Benefits

My wife has an HMO, I have a PPO. She had surgery last year. The total cost with her HMO was $150. Had she used my PPO, it would have cost over $15,000- same doctor, same hospital. I am very happy with her HMO right now!

 

Benefits are very important and thrown to the side by many looking for a bigger weekly paycheck. One problem is the cheapo's that don't offer benefits don't offer any more money.

Medical benefits a younger person might slide but you never know the unexpected. By the time you are 40 you definitely better have health insurance. A family and it is a must.

Short and long term disability insurance is another. I don't know what I would do if it wasn't for having them. You are literally thrown to the dogs if you get sick. This will be your only income unless you start tapping into your savings.

401K, I can't stress enough for a young driver to start this when they are young. This is your future. It means whether you just survive when you get older, how am I going to pay for this? Or living a normal retirement. One can pay in just $50 a month and have a quarter million dollars when they get old. Take advantage of the company match.

This should be part of any hiring in questions with a recruiter.

Live for the future and not just how to maximize that weekly paycheck. You'll thank yourself for it.

Good post Gashauler.

 

Gashauler, I hope your wife is ok.

We got lucky, my wife's HMO happened to include the specialist she needed and the hospital she wanted. Her HMO is great as long as she doesn't leave the area. If my wife should have any medical issues while on the road with me, she won't be covered unless it's an emergency and according to her coworkers, the insurance company decides if it was really an emergency. She won't have coverage for minor issues such as a sinus infection, a cut requiring stitches, a sprained ankle, once she leaves the area. My PPO covers me wherever I go. So I do agree that a PPO is usually better, especially if you travel or have kids away at school.

Her HMO insurance wouldn't work for me unless I only plan to get sick or injured while I am home. When checking out the medical insurance plan, check out the coverage area. If it is too limited, it's useless.

Insurance might seem expensive when you are young and healthy but just one trip to the emergency room will cost you much more than one year of insurance premiums.

 

I agree with the OP that a PPO is the way to go for most everyone. There are some companies that have good HMO's but they are few and far between. My company's HMO offering is crap (think Castle Dental and other low rent medical establishments). I have a PPO with them and it is ok, not great.

I also agree that short and long term disability are a must. Even in my office job I would not go without them but driving a truck has much more hazards involved so you should not short yourself by not having these. I have both of these through Aflac since my company does not offer them, sucks but better than nothing.

In terms of retirement, most folks should be kicking in 15% of their pre-tax income to retirement savings. You can contribute to the 401K up to the company match and then put anything left into a Roth IRA. Most people don't realize the power of compounding interest over time and what that does for you. Also (I have to disagree with CondoCruiser on one point) you really will need close to, if not, $1 million to really retire. I'm talking if you retire at 65 and live to 90 or so, you are going to need that much money to live comfortably into retirement. Of course, I am speaking as someone who will not have social security or anything else when they retire since that will be long gone so it is all up to me.

Great Post Gashauler!

 

This post is directed primarily to the single, healthy young/middle agers. Those with families or serious and costly ongoing health issues may actually want to remain in a job if ONLY for health coverage benefit ...

I think you shouldn't put too much emphasis on CURRENT insurance rates/offerings as these are going to change quickly in the coming 18 months. Either higher rates or reduced coverages or higher deductibles, or quite possibly all three. It's fine to consider insurance benefit value but don't make this your first consideration. You need to find a FAIR balance of sufficient and consistent miles, at a fair rate, and home-time that suits your needs, first and foremost.

Your primary consideration will be the company's financial strength, their freight base, and where the are situated in their niche within the trucking industry. All the benefits in the world don't mean much when you're only running 1,800 m/wk avg. and rarely home. In fact, I highly recommend drivers (where a secondary plan through spouse is not applicable) find a private insurance plan that is affordable and can suit their short/mid-term needs. Then, you don't feel "married" to a bad company where the prospect of leaving seems as daunting as remaining there.

 

That's why I recommend drivers especially should secure their own insurance but do so while "unemployed". If you provide 'truck driver" as occupation on the application, your rate will be higher.