Miles per week

From a salty Navy dawg to a grunt, Thank you for your service.


I think a lot of it depends on how well your able to manage your time on the road, how long your willing to be out without going home. Also how good your dispatcher is at getting you the loads and such.

 

Thanks for your service as well and welcome home to the cilvillian world! Good to see another Vet getting in. I would suggest to take all they give you and request more. You're already going to be getting the lowest cpm. So anything over whats acceptable to you is bonus to your pay. Figure they're going to run and test you anyway because you are new and that shouldn't be a problem for you as long as you do it safely and within the law. Just like reporting to a new duty station, show em what youre made of...WHOA!!

 

Just to put aside a misconception on how loads are dispatched...the dispatcher, or load planner, dispatch according to several criteria. They DO NOT have favorites that are taken care of first. They do have a good memory tho.
There are certain accounts that are covered before others...and they dispatch (as much as possible) according to that load's need.
If it's a 2,000 mile load with 3 days on it, they look for a team of some sort. If they can't find one, they'll use a solo. But that's where the trouble begins. That solo can't do it, so it will likely be repowered off of them and most drivers look at it as 'being stolen' from them.
No... the load planner needs to get it picked up and moving. The plan is to ALWAYS deliver on time. A load planner's concern is the load... not the driver.
A driver manager's concern is the driver (as well as the freight). So if you get a load that can't be delivered on time, the first thing you need to do is work with your DM so it can be repowered in a way that doesn't leave you in the middle of nowhere, losing miles and sitting around.
And by the time the WNWC has it fall in their sites, our concern is to recover the load and get it delivered on time. Hence our name.
Now more to the question of the poster...
When you first go out as a grad fleet driver, you will get loads with plenty of time. The idea is to give you a load you can make mistakes and still deliver on time. It's not uncommon to get a load that has 900 miles with three days, then you end up in the meat patch.
But anyone that reads these posts would likely be shocked by the number of drivers that will deliver that load late!
We on the inside watch new drivers. When we see a driver move the load promptly and end up at the delivery point a couple days early, we REMEMBER.
Likely the next load will have less (excess) time and it develops that way.
New drivers earn the better loads. And there are those that never earn a better load.
Now if you've been driving for Stevens for three years and the load planner sees your name...they already remember you. If you're a decent driver, you'll be dispatched with a better load than the G3 driver that averages 300 miles per day.
If there's a critical load, you can bet the planner is looking for a driver that won't let him/her down.
Because there is a post mortem on every failed load, and you can bet the first finger to point is towards the planner.
So finally, to answer the poster's question?
First 6 months, you'll probably average around 2300 miles and that should work up to around 2800 by 15-18 months.
Some do better, some worse, depending on where you are willing to run and how well you do with it.
I can tell you that drivers who constantly whine about their loads, complain about the number of stops or picks and flatly refuse to go into certain cities (like NYC or LA) will be on the lower end.

 

Thanks for the inside scoop!! As a newbie reading posts, it sounds as though you guys are abusing them to death!! Good to know how the system ACTUALLY works! Thanks again

 

That is a pretty spot on depiction of how it goes. Best advice is to be open and honest with your Fleet Manager, do not call excessively over little things that you should be figuring out on your own and go with the flow. Remember, the more safe miles that you run the more money the company makes so it is an untruth to hear of ANY company that wants to limit driver miles.

 

Also note your cpm does goes up pretty quickly when you are out on the road, time flys. Anyways I left at around 9 months or so and was making .29 and was running close to 3000 miles a week. I also took more time off then normal due to family medical issues. I just ran when I was out there and was always bumping my 70 and just had to plan on getting a run with extra time so I could sit a few hours to gain back hours.
Like others have said get out there and run, work with your DM, keep complaints at a minimum and be early if possible. Enjoy and have fun. Also use your trainer as a trainer, listen to him and take note of how he works with his DM, Planners and Dispatchers. You will be surprised how much you can learn from him that helps in the back office kind of way.

 

The thing I've learned that tends to rank pretty high is also pretty simple....its your job, your destiny so to speak. How you approach it will determine how it treats you.
Some drivers, even with the best intentions, can fall victim to the feeling entitled/being denied trap. No matter who you ultimately choose, there will be good and bad. Your success will depend on which you choose to focus on and which you choose to minimize.
You'll get what you give. Sometimes you'll give more, sometimes you'll get more, but will usually be a reflection of your effort.