$100,000+.....Company Driver

I agree with this, but at the same time I don’t. When a company puts on a large banner for advertising purposes what their pay is for things like detention, layover, bonuses, etc. and then you fall for it when you have 1000 other choices and you go work for them and then from that point forward they do anything and everything to weasel out of paying it, you’re correct you have two choices. Fight them, or get another job. Getting another job might sound easy, but it’s a pain in the rear. And why should a driver have to go get another job because they were lied to? It’s the company that should pay. In that situation.

Here’s some food for thought for you that my trainer told me years ago. The reason you demand detention, layover and breakdown pay is not so much for the money it’s because you keep the company honest. When dispatch is sitting in the office and they have two choices in front of them, work hard to get you a load that works and keeps you rolling and tied out on the road or eat another six pack of donuts, if they know you’re the driver that’s gonna demand detention pay start at two hours? They’re gonna get you that good load. They’re going to keep you rolling. If you’re Johnny do good, he just smiles and goes along with everything, well you can probably guess what’s gonna happen.

I fight them for detention and layover pay, because to shut me up, they keep me moving. Trust me it does help.

Also, none of this whining about the things that they don’t do that they promise is not a reflection on my work ethic. I work hard always. I work as hard as I possibly can. I do as good of a job as I possibly can. It doesn’t matter if I’m working for free helping a neighbor out, or working on my paycheck that’s just how I’m wired.

Also, I think truck drivers need to realize whether they are owner operators or company drivers you are ultimately your own commodity. And you need to go into this realizing that. The longer you drive, without screwing something up, the longer you drive and get loads there on time, and the better you become as a driver the more your commodity is worth.

 

You're wired a little differently than me. I'm a pretty laid back fella. Dispatch almost never hears from me and I don't push back, but I never have to. I really don't care about accessory pay to that level. It's nice if I can get it, but if they don't remember to pay it, no biggie. It ain't that much for me to fight it. As long as they keep me busy, it's whatever. They do and dispatch rarely hears from me. It'd have to be a serious issue for them to hear from me. I let my work speak on my behalf. When looking for a company, I think drivers should focus a little less on the accessories a d more on mileage and freight. That's what tells the story in my estimation. Thats gonna be guaranteed. The other stuff, they can cut that at any time, whether it's to save money or whatever reason.

 

I don’t know if you drive, dry van or reefer or what but I drove refer for 2.5 years. So the delivery times, live load and unload times are very different in that line of driving. Lots of time sitting at docks, late being loaded etc.
my trainer at that company, a 28 year veteran, Showed me his pay stubs on his computer one day. Showed me several years worth in fact. He wouldn’t let 15 minutes of layover pay slip through the cracks. Any and everything that he was due to be paid, he would not let them off the hook for. It amounted to 22% of his annual pay. It varies by about 5% yearly. But you get the idea. It adds up. And quickly depending on what type of trucking you’re in.

Now I’m not faulting you but imagine if he had the same attitude as you and didn’t bother with it. He’d be making about 15,000 a year less than he does now.

These trucking companies know how to boil a frog. They know how to slowly bleed you. They’re experts at it. At the end of the year, depending on where you work wouldn’t it be nice for them to hand you a check anywhere from 5000 to 20,000 in the money they’ve been sneaking away from you little by little here and there? That’s really what it comes down to.

 

As a matter of fact I pull and reefers and dry vans. I know exactly how it goes. You and your trainer are wired that way. I don't disagree with you.

 

I wanted to make one last point before I’m done with this topic. Lol in most of those instances whether the company pays you or not for sitting there extra time, they are in fact billing for it. They look at those bill stamps and your calls in and out and compare them and if there’s extra time spent there they are billing. And it ain’t no 20 or $25 an hour they’re maybe willing to paying you, it’s more like $150 an hour on up. It’s only fair that you get your cut. Just saying. Lol

 

I do about 120k/year as a company driver. Work about 60-65 hours a week in 5 days. Home every night: Straight hourly pay with OT hauling fuel in ND oil patch. It’s nice cause cost of living is pretty low here despite the top pay. I know a lot of you wouldn’t want to live here but I was born and raised here so I like it here

 

Well they say it’s how much you save and how much surplus over keeping costs of living down is really how much you make. So if you like living there, that’s all that matters. If you lived somewhere where everybody else tells you you should like to live, your money wouldn’t go as far. Lol
I like to travel, overseas etc, so I try and live as cheap as possible.

 

My CDL life in words: When I started with TMC Jan of '19, I completed my rookie year/contract with them at 77k (stopped "running" after about 6 months w/ them as I had already burnt out). My 2nd year I went local and did 66k, but was home every day. My 3rd year (2nd-year w/ same local company) I did 61k, but on a 5-2-2-5 schedule, which equated to 15 days on/15 days off/month...so I worked less days thus made less money. I will now start w/ XPO doing linehaul on 3/10 w/ a written offer of 90k base (430miles + 4 hours of dock work in Minneapolis) M-F + task pay + 12k sign-on bonus + 4% increase in CPM and hourly in April which will put me comfortably over 100k starting my 4th year of driving. IMHO, I have to agree with the above post when I say nobody should be operating a tractor-trailer for less than 100k, especially OTR...but I understand how that impacts everything and why they are generally hard to find.

 

See the following link:

Truck drivers now earn up to $150,000 a year amid worker shortages

Life is too short...I recommend reading:

Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Millionaire Fastlane

to make the most of your time.

May peace be with you and god bless you!

 

Due to the supply chain shortage exacerbated by the shortage of truck drivers your prayers have been answered. Check out the following links:

Truck drivers now earn up to $150,000 a year amid worker shortages

Lawrence Freight ups driver pay as much as 40%.

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Life is too short...I recommend reading The Millionaire Fastlane if you want to learn how to make $100k a month!!!

May peace be with you and god bless you!