The Barr Nunn Illusion: High mileage pay, low miles

You may need a month or more for dispatch to know if you're dependable, but it don't really take long to figure out that whether you could make 102k in a year at a company. If you know how to evaluate companies, then you'll get a sense of what kind of money you'll make at a company. Some drivers have to actually work there. When I looked at them, I came away thinking that the money wasn't going to be great working there. Not at 2200 miles weekly, and somewhat of a weak running area. For the slackers out there, Barr Nunn is perfect.

 

Thanks for the post OP. OTR companies, including many here on the favorite companies section of the forum, are highly misleading in their job ads and are basically just blatantly lying about their 100k gross per year jobs that they supposedly have. It's nice to see posters doing the math on these kinds of claims like you did OP, I have done so in the past on other threads as well (not to attack other drivers personally but to attack false job ad claims by trucking companies).

The simple math, is that you could work 365 days a year but if your CPM including bonus does not go above $0.59 CPM, you're not hitting six figures. It's impossible. You have to be at around $0.65 CPM including bonus pay to begin to have a shot at six figures and even then, you're not having a life outside of that truck at all and you're taking no more than 4 days off per month, at most.

As for the part of your OP that I quoted here, you are 100% correct OP.

"Don't chase the CPM."

In fact I'll take it a step further, CPM is a flat out scam for OTR truckload. The only time CPM works is if you go LTL linehaul because they are all paying around $0.83 CPM at top rate after 3 years seniority, pay for building and breaking sets (equivalent of OTR drop and hook) and fueling pay. When you're at such a high CPM as LTL, this is what your pay looks like during "lean times" such as these:

$0.83 CPM x 1800 (miles per week) = $1,494

$1494 x 52 = $77,688

77k gross to run 360 miles per night, 5 days a week and 40 hour work weeks with 8 days off during recessionary times where you're only getting 1800 miles per week.

OTR truckload is a scam. I'm sorry, it's true. Get paid by the hour with OT or go LTL linehaul. It's unbelievable how broken the OTR truckload industry is, there seriously needs to be reform for OTR drivers in regards to getting fair pay and better working conditions.

 

I think to say OTR is a scam is on the extreme side. I'll be fair enough to say that I like the OTR lifestyle. I get some thrill out of chasing miles. It really just depends on the individual though. With the right company/attitude, a driver can make good steady money with OTR. Barr Nunn is full of it though. A driver would have to make around 85 to 90 cpm with them, or if the cpm ain't there, then the accessory pay would have to equal to that.

 

That means 50% make less.

Not all drivers can earn the average. Some get paid less, some more.

Read the first quote.

Op that was a nice post with a lot of information.
Good luck on your job search.

 

So I wonder if it depends on dispatcher. Because minus night driving. Because looking at my paycheck last week. Which is from me only being at Barr-Nunn for 3 weeks. I have been paid for about 5300 miles total since hired. Yes could get more milage but it is what it is. I am currently enjoying the paychecks I'm given. Also I see it's too early to say if good or not. From my experience it takes about 3 months for me to really see if like the company.
Though currently I think someone in safety isn't great. Coming back from home time I see a message telling me about uncertified logs. That was the day I was going home. I even logged out of the eld

 

Sounds exactly like my time at Panther expedited. Short loads , long hours and days of waiting on the next load and worst of all is the constant repowering loads to different drivers. I stayed there for 2 years. What a nightmare. Glad I left and went to a regular trucking company.

 

So I just completed a hazmat load with them today. So will know next week what's the extra pay for that. Was dangerous placarded with class 8 and 1.4

 

One thing I find odd. They claim stuff like safety bonus is every 90 days. But I'm getting it next paycheck. It's not even close to 90 days