How are people making good money?

Will you be my trainer if I make it through the school? Not dis'n the OTR drivers at all. Been there. OTR is part of being an experienced driver. Not so sure I could deal with all the Electronic stuff the new drivers have. I don't even have a DAC,CSAS? or any of those new cards unless they go back 100 yrs. Was a Dinosaur, now I'm a Fossil.

 

You won't even get hired by the bottom feeders. They want idiots who are willing to work for peanuts.

 

they want trained monkeys.....

 

They can want all they want . Monkeys are too smart to go there .

 

I guess I was crazy running 54 hours in 4 days , grossing $1200 and taking a 3 day weekend . It isn't all about money to me . I like time away from the truck .

 

Well, that post went well over your head.

 

I think my post went over your head . I don't want to do the same work in 8 days I can do in 5 . I could have a rest by the 6th day and work another 14 if income was a priority .

 

I wasn't speaking generally. I honestly don't care if money isn't everything to you, no offense.

 

Deerhunter, you should be able to do $2000 a week as a husband/wife team fairly easily. I would say more like $2500 - $3000 would be a good number to shoot for. You guys should be making around $.50 a mile and running 5500 - 6000 a week... hopefully more so that should be the low end. 6000 miles x $.50 = $3000 a week. Trip planning is very, very important and is going to be your number one key (besides a good dispatcher) in making money. As soon as you are assigned a load, plan your trip and let your DM know the quickest time you can get the load there. Either your dispatcher or you and your wife should be making calls to reschedule an early delivery or you should make plans with your DM to either drop at a drop yard or switch out loads with a single/local driver. While in route your DM should be arranging your next pick-up and as soon as you get that info you do the same thing. Once you show your DM that you are dependable in trip planning and getting done what you say you can do then they will be a little less gun shy about stacking loads on you. Once you guys have established a good working relationship together with your DM they will know exactly what you guys can handle and are capable of. Your DM then won't be afraid to stack 3-4 loads at a time on you. This is how you maximize your miles. Ideally you should be shooting for 7000 miles a week or averaging 1000 a day. Of course you will have good weeks and bad weeks and good loads and bad loads. Its just part of the game. Also keep in mind that there will be many times in which you will have to take a crap run to set up for a good one. There will also be times in which you will have to bail out solo drivers who can't trip plan or break down etc...

For a husband/wife team it is very important that you choose just the right company. Companies that run terminal to terminal like air freight companies are good ones. You also want to choose a carrier that is large enough to not only keep you busy but that has multiple drop yards and a good number of trailers. This will aid you guys in dropping and hooking more often. The more time you wait to load/unload the less money you will be making. Usually though if you are a good team and like I said, show them you can handle things, then the company will try to utilize you guys as best they can. Husband/wife teams are the "cream of the crop" and make companies lots of money! Most companies usually treat their husband/wife teams like gold!

Once you guys get the hang of life out there and have mastered your trip planning, after about a year or so of experience I would definitely consider becoming owner operators. From day one you should be keeping track of everything you do as if you were owner operators while you are out there driving as company drivers. Get rid of all your unnecessary bills, stash as much cash as possible, and learn as much as you can about running your own operation. There's also lots of good learning material available on cd's and on the computer about owner operator's and running a small biz that you can be absorbing while you are running. I also highly, highly recommend "Dave Ramsey"! If you want to make money I can't stress enough how good it is to try and listen to him every single day! He's on the web, satellite radio (everyday on fox biz and other channels also), he has books, cd's, etc.... I know it sounds hokey but give it a shot.

You and your spouse really have a good opportunity to make some serious money and be financially sound for life! Not to mention the adventure of a lifetime! A few years from now you will be retired and talking crap on the forum everyday!!!

If you guys need anything, hit me up..... good luck!

 

Finally a great explanation and example. Even though I'm solo, u told me how I should be running! Thank you!