Need Advise Here....I Am A Trucker's Wife

Good luck!

God bless you and your family! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Just starting out, $650 would be a pretty good week.
During the slower times, like January through March it can be quite a bit lower.

 

hard to say how much he will make gunna depend on CPM and how many miles he gets a week,my want to look into either flatbed or tanker companies they make more,if tanker he will need haz mat for better paying positions and opportunities.

 

The short answer to "can he clear more than $600/wk Avg in the beginning" is "Probably". But Windy Hill is an unknown to me. They may have adequate freight for the number of trucks they have or they may not. Assuming these 4 year old+ tickets are minor speeding infractions he should be ok, especially if they only run 3 year check and ask for 3 years on the app. Just so long as you both feel good about this Windy Hill. If they keep their trucks moving you'll do fine, if they struggle to keep their trucks loaded and/or your husband misses a few appointments, you could both suffer.

I see Windy Hill is a plants hauler which is good at least for much of the year, but at some point, things are going to slow down in that business.

 

You should be asking your questions from Windy Hill. It is always better to go directly to the source. Different companies pay differently. Freight is soft right now, but should improve by the time your husband gets through his refresher course. As an alternative, he might be able to go with one of the training carriers to gain some experience. They would put him with a trainer for a few weeks before turning him loose on his own. They also might put him in a team operation. Some of the training carriers are Roehl, Covenant, Swift, Millis and CRST, to mention a few. It would keep you from having to pay money out to get started. However, pay will usually be low with most of these carriers until he gets a truck of his own. Not all carriers will hire drivers with no experience. That is something you need to discuss with Windy Hill before spending money on a refresher.

 

Check out Boyd Brothers, if he is willing to drive flat bed. As long as he is honest on the application, anything over three years old shouldn't matter. I just started 3 weeks ago and I am very impressed with the company.

 

From what I can gather, Windy Hill is a good, clean { CVA snapshot } operator. However, the information that I have heard is that they require some experience { a minimum of 1 year OTR as I remember }. The best people to ask are always the people with the company you're looking at. The reality is, for someone right out of the gate, one of the starter companies: Roehl, Werner, Schneider, Swift, Millis, CRST, etc. are often the best choices because they'll give someone a chance to put a foot in the door and get some experience. Good luck to you. Hang in there together.

 

I posted this on another thread this morning:

I was a small time home builder for many years. Back in 2007 I had my "plan" for an early retirement all worked out. I subdivided a piece of land I bought into 10 building lots and started building entry level spec homes that I "knew" there was a demand for. I was still working on other projects too. I planned to build out the 10 houses, take the $500,000 projected net, sell my home that had a "huge" amount of equity and retire with a million bucks in hand.

Then Bush, Bernanke and Paulson made that fateful "State of the economy" announcement in the Rose Garden in the Fall of 2008 about how the economy was on the brink of collapse unless...

The rest is history...

I lost everything except my wife, dog and cat. Well, at least I was able to keep my house. However, that "huge" amount of equity I thought I had vanished into thin air.

Now I'm a truck driver. What's the old saying, "When life serves you lemons, make lemonade".

As to whether or not your husband can bring home $650 a week "net", I don't know the particular company your husband is looking at. I know for sure he does not need $150 a week to live on the road especially if the company provides a minimum 1500 watt inverter on his truck. He can survive on $60 easily if he buys bulk and prepares his own food on the truck, I know, because I do it and eat very well. I use my fuel points to purchase little treats and stuff during the week. I even make my own coffee on the truck.

I started in this industry 4 years ago with a 48 States OTR training company out of Oregon. My first year I grossed $42,000 and since then I paid my dues, kept my nose clean and moved to a smaller regional company back in June of last year. My wages have increased every year since I started and I expect to make about $60,000 this year plus benefits, vacation pay, holiday pay, sick leave pay, etc.

So...I said all that to encourage you that it is definitely a doable proposition.

 

Thanks for that post Scooter...I too have been in the construction business for quite some time and have been doing property management repairs and some flips with Realtors but still struggle trying to regain some footing. No desire to go back swinging a hammer and walking 2x4 top plates working up from the bottom. Michigan winters have a way of making you rethink your career choices. At least in a rig you can slow down and laugh at the drivers in the ditch rather than trying to thaw your hands out in the middle of January trying to provide for the family.