At a major crossroads!!!!!!!

Yes it is the norm. The $40 advance is for any extra expenses. . Like scale tickets or tolls.. u dont have to use it unless u need it. Per diem works out in ur benefit if u know how to do ur taxes. Some ppl don't like it though.

Sent from my SPH-L900

 

Yeah bud, I'm from Syracuse, lol.

I wouldn't worry about the per diem thing too much. First, are you planning on staying with that company more than a year or two? Second, do you think we'll actually have social security when we're at retirement age...? I'm not that knowledgeable about taxes, but I think having about a third of my income untaxed is better than being able to claim my food money on taxes at the end of the year. It will also place you in a lower tax bracket. Companies researching your credit should be able to factor your per diem into things, even if you do have to make sure it comes to their attention.

 

And the 40 dollar food thing. Like Peach said, it's just an advance. Seems to be very regular in the industry. It's for brand new drivers and experienced dumba$$es that go broke half way thru the week and need food money (or cash for other minor expenses). I can't say for sure how Armellini handles it, but theres probably some sort of charge or drawback to taking the advance. Either way, I imagine you should just leave that option alone unless you find yourself in a minor emergency where you just need 40 bucks asap, lol.

 

Not that I like advances but $40? I hope you like mcD's. Lol. If I remember corectly the majority of "dinners" at the Country Prides, Dennys snd Iron Skilets are 8.99 or 9.99 and not including drinks. ( when I say dinner I also mean full breakfast and lunches) Their are cheaper things on the menue of course, like chili. Eating fast food gets old quick. I cookouta the truck, sandwiches for lunch, healthy choice foods plus salad for dinners Breakfast we tend to eat at restaurants, though I have made bacon and eggs in the truck, pancakes or waffless not eggo are a we bit harder. Not saying we don't find the occasional steakhouse or BBQ joint, along with our favorite truck stops that usually have good food. Just not daily.

 

One of my goals for truck driving is to scope out a better place than NY. Shouldn't be hard, lol!

 

You're kidding, right? What part of maybe 600 bucks a week to work 100 hours a week is so hard to understand? The fact that it's a minimal training job doesn't mean anything except that almost anyone can do it. What matters is this: the pay and conditions are terrible. Period.

And since you are bringing up other professions, don't forget to include the fact that OTR trucking is also the ONLY profession with a whopping 98 percent driver turnover rate. And these drivers are leaving voluntarily because they find out quickly that, even as bad as the economy is, they can still do so much better. Yep, even flipping burgers. And they get to go home every day.

There is one thing with which I do agree with you, however: this is not a six figure job. Problem is, it's a poverty level job. To almost never be home. To risk your life. To do nothing but sit and get almost no exercise. To have little choice but to eat expensive, fatty, processed foods from truck stops. To not only be responsible for a valuable vehicle and the load you're carrying, but also for any other fools' mistake, should they crash into you; thereby jeopardizing your license. To work 14 hours a day, every day. To get only 10 hours between shifts; this includes shower, dinner, me-time, AND sleep. And during your sleep, many times you'll be getting messages throughout your "sleep shift" requiring your immediate attention.

All this for 600 bucks a week. Sometimes even less. And if you want family medical insurance, it will cost you the equivalent of a weeks' wages, per month.

And all the above applies to ALL OTR companies. Need proof? Go to any truck stop and personally speak with the drivers.

How can anyone in their right mind defend this? And if you do, let me also hear (or see) you say in you're future posts to talk to real drivers, in person.

You want fries with that?

 

Think about the 9 states with no personal income tax, then narrow that down. That was my approach. Factored in overall annual weather into the equation also.

 

You pulling in 600 a week after 2 years in the industry? Sounds like your just sore that you don't pull in the money you see other people getting.

If you wanna keep arguing, I've got some free time, but only if you answer my question from my last post. What's your better plan to make more money than driving truck. Tell me how McDonalds gets you a 600$ Net paycheck.