New Driver Pay

There are several factors in play here. Some drivers go to school and are recruited from there by some not so good companies, others go to private school, and then sign on to shady companies. Why? because of slick shiny ads with new trucks and lies about high pay. Not everyone happens upon this forum or is able to research.

The economy is in the crapper, no matter what anyone tells you. People are desperate, and people that absloutely should not be in a truck are being trained and put driving without being even remotely trained. Most of these people can't even drive a car, though they won't see that. We have untrainable people in desperate positions, and companies whose only purpose is to get freight moved at trainee wages, that along with a bad economy, are hiring anyone at less than poverty wages.

Everyone says go to a good company. There are only so may good companies out there compared to the influx of new drivers every day. The ideal scenario would be for the unemployment rate to be low, causing pay to increase, and new drivers to be treated decent and paid what they are worth. But we all know this is not going to happen anytime soon, for if there was a real driver shortage, big companies would pay off the politicians to allow more immigrants to come here and drive on the cheap because these companies are not going to pay a driver what they are worth in this day and age.

The real truth is that most companies are total crap, and some drivers refuse to see that. Therer are a few good companies, but there are not enough of them to cover the influx of new drivers coming in, so the majority of newbies are going to crap companies, and the majority of those newbies will be gone before one year is up. Welcome to 21st century trucking.

 

Stranger pretty much said it all.
M and M of road - much of your original post is false. I see the purpose of this forum as helping all make good decisions based on input from all. Simply telling newbies to aim for the outhouse instead of shooting for the barn is unhelpful.

Read the previous posts and find that many start out in the industry at a decent level of pay, and rise to a good living well within 3 years.

 

It must be stated that Miles owns his own truck. He is shielded from a lot of the BS company drivers have to go thru.

 

Emphasis above is mine. "Many" can never equate to "most" or "the great majority" in this market. It's just not factually possible.

While it is true that "many" (some? the minority?) new truckers are able to "find those gems" in the job market, the truth is that the majority of job openings available for new drivers will be with "mega" carriers. I would wager that over 80% of "newbie" job openings will be with the top 20 carriers by size. You can't stuff enough newbies into the "gem" companies to satisfy the market.

The fact that miles is currently an O/O doesn't mean he was always an O/O from the beginning of his career. I'm sure miles can chime in and fill in the details, but I'd wager that he likely started as a trainee making a wage or running by the mile like the majority of new drivers do.

Rather than dumping on mile's OP for asking new drivers to "aim for the outhouse", I think it's best to look at the wisdom in that OP. The fact is that there are a lot of great jobs to be had in this market, if you have 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years experience with no major problems. You can search through any of the advert magazines in the rack at any truck stop to find those jobs, or search on the internet, and see great pay for drivers with experience. The point that miles was trying to make in the OP is that new drivers need to understand that they have to get their foot in the door and drive successfully for a period of time for the opportunities to open up.

Ever hear the phrase, "Have a plan. Work the plan." ? It applies to pulling into a lot and deciding how to execute a backing maneuver, or working your way through traffic during rush hour, or planning your trip... it also applies to your career. If you have a plan to become an O/O, then you need to know, step by step, how you are going to get there. Step One may be to hire on with a mega to get those months or years experience required to get to Step Two, which is to hire onto a better paying job in order to save money and eventually get to Step Three, which is to purchase your own truck with enough in reserve to operate and maintain the truck and lease on with a carrier, then get to Step Four: purchase your own authority...

.... just an example.

Whether your ultimate goal is to get that cushy job with Walmart or Fedex, or to get your own authority and purchase a small fleet of trucks, you have to start somewhere. I submit that dumping on new drivers because they went with a major carrier at lower pay to get Step One done is a rather Pollyanna view of the industry. There just aren't enough "gem" jobs out there to absorb all the new drivers. Never was and never will be.

 

Started training in January, got CDL early March, went solo early June this year

2014 truck I received with 40miles on it, just turned over 49k today

OTR - started .41cpm all miles, at .43.5cpm now after one company wide raise and 2 personal raises since June.

When OTR I took all loads regardless if I wanted them or not.
My FM hardly ever bugs me & goes out of his way to accommodate requests

I chose to be on a mid-west regional board after a couple months & mostly run a dedicated account (with midwest OTR when needed), now averaging from .52cpm-.56cpm on dedicated account depending on the loads and how hard I wish to run (not looking back to OTR anytime soon)
usually run 2300 or so miles a week and get plenty of regular sleep, set my own availability (within reason), not getting door pounded on/woken up constantly at S&R's while on off duty, easy predictable runs, know a lot of roads in the 5 state area we service, take home $800-$900 without trying.

Yes doing OTR I can and have taken home $1000-$1200 a week, but am ground out by the end of it
Slow, steady, & regular wins every time - especially since I don't take time off.

CPM DOES matter as it demonstrates how much your time is worth.
Why should I be content to scrape by on pathetic 20-30cpm wages as some of these companies seem to pass off (only going by second hand knowledge of driver talk) just because they "have longer length of haul and more available miles?"
Why should I drive 3000+ miles per week to make the same or less then driving 2300 miles per week?
Every mile you drive is another chance of something bad happening.

When you get older, all that lack of regular sleep, stressed out time tables, running full 11hr days tired and wired on stimulants, & other bravo sierra is going to catch up with you.
At least at a decent CPM, there is some justification...not just "I need to run as much as possible to make my check"
I have ran team 7000+ miles per week and while it may become "normal," it is definitely not healthy.

BTW CRuSTy, y'all chose the ugliest paint possible for your fleet color...its less the "Gold Rush" then it is the "rolling baby puke factory"
Only color I have yet seen to make brand new Volvos look like ish before even rolling off the showroom floor...

Maverick, Prime, & Millis seem to be some of the best starters, all things considered.


Yes you can get "rich" depending on your cost-of-living, standards, & expenses;

UPS, UPS freight, FedEx Freight, Estes, Old dominion, Walmart private fleet, golden state foods, penske logistics, ryder logistics, Cassens, A&R bulk, Superior Carriers, Quality Carriers, fuel tankers, medical supply deliveries, etc. are all well compensated jobs that involve driving a truck, & most (LTL) get you home either every night or every week making way more money with 2 days a week off than almost any general OTR driver doing full months.

 

Allright, miles and miles. I re-read your post and I think I know where you're coming from. I'll quit ragging on ya.

 

Hi all, great stuff, I am considering private schools and a couple of the training co's and this industry seems very similar to all the trades, too many lousy employers working guys/gals too hard and long for too little money, and too many btm feeders that cant get decent paying work anywhere else, but as many point out here if you do some research and talk to some of the highly recommended co's here you dont have to work for nothing or start at the btm. You do however need a clean dmv, solid job history, and a good professional attitude and you would be surprised at the opportunities. I think the ease that you can get a driving job is a big part of what makes this industry what it is, that is both good and bad. It does mean that you do have to do some work to find a good fit, but they are out there and good people are in high demand in this industry, that is very obvious. I found this forum by accident and it has provided every possible answer I have had with regard to anything related to driving, specific companies and their programs to o/o that are more than willing to help and provide detailed information. If you are interested in a company search it here and you will learn much more than you will at their websites, both good and bad. I also have the advantage of a father who is a retired driver, a brother and two stepbrothers that drive and a stepfather who owned 4 rigs to get info from, but I have found more here than anywhere else. Thanks everyone!!

 

My uncle drove for Matlack and retired from them in 1973 he was making $36,000 a year! I have driven 12 years my self but when we took a hit with the economy we took a wallop that we will not recover from. As I was in the office one day before heading out I came across a industry magazine where a company was bragging about a 253% increase of profit in their first quarter! But low did the drivers get any of it after seeing their vacation disappear or a reduction in benefits, NO! After 12 years and the pay as it is might at as well find a job that pays a bit less, be home, enjoy the shower with the wife, enjoy a home cooked meal, see the boy play sports or a evening of fishing than sitting in a DC out of hours awaiting to be awakened and told to get off their property.