Crete / Shaffer pay raise announced for OTR drivers

I was going to go w/ Crete / Shaffer before I found out that OD was hiring in my area. I went to a private CDL school and got my hazmat, doubles / triples, and tank endorsements. I got on as a linehaul driver and am currently at .58 cpm and average 2500 miles a week. I'm home every day and get two days off. For Thanksgiving, I was at home with my family, getting paid for 9 hours of work eating Turkey, at $20.65 an hour for holiday pay.

I love Old Dominion and know I'm very fortunate to get a linehaul position as a rookie. I routinely clear $1,000 weekly after all taxes and deductions. If I didn't have the Old Dominioin opportunity, I was going to roll with Crete or Shaffer. But I'm extremely thankful for my job and love working for ODFL.

 

i love people with 1 year figuring they know everything about the racket
lucky if they know enough to know what they want

 

freightwipper - I started reading some of your threads awhile ago, especially when I thought I was definitely going w/ Crete / Shaffer. So if I read correctly, you no longer work for Shaffer, corrrect? Are you currently driving for another company or waiting to choose one? Do you have any opportunities available to get on w/ an LTL company? Or do you still wanna run OTR?

I've noticed that where there's one LTL company terminal, there's another. Near my home terminal, there's also ABF, YRC, Estes, R&L, Central, UPS F, Fed Ex Freight, Conway-Freight ... you get the point. All within a 1/2 hour drive. In fact, ABF is almost a stone's throw away from my OD terminal.

 

Yep, it's a funny thing. Some drivers love OTR for the adventure and lifestyle, and would find linehaul very boring. Personally, I'm not the adventurous type, not anymore. I love routine, knowing where I'm going, knowing what's at each mile marker, the consistency and schedule. I'd probably still prefer linehaul even if I was single, I just might've run across the country more doing longer linehaul runs.

I hope you have tons of new experiences and wish you the best in your future endeavors. I'll probably peek at your upcoming thread from time to time, perhaps live vicariously a bit.

 

This doesn't answer my question. Bottom line is if Crete/Shaffer pays practical miles then there is no way he should be driving 2700 miles a week and only be paid for 2300 like he said.

That's a 15% difference, worse than HHG! ... Practical miles should only be off by 5%, tops.

 

The practical miles will be very close to actual miles. You will drive very few unpaid miles.

While working for Crete, I once took a load from Twin Falls, ID, to Laredo, TX. I followed the routing on the qcomm. It was mostly US hwy. Non-interstate. I got there in 115 miles less than what the paid miles were. So I got paid for 115 miles I didn't even drive on that load. Practical mileage pay is a good thing.