Driver pay.....

Yeah I went to national training in green cove springs. Most companies count an accredited school as 3 months experience. That on top of my 6 months otr experience so far.

Only thing is age and that 5 month old preventable on my record.

Ethan

 

Trust me, you can get on with a dump company. Even with a record. Scrap hauling for sure, like I do. They don't care man.. your meat in the seat, making them tons of money.. We got guys with DUIs lol.. It's dirty, long hours, and crap money.. but it gets you home every night, and it's good experience.

 

I must have $27.50 hr, overtime after 8, If I come in and they send me home, I get 4hrs for showing up. I usually dont work more that 14hrs a day, I want 60hrs a week, and NO WEEKENDS. See ya Monday Morn.

 

I hear ya. I really wish i could get on with pritchett. Most drivers I talk to with them are very happy. Low turnover.

I'm sure I can find something around where I live. I was reading the classifieds on my hometown newspaper website and i came across covenant advertising they need trainers.

-No experience required, make $800-900/week. Teams make $110-125k first year!!! I died laughing.

Ethan

 

lol. Those #### recruiters will tell you whatever you want to hear.. They are almost as bad as military recruiters.

 

Yup. I gotta say, the lady that recruited for covenant that came to our school didn't like our class. The older guys made her mad cuz they were saying covenant pays less than most companies. She was trying to make 16cpm as teams sound great! Lmao.

Ethan

 

LOL.. yeah. Our class was lucky enough to have a guy who drove for 20 years, and was taking a refresher, so he was grilling the recruiters for us.. made a lot of them sweat. But when Falcon's gorgeous recruiter Amber came in, she made him sweat lol!

 

I hear ya haha. That's funny

Ethan

 

I agree that all company drivers should be paid salary. Starting @$3000/ month for newbee's and go to no less than $5000/ month for experience. Most large trucking companies are screwing the driver out of a living while the office and management staff live high on the hog. @ $.42/ mile with a truck governed @ 62 mph and the power turned down. Your average speed for number sake is 55mph is $23.10 ? per hour. Then you sit for 3hrs. Just an hour and a half for unload & load. Your pay drops to $16.80. And we all know you sit more than that. And the avarage speed posted to insurance companies is more like 49mph. Lets face it if company drivers get paid better so will us O/O. Thanks

 

This is only my 4th post (by 3rd got pulled by the Mod...my bad), so in reality I have no right whatsoever to weigh in here, but I got a case of the "I-Can't-Help-Its".

Someone earlier brought up the concept of "how often do we need to discuss this".

I think that's a legitimate question, and certainly this industry, like all others has folks that will NEVER be satisfied.

In my opinion, the question of appropriate compensation is one that should be first and foremost in every driver's mind. It's not a perfect world, and there will ALWAYS be drivers that work for peanuts. Sometimes those drivers are desperate, and sometimes they're predators.

There's an old saying that "a closed mouth doesn't get fed". Whether you're an O/O or a company driver, we've ALL got a dog in this fight. Companies have a budget they have to work with. Well, so do I. I don't know what the solution is here...maybe it'll take 80% of all CDL's to take the same week off, and just sit at home. We can then watch the DJIA lose 50% of its value in a week.

When that happens, drivers will start to see progress on these issues.

"Those things that cause pain, instruct."

It's too easy to blame the Democrats or the Republicans (although a LOT of this IS their fault), but the real "enablers" are drivers. Companies whipsaw drivers against one another, and we squander our energy arguing amongst ourselves.

However change IS happening, although slowly. This is a TOUGH business, and with increased visibility from the feds with e-logs and the such, the less professional drivers will eventually terminate themselves.

Forward-thinking companies are starting their own training centers where they can identify appropriate candidates, and train them to their own standards.

Take a young (or not-so-young) person who is struggling in this POS economy. Maybe no job, not much cash and the real potential of becoming homeless. Then that person gets next to ABC company, who:

PAYS their travel expenses to school.

Trains them at no cost, with a one year commitment. You need a year experience wherever you go anyhow, right?

Pays them, while riding with an instructor, then cuts them loose as a solo driver.

Living in your sleeper HAS to be better than a shelter or worse, on the street...plus you're getting paid.

I've read stories on here about drivers who shower once a month, whether they need it or not. Then throw their piss jugs wherever they wish.

I've read stories about drivers who probably should not be on the road.

Don't concern yourselves with them. The efficient market will eliminate them sooner than they realize. However, the concept of legitimate compensation for professional drivers should be the NUMBER ONE topic on everyone's agenda.

And that includes myself, even though I'm just a "wanna-be" right now.


Best regards and drive safely / get home soon:

WashedUp