Never drive for a company that starts you out below .40 cents a mile!

We get mileage bonus, fuel bonus safety bonus. Those bonuses are paid monthy, quarterly, and yearly. Monthly bonises are in excess of $1100 and mileage chexks are aroind $900 give or take. Then add your quarterly bonuese about $1500 then yearley bonuses about $2000. So every third month i get over $2500 jist in bonuses. Ill get my weekly for that month and the next week my quarterly... A team gets every mile the truck runs.

Ask anyone who works for DHT.. We are paid weekly... And this excludes full insurance being taken out. I also contribute to my 401k which I max out...

These drivers can't see past the fact that .25-30 team or .35-.45 for solo doesn't mean crap if your not getting miles. A low base rate doesn't mean a thing if your getting good obtainable bonuses. Haven't missed a bonus yet.

I average over $1100 a week take home. Thats after insurance and maxing company matched 401k. Makes me feel bad when guys are talking about 4-600 take home.

 

I agree with the OP, but this position overlooks the fact that there are a good amount of drivers out there that due to criminal background, driving history, etc. are lucky to get whatever job will take them. To you or I (people with a decent background), $.32/cpm might sound laughable. Gigs like that are intended to lure in people that either: 1. Can't qualify for something else, or 2. Aren't bright enough to look for something better.

i.e. My take home at my LTL gig for putting in 35-40 hours a week (just a trainee at the moment) is about what someone in that boat is going to get for putting in over 60 hours/week. That assumes they're able to average about 3,000 miles a week, which...in my area....would necessitate a LOT of night driving. That doesn't get into the fact that when their ###### truck breaks down or they're sitting in traffic, they're basically doing so for free.

I'm sure there's plenty of people in this thread that make more than I do (I don't make THAT much money), but I'm happy with what I'm making at the moment, even though it's a significant pay cut from my previous job in another industry, because: 1. The employer is good to me, 2. My co-workers are good people that are decent enough to treat people how they'd want to be treated, 3. I get to sleep in my own bed every night, etc.

 

Household mileage. Its very close. Sometimes over sometimes under but never more then 50 miles off on a 2000 trip.

Solos are 2800-3200 a week. Teams are 6-7k. Never had a week less then 5500 miles unless I barely miss the cut off for pay period. Then its a give and take cause it just inflates the next week to 8000 miles

 

Absolutely right that Southern California is expensive!!! That's why I'm moving to Texas in a couple weeks (have family there) and going to CDL school. My grandparents have agreed to loan me the amount to pay the school (which I've very thankful for because they are retired).

I could go to a training company for free but I see the value of going to a private school so I can sign on with a better company (read: better pay and health insurance) - even if it means putting myself in a deeper hole for a few months.

I am lucky enough that my step-mom has allowed me to live with her in exchange for physical labor out here in California otherwise I'd be on the streets.

 

If you want to bring up my past experience as a poor college kid living in a shared apartment for 4 years, we can do that. Its possible to live off of $700 a month. I've done it. Do I recommend it for a family? Or even a single man/woman trying to succeed/exceed in life. Who'd want to live like that for the rest of his/her life? And when I say new, I don't mean a brand new car.

Having your own house is an investment... or was at one time... who knows now. Having a home is a necessity. It doesn't have to be fancy or in a fancy neighborhood, but its better than throwing away $650 a month for a small beat up 2 bedroom apartment for you or your family. $200 a month for food, even organic, isn't much. I'd say maybe a little above average. I've certainly lived off of $125 to $150. I'm sure others can beat that price, but I try to save money buying in bulk or "whole foods" (not the store).

Someone in my situation, shouldn't worry about cash, but it would sure be nice to retire before I'm 65... or is that asking for too much?

But you're right. I'm sure I can cut back. I can find an apartment to share with someone. Only use electricity for the refrigerator, hot water heater and lights. I already gave up cable so that shouldn't be a problem. I can end my internet bill of $50 a month. Cut my phone plan to $30 a month or pre-plan. Give up my car and ride my bike to bus stops. Shop at winco or wal-mart and check the food banks for stale bread. Hell, I could probably live off of $500 a month. And since I want to be an OTR, I could probably live on $200 a month if I gave up all connections to the real world and just sleep at homeless shelters. It takes a special kind of person to do it, a dramatic cultural lifestyle change, but it can be done. So should I make a big deal if someone complains that they are only making $250 a week because I tell them that I am easily able to survive off of $200 a month? No.

 

Better yet, why even work for a company that pays per mile? Hourly is much better. Today is don't work for under 40cents, tomorrow don't work for under 50 cents. What you think op? How bout the inexperienced? Is 40 cents a fair rate for them?

 

Here's the problem I see with many drivers claims about pay: NOTHING IN THE INDUSTRY IS EVER CONSISTENT!!!!!

I laugh at the 32 cpm guys who say that they ALWAYS run 3,000 miles or more EVERY WEEK, all year, and then post their best check from the year expecting us to believe they make that regularly.

Well, everyone knows that that's impossible in the industry, yet no one wants to admit it. Let's talk about bad weeks, because you're going to have more bad weeks than good ones. At 32 cpm, 1,500 will give you a gross of $460, and you likely went through your 70's making that big money.