Normal Truck Driver Starting Pay

Everyone is different. How much pay are you willing to work for?

Make sure you check to see if they are including per diem in the pay as when they pay you per diem it makes what you are getting paid look better than it really is when comparing to a company that is not including per diem in their pay.

 

I wouldn't put a lot of emphasis on cpm. The accessorial pays are what really add up. Drivers have posted on here that make over .40 cpm and looking for a new company due to low miles. I've posted this before; with all my experience, I was making .36 cpm which to many seems low,but, I was making $65K per year due to high miles and excellent accessorial pays.

How did I get such good miles? Pulling tankers, didn't have to deal with grocery warehouses and other type warehouses where you may spend hours getting loaded or unloaded. With tankers, on a perfect day, it takes about an hour to load/unload, then you're rolling down the highway again.

If you can't get tankers right out of the gate, you can after a few months experience.

 

Doing math at 2500 miles a week? What about breakdowns, ice storms and time off?

Anyway companies out there still pay below .30 like Stevens for example is pretty much the worst paying out there.
Personally met a CR England drivers with over a year experience getting .29

.35 is an OKAY starting number for a noob.. I'd say that's slightly above average for OTR noobs.
Some out there pay more but what's most important is a solid training program in whatever you pick.
Heck if you get into LTL they'll start you in the .50s and pay on duty time. ABF and ODFL take noobs according to their sites.
Then you have flatbed where you can get % pay. Plus tanker but don't a noob can get into tanker right away easily.

Besides pay research this site, look up the company CSA scores.. find out what kind of areas the company runs etc etc.
Oh yeah and research some more lol.

 

Never factor in 'accessorial pay' or 'bonuses'. You very seldom see them and/or end up fighting for them every time. Figure out your bills on "base pay" only....then any other monies you MAY get are just icing on the cake.

 

Another thing that you've got to consider is benefits. It doesn't much matter if you're making $0.40/mile if the company has a crappy healthcare plan (you're going to be shelling out $300+/month for a single plan), their 401k match is pathetic (you could be making an additional $200+/month in "free"/match money elsewhere), etc.

Add to that the additional pays (i.e. Detainment, tarping for flatbeds, etc.) and you've got a lot to think about. You've got to look at the total benefits package. Companies that just throw out a big CPM rate are banking on new/young drivers being too inexperienced and/or stupid to factor things like that into the equation.

Wherever you go...start up with the company 401k plan ASAP and contribute enough to AT LEAST get 100% of the company matching/free money.