From Day One - Abilene Motor Express (Richmond, Wytheville, VA)

68 on cruise 71 on the pedal

 

I have enjoyed looking through this thread seeing where you guys have shared your experinces out there driving for Abilene. I am currently looking for a company to drive for and reading all the info has sparked some interest. OK I will give the basic's and see if you guys can answer some questions for me. I have 15 years driving experience, my MVR is clear nothing for well over 10years, I have a soild work history. Owned my own and now I am trying to get back to being a company driver. And I live in Mebane NC... Ok now the questions: what would I start at and what is top pay, what kind of home time could I expect, what type of bonuses do they have, how is the insurance and where do you guys running solo tend to go most often? Ok I know that is a mouth full so.I'll shut up and listen now...

 

Nctrucker1977..... Starting pay depends on experience most start at .35 anything from Maryland North including all of Pa is .46. I average around 3200 miles a week. Home time is every 10 to 14 days but some get home weekly They have a recruiting bonus, I don't know of any other bonuses. Insurance for myself runs like $110 every two weeks. I run all over.... A lot to Ohio I have been out to Texas twice recently. But we run all over and solos can run out to Nevada and California occasionally.

 

Thanks for the come back runningman! So from what I've read you seem to like it there... What is top pay and how long to get there? insurence sounds very affordable, I think I may give them a call just to see what they have to say.

 

Spent my week babysitting Boars Head loads lots of waiting around. After making a 300mi run for a delivery I took a 34hr restart waiting on another load to be ready, which sucked after only 1400mi during 4 days out. Finished the week with 2,500 mile @ 357 mi per day. I did get layover pay but nothing pays like driving. Still my average is way over 3000mi per week.

 

I did those loads with another company that does a lot of them. Not fun at all. Sit around all day waiting to unload, then wait to reload, then run overnight to deliver and do it all over again. This was a Jarratt-Brooklyn run. It sucked big time.

 

Second bad week in a row less than 2200mi waiting on dispatches and unloads.

 

I hate the holiday season as far as miles go. It seems like until after the first of the year you have to fight, scratch and claw to get decent miles.

 

Well I flew down to Houston the weekend of Dec. 14th through 16th. Thankfully they got me back in town Thursday and I had no issues catching my flight.
I actually decided to stay out and work over the Christmas holiday. I'm going through a divorce after 20 years and the wife and daughter where going out of town to visit family, so instead of sitting at home feeling sorry for myself I figured I would stay out and get some miles. I picked up at Pella in Murray, Ky. Saturday morning and delivered in Lenexa, Ks. I have always heard about delivering in the Caveonion Mo. and Ks. But never had the opportunity, until today. It was pretty cool if I must say. After getting empty they bounced me back over to Pella in Murray again to pick up another load going to Fl. For Wed. Morning. With the dhead it's a nice 1300+ mile run.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

 

Sorry to hear about the divorce Runningman, especially around this time of year. I'm separated from my wife this Christmas, not by choice, but I'm working in Pennsylvania and we live in Florida which is where she's at, it's tough to say the least. Hey when you get to Florida tell her hello for me, hop off at exit 301 on 75 and head for Brooksville, you're bound to find her somewhere.