This Driver's Worth

How much do want to make...are you willing to do some unloading as well as driving... how often do you want to get home? You said you wanted to over-achieve on your next job, thats great but til you get a lot more than 1 years experience you should stay where you are at....Really good companies don't want drivers that go hopping from place to place looking for a better deal....the really good companies want someone that can make a commitment and stick with it...do some research and look for the absolute lowest turnover rate in companies. Pay should not be a limiting factor though if you find a company that the man with the least amount of time in has over 10 years or even 5 to 7 years with that company then go see them...those drivers are there for a reason.

 

The recruiter doesn't know what sort of worker you are. I'd bet a good number of drivers they talk to on a daily basis SAY they are go-getters, willing to run 3500+ miles per week, stay out 6 months at a time, work, work, work...but then they get hired and they stop at every truck stop along their route to feed quarters into those silly video games, struggling to get 300 miles behind them each day before their 14 hour clock expires...and want to get by the house every week or two for a few days...

It doesn't take long for dispatch to figure out when a driver is not getting the job done, and they start dispatching the truck accordingly. They aren't going to put that high-mileage "hot" load on a slacker's truck...they'll give that slacker loads that either don't matter or have plenty of time to get there. Then the slacker gets paychecks for 1800-2000 miles/week and cries about how the recruiter lied to them.

 

Whatever numbers you may find would not be very accurate on a per-company basis, furthermore, you have to consider companies with high[er] turnover rates happen to also hire 90% of the firt-time "drivers" new to the industry (lifestyle) and clueless to the demands and sacrifices required, and as such quit prematurely, in vast numbers as a percentage of new hires.

 

1st don't ask recruiters...they are there to do one thing and that is to collect bodies. If you can make a list of companies that you would consider working for, and contact them through e-mail or letters and tell them that you are researching future job opportunities. Let them know that you want a CAREER not just a job and you are writing them to inquire about any opportunities that might be available to you as an applicant. You would also like to have some info on compensation (ie. pay and benefits ) including insurance and retirement. Also if possible , would they they discuss what they do to keep AND retain good employees. Try and visit some of them also if that is possible. Most companies like these don't advertise at all ...mainly b/c they don't have to.....they rely on current or retired employees to send them applicants mostly. If you know some drivers or are friends with a few that have the sort of position I'm describing then ask them for a little help in opening a door for you...lots of times that is about the only way to land those positions...having a pal on the inside helped me to get the job I stayed on for 30 years...so it does help. I wish you all the luck I can in finding that dream job...they are out there, sometime you just gotta look a little.

 

I disagree it is the highway to hell!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Here's an observation of my own.

We've become so tech-savvy (those of us who aren't still trying to figure out how to program their VCR!), and so much information is available now through so many channels, that many folks feel that after all their research is done and a choice is made, that it should be A-1 perfect and nothing should go wrong. And for that reason, I think there may an increasing level of discontent among not just drivers, but the working population as a whole. It's just another symptom of the society we live in.

Real life is very different, and I believe we need to keep our expectations in perspective. Doesn't mean that we should "settle". But we've got to keep a realistic outlook on this thing. Many of us will make a mistake when it comes to selecting a job. Pick up, learn from it, and move on. Easier said than done (believe me, I know!). But necessary.

 

Who'd you haul sand for and in what region (Marcellus, Bakken, et al)? Some of us keep a pretty close eye on that industry segment, or work in it, and would love to know who's keeping back $1500 of a driver's wage. Money talks in the oilfield, and getting outed for something like that will have a sizeable negative impact on his being able to hire new drivers.

 

I think this is dead on. None of the top paying LTL or private fleets list pay scales on their websites. Wal-Mart doesn't even want their drivers disclosing pay rates publicly.

I always notice that everyone is looking for the best starting pay which is understandable to a degree. I rarely see people asking about top pay, benefits, and retirement options companies offer. I think a good question to ask a company during your interview is the average tenure drivers have with that company. No matter how much drivers may complain about their company, if more than half have been there for 10+ years there is a reason for that.

One thing to remember about most of the really quality career type jobs is that they're seniority based whether they're union or non. You won't get the best truck, run, or pay rate at first but in time you can work your way up through the ranks and have it pretty good.