of reviews stating it was a huge rip-off, bad trainers, no paychecks etc... Same sort of reviews with Schneider. On this same site, I tried relentlessly to find something bad about P.A.M. and Transport America and couldn't find a bad post on them. In a panic, I contacted Transport America by email and telephone but didnt receive a return contact. I dont believe they train anyway but wanted to check it out. Next day, I contacted P.A.M. and immediately was able to speak with someone about team training. We are to begin on Apr. 16th as of now. Good move?

This is an INSULT to a ( man whos HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD )
Pam Trans is a JOKE!