Schneider choice program orientation and getting truck Schneider finance

1.5 a running mile means you are an o/o for a company driver's pay. They hire OTR for 50 cpm nowadays. Whats the point?
Calculating your take home as money left after fuel is a little off to say the least.

 

In his situation he chooses which loads he hauls. And he can most likely take time off at his choosing. He can drive a truck that is fast enough to get around that vehicle beside him in the right lane. He can fuel where he wants. He can drive any truck he can afford to own.

I had my truck leased to a big carrier for years. I took 2 weeks off every year for Christmas and new year , while many company drivers stayed on the road. If there wasn't freight, the driver didn't get paid. And he wasn't home. I went home for most holidays. An owner op can also refuse a load and not get terminated.

These are just a few differences from driving a company truck.

 

My pleasure Lone Ranger 13, and I agree... most guys aren't willing to give any details at all, and honestly my wife tells me I should have been a little less specific. With that being said however, I remember my frustration when I was doing research on who to work for with all of the generalized answers, and I try to give people the same information that I was looking for back then.

As to what the point is, I know my operating costs (fuel, maint, taxes, bills, etc etc) and at $1.50 average all miles (including sometimes deadheading 100 miles because I'm being picky) is honestly all that I require... that's not to say that I've not had weeks where my take home, after fuel only, wasn't above $3,000 which I can almost guarantee you'll never see as a company driver. Those weeks are rare though, because now I'm an O/O I choose not to work that hard. If I wanted to work myself as hard as I was worked when I worked for another company on paper logs, I'd probably pay off this $50k truck in a year... but then again while I have a truck note (building credit too, yay) I choose to work as hard, or not as hard, as I want so long as bills/taxes are paid, and I can still put away a nice chunk of change every month for savings.

When you go O/O you better figure out your operating costs (how much it costs to move your truck down the road, factoring in taxes, insurance, fuel, maint, food, laundry, house/car notes, everything) before buying the truck, so that you can find the company who will give you the miles, percentage, amount of freight or whatever compensation plan you'll be on to succeed. Sure, SNI (as with most others out there) have some cheap freight, they also have some expensive freight, but the bottom line is that they have the amount of freight I need to be successful. That is why I don't mind giving details, because even if every driver who reads these posts joins SNI today, that company will still have enough freight to keep me rolling at the rate I need.

If any of the above sounds snooty or rude, please do not take it that way. What I say here on the forums is only meant to be helpful to whomever chooses to read it =) I'm all about helping my fellow brothers and sisters of the road, because we're all out here doing the same thing for generally the same reasons, so please forgive me if any of that came off in a negative light. Best of luck to all!

 

I'm headed to orientation in Charlotte Monday the 17th. I used to run choice before i got deployed.

 

Welcome back and thank you for your service!

 

Wow, that s a lot of perks , for sure!!! You forget to mention babysitting that truck when it breaks down, all extra paperwork and risking losing your shirt when things go south a notch . I did not say a company driver, I meant an OTR independent contractor. They will pass your truck, have home time needed and can refuse a load as well as an O/o.
No doubt when compared to a co truck, anything will seem a breath of fresh air. I know, I worked for SNI for 2 years. Just a good place to start, that is all that is. You cant live on 34000 a year anymore

 

Im confuse ...what are you trying to say? It's your truck when it breaks down. What extra paper work you are referring too?

 

Well, good luck with that confusion, driver!

 

Thanks..........

 

I'm guessing your truck was around $90K ? How long of a lease? Does the $325 for maint stop after a while? Is there a cap on it? Is it your money? Thanks!