1st year driver pay

Different companies have a wide range of pay. People from swift stated their pay above. Is swift on the lower end of the scale for starting pay for new drivers? I made 50k my 1st year with prime and theyve also raised their pay since then i dont think 50-55k is out of the question with them. Though they make you drive a truck with a smaller sleeper and drive slow to do it. There are other companies that pay new drivers good as well so do your homework in picking a company if you dont it can cost you alota money. I thought i read in the forum that hogan was paying 42cpm which should put them into the 50's as well.

 

33cpm is swifts starting pay then you get 5 raises in the first year.

 

Oh cool seems like swift has increased their pay. Btw rookies at prime start at 42cpm and can expect to make another 2-3cpm in fuel bonus so 44-45cpm.

 

but the trucks are smaller, and the people i talked to there were not at all kind

 

I said the sleepers were smaller. Small sleeper vs small paycheck. Gotta make youre own decisions on that. Do whats right for you.

 

Comfort is very important to me, as I am out all but 3 days a month or so.

A few cents more per mile does not make up for being miserable inside the truck.

 

Im not miserable in the truck, but if that would make you miserable then there you have it, it seems you made the right decision. Be clear though saying its only a few cents per mile to a prospective driver can be misleading, the guy may think were only talking about a couple of bucks a week. In his post milkman states that he started with swift in 2011 and made $37,453, i started with prime that same year and made $50,000, and both swift and prime have raised their starting pay since. Were not talking about a couple of bucks were talking about $12,500 a year. It would make me miserable to be without that money. I want to get paid what i feel my time out here away from home is worth. That said if you find that the smaller sleeper would make you uncomfortable then forget about prime. I was replying to a prospective driver who was asking about what to expect for take home pay, ive only commented here to try to help the guy please lets not turn this into a pissing contest. In truth i wish both of us had it all big sleepers and big paychecks. Best of luck to you all.

 

Six weeks after going solo at Swift, I landed a spot on a dedicated account where I'm grossing around $1200/wk. It's certainly possible, if you work for it.

Moose, I've been in one of Prime's "lightweight" Cascadias. You really don't give up much compared to a "condo"; mostly a little bit of storage space for crap that really doesn't need to be on the truck anyway. The one I was in had the passenger seat removed, and there was a dorm refrigerator mounted there. Plus, all their company trucks have APUs and inverters.

Personally, I'd gladly give up some of this "closet" space for never having the low voltage alarm sounding off at 4 AM again...

 

Never mind about the pay; that's the least of your worries starting out. You're probably not going to make much anywhere. The key is getting and keeping your first job - and it's harder than it sounds. Find a good starter company with good training - Prime and Stevens come to mind. Go through all four seasons without an accident or ticket and you will then be much more attractive to "better" trucking companies. Then you can begin considering income.