Newbie miles

My 2c..

Don't turn down any loads you can run, 75, 150, 400 etc, take um.
Try and run at least 9hrs a day, helps w/ roll off hours each week, so yer not taking 34's every 6-7 days.
Don't call yer dm and complain, etc. Keep positive and remember it will get better.

Time wise, well hard to say. Depends if yer dm is in well w/ the planners, where yer at, etc..
network while @ a terminal and ask for local runs if yer sitting. Planners could back up small runs with a good one. Like the run im on now, I ran a 179mi up in Pa, and was backed up with a 998mi run.
if they see you run hard, don't turn down loads, no srvc failures, no bs, yer gonna get loads..

I've been with swift lil under 6mo and I don't make a killing but I make pretty decent coin. Some weeks are ugly, but that's when I get a case of the f'its and need a few days off to relax..

Good luck, hope the best

 

a guy in the Gary termininal told me today on the bus ride back to the hotel, that Ill be lucky if I bring home 100 bucks a week for my first six monthes...I sure hope to god he was full of ####..any advice from anyone else on this?

 

Hey BB
Don't believe that kind of talk. You will do much better than that!

 

If i can bring home 300 a week Im good with that, but I will try and make a lot more, if im gonna be out here I might as well run till the wheels fall off and make the green!!

 

While I like to drive and have wanted to be a truck driver for awhile, I sure dont want to do it for free..its a job..I expect to be paid enough to cover basic living exspenses..if Im only gonna make a hundred bucks a week, i can stay home and do that and see my wife and kids every night..LoL..but to each his own ya know..=}

 

My lowest week was $175... and the truck was being repaired for 3 days. You'll be fine.

 

I been solo 2 months now I am averaging 2500 to 3200 a week but I accept almost ever prePlan offered unless there is no way I can be on time even loads under 100 miles, I have made $2800 in Nov and in Dec I bug the hell out of dispatch when I have no load or call my DM til they get me a load I can't stand to sit drives me nuts, most of my checks are $750 to $ 850 before taxes but when you go home u see $420 checks I stay out 3 to 5 weeks at a time and from what I am told Oct to March is slow on freight this was told to us in my CDL school instructor. U will do fine take every load u can make on time take the small to get big loads and enjoy the East I can't seem to get over the Mississippi I have been West twice the. Sent right back in the East good luck

 

If you have several short runs in a row, send a QC message asking for the next shorty to be backed up with something longer. Often, if a load is available, the planner will stack you with something nice. Wording would be, "Is there something to back this up with?" ...which is a polite way to ask for a longer run without declining the current preplan.