Are trucking companies this bad?

You can tell by reading these replies,

who is or is not a driver...........

 

ArmyGuy, I can only tell you though what I've experienced and the conversations I had with other company drivers out there. I've been doing this 3 months now. I get .305 cents per mile. I don't know where the 1/2 cent thing comes from but that's what it is. I usually get one run that's close to 1,000 miles per week. Then they send me on these little short runs from maybe North Jersey to Philly or NYC to Boston. I don't get "NYC" pay, hold-over pay, extra pay from routes east of I-81......etc.....etc. All they pay me is strictly cents per mile because I'm a new driver. So If I'm sitting on the cross-bronx expressway for 4 hours not moving, it's 4 hours of my day where I'm making ZERO money.

What concerns me is when I talk to other drivers (our company as well as other company drivers). When I tell them about the hours and my dissapointing pay so far, I would expect them to say something like "WOW, 80 hours a week and that's ALL your getting PAID"?!?!?!?. But instead the response is usually something like "Yeah well, Your not going to get rich in this job".

It really beats me down and sucks the life out of me when I get the direct deposit e-mail every Wednesday and look at what the individual runs pay. Sometimes I start my day by getting a quallcom message about my next run, hooking up to a trailer, looking at the directions, driving maybe 85 miles away, waiting to get unloaded, filling out the "trip-sheet" and sending in all my quallcom messages....etc. Then I have to wait for another "Pre-plan" message to arrive over the quallcom so I know where I'm going next. Figure that half my day is already gone and I see that run paid me $25.

 

Some carriers will give drivers a weekly advance, if requested. Those who do advances will front their drivers up to about $125-150/week. When drivers see their paycheck they don't realize that they are making more than what they really are due to the advance. If drivers pay some or all of their insurance, they may also not realize how much they are really making because the deductions are taken directly from their check. Pay will be lower during the training period. Once you get a year or two behind you your pay will look much different.

 

Piney, you're doing something wrong, and I'm not going to call you out in public, but there's more to the story.

Here's an idea:

Armyguy asked: "Or is it something else like your taking advances or something?"

I worked with a guy at Indian River who would max his advances every week. We were allowed $350, and the job paid well, so that much was always available. How you take your money is your business, and depends on whether you have a lady at home paying bills, or you're single with few bills, or whatever - I know this isn't one size fits all.

BUT. This guy would constantly whine about crappy paychecks. I'd get $900, he'd get $500. We ran a lot of the same routes. He was always saying "I could make more at (x), this company pays for crap".

Really? One day, after listening to enough of his whining, I fronted him on the advances... well dude, if you take the $350 they advanced you, and add in your $500 paycheck, you've got a great week.

Why is it that people want to manipulate things to make themselves look like the victim? Pretty pathetic.

Oh, and sitting for 4 hours in NYC traffic? Plan your trips better, and if all else fails, understand that EVERYONE who drives for a living sits in traffic. Also, you could change fleets and run a different area of the country... but since you're from NJ, and obviously want to be close to home, that Northeast gig is what you deal with.

 

Your guy sounds like a guy who worked for me at one time. He always wanted to get a $300 advance each week. He is the only driver that I gave that much of an advance. He would get $300 every week. When his checks came he always seemed to forget about his advances. He would usually make around $1,000 or more per week, but when you take out the advance, it seems like he is making a lot less. He was always whining about not making any money. He didn't have a pay problem, he had a spending problem. He could not manage his money. When you get an advance that comes out of your pay, it doesn't mean that you are making less money. It does mean that you need to work on better managing your money. Drivers should not continue to get advances after they get a couple of paychecks. In fact, it would be better if drivers didn't get an advance at all.

 

Can't believe I actually agreed with 12345 hahahah

Ok truth this industry 'is what it is, and what YOU make of it'. It is what it is becuase you have to start some place and freight is freight. Shippers and receivers are shippers and receivers. You can't change the freight and you sure are going to change the shippers and receivers.

You can however communicate with your driver manager, dispatcher, or whatever you all the person who sends you on your merry way. I run more that 2500 a week on a dedicated route. Why? Because I am not afraid to tell my DM to keep me moving.. I see home as often as I want to because I am not afraid to tell my DM to run me past my home for 10 or 34 and I don't cry about it if it take a bit longer than I want. Freight is freight after all.

Last I looked at my year to date gross I am on track for a 50k year. It can be done, it takes work. It takes thinking you are aren't in a fiberglass doghouse. It takes committment of you and your family. My family knows to give me at least 10 days notice for a family function if I am to be there.

Yes some starter companies can scare the bejesus out of you. Try your patience to no end. CR England and CRST pretty much top that list. Others like Central Refrigeration, or Swift can be trying at times, but work out if you work with them. For that matter there are those who work for CRE and CRST who like working for those companies..

Ask the tough questions and get the rest of the story. Someone who tells you they run 2000+ miles and only brings home 200 dollars has a 'rest of the story'. Even with my child support based on my old IT salary I bring home more than twice that.

Again this industry is what it is and whatbyou make of it. Walk into it with open eyes and minimum expectations and you just might still be calling yourself 'driver' at the end of your first year.


You can be nice to that person behind the window who is getting you loaded and unloaded. Instead of b**chin' about the time it takes to load you take a frigging nap, read a book, exercise you fat butt. Attitude will serve you well or destroy you.

 

After school what type of job you get all depends on you. I'm sure the guy that's making $305 a week either let the recruiter find him a company or he just let the computer do his hiring. You've got to beat the bushes and use all the options you have to find work.

 

Some are going to be better than others. Personally there are a handful I would stay away from. Your best bet will be to steer clear of the mega-carriers. The harder it is to get the job the more worth it, it will be.

Make yourself a list of your wants and needs, then make a list of companies that interest you. Check out their websites and see what they have to offer. Once you have narrowed it down to a dozen or so start making calls and talking to recruiters. Keep in mind they are salesman! If your number one question is about hometime then you are in the wrong career all together. Do not proceed any further if this is going to be an issue.

 

Here are some sites that may help you:

http://www.newtruckdrivingjobs.com/student_%20driving_%20job.php

http://www.truckdrivingjobsin.com/

Good luck man!

 

It might be possible that if you sit enough you fall under the federal mandated minium Wage.

Years ago My father got a nice raise for ALL of the school bus drivers where he worked because the pay for extra runs was falling below the federal min wage.

Any drivers on here with a law degree??