What is EXCELLENT pay for experienced company hands?

Consider this 2k a week is only 285.00 dollars a day. Divide 285 buy 24 hours in a truck....$12.00 per hour. Note: OTR drivers live in the Truck on the road for extended periods of time. Time = Money

As long as you are in that truck you should be paid!

 

Here’s the problem, No health insurance. Attracting reliable Drivers, that is, someone who needs a Job, and will show up, and wants to earn, most of those Drivers have families to support. A Group policy can be had with 5 or more, participants. Cost somewhere between $700-$1000 per mo. So, somewhere between .07-.13 cpm. .54 cpm in reality is equal to .41-.48 cpm at best. No one wants the extra bill every mo. Any more than you do. And especially the wife, who usually pays the bills, anyway. No one wants to mess with all that. Most don’t think of it, in flat dollars and cents. Just as a PITA, that’s costing them money. The illusion of free coverage, or even a low cost family plan, deducting a small portion from the paycheck, is much more appealing., and a powerful incentive, to attract and keep Employees. I’ve had Jobs that pay more for declining coverage. Maybe a hybrid choice would work. But the most dependable Workers are those with a family to support. And they want and need coverage, not another bill to complicated things.

 

At that cost I was game but it is double that with A 12000 deductible when I sourced it out ... Through the hca it was 500 a month with half the deductible, it really had nothing to do with the pia factor but just a cost benefit factor ....there was just no way it was affordable or cost effective as apposed to the hca plans

 

26 yrs ago, I worked as a casual,$16 hr. 60 hrs a week. The company opened up a non union company next door. $12 hr. With health ins. A bunch of Guys went over there. I told them, I had a policy, just as good as the Union policy, for $350, a week. We worked 60 hrs every week, if wanted. So, my insurance cost me $1.50 an hour. $16.00-1.50= $14.50 simple right? Didn’t matter, the wife wants coverage. Go figure. Aside from the obvious, once they were up and running, I was laid off. Fine with Me, I don’t work for sub par pay, just to get benefits. But most are willing to. I see it in factories, and really everywhere. How many times have I heard, The pays not the greatest, But, I have great benefits . I don’t get it, but that’s the way it is. Path of least resistance, maybe? Or the illusion of getting something for free, maybe. Or just wanting things simplified. This is why I bought my first Truck. If I have to buy my own insurance, and work my ### of to make a decent check, be responsible for everything on the Truck. Might as well Own the Truck too. Most Just don’t want to deal with buying their Own health insurance. I can’t blame them, either. One more hassle/ bill that’s due, every month.

 

Thats why most folks think that I am getting ripped off by my company... But where I live $60k is WAY above the average income, amd I can make more if I want to be on the road more... But id rather enjoy a few days at home after a week on the road.

 

I wonder if Trump's tax delay/ holiday will have a similar effect . No tax withholding until the end of the year but everyone who takes it will have a huge bill at the end of the year. I have allways thought the world would change if everyone actually had to write a check for thier taxs and insurance . Having the money gone before you see it creates a cognitive dissonance imo

 

That depends on where one lives... $50k is above average income in my neck of the woods... Outside of trucking I know of very few folks that make that much in my area.

 

People only seem to talk about money but trucking is not like a regular job. Health insurance and money and nice trucks are important. The ELD has changed trucking and I don't see the guys running the trucking companies talking about that.

The daily life as a drive has changed some. When a load is has a set pickup and delivery time that fine. What if the shipper takes to long to load the truck ? They still expect the load to be delivered on time. That's a BIG problem today because now the driver has to make up that time. The driver suffers because he has give up his personal time. The ELD can't be changed so we have to stop when we run out of hours. The dispatcher or the guy running the trucking company books the loads to tight on time. When we had paper log book driver could solve that problem. The ELD rules everything now. So the driver is forced to give up his time. Stuff like taking a shower or stopping to eat or using the bathroom. Just stopping to get out of the truck a little.

I run into this a lot, they just don't give enough time on the loads for REAL world trucking. They want to keep booking loads at their preset averages they always go by. When it takes 3 or 4 hours to get loaded. What do they say? I want real drivers that can keep the left door closed. That's the problem ! Their is a point that of no return when the loads just don't have enough time. The dispatcher don't want to admit this because they only see the numbers. They don't want stand up to the customer and tell them to load the truck faster or tell the customer we need more time on the load. They put the pressure on the driver instead.

I have a load today that will be late. I have to run legal because of ELD. So that can't be changed. The delivery time was present already and can't be changed. So the load will be late. No amount of pay per mile will fix this problem. They want that left dood closed because we both know everytime I stop the load will be more late.

I don't think a trucking company paying $1,300+ a week has a pay problem. It's probably something else like not giving real drivers enough time to get the trip done and still get home.

 

I disagree with a lot of what you said. Way to much time on a lot of my loads and I get POed for that reason. I don't live in the truck because I want to, I live in the truck because it is part of the job. I don't get paid to sit, and planners need to do a better job.

My doors stay shut, and for the most part I don't have a problem running 700 + miles a day. Do it right and I can run 900 + in a day legally.

 

Maybe by your load have to much time, mine don't they book some to tight. They expect me to still makeup for their lack of planning . My truck doesn't go fast enough to 700+ miles in a 11 hour shift. Maybe I could if I only stoped and took one 30 minute break. I don't want to drive like that anymore. I noticed you said 900 miles a day that's kinda of a gimmick because you can only do that if you start midnight and drive to 11. Then take 10 off and get back up an keep going. People like to give that example because that's what you could show on paper logs. Maybe you actually drive like that on ELD ?? I would never want a job that requires me to drive those hours. $1,300+ week would not be enough for me do that. People don't say how they drive to get that nice paychecks and that the missing info.