Comcar - CT Transportation Info From New Driver

As far as I know all the Comcar subsidiaries have the same home time policy. They did not do hair follicle drug testing when I started 4 months ago.

Here is a current compilation of my stats in 2015. The first number is the total (hub) miles driven, the second number is the number of paid miles, and the third number is the logged "On Duty" hours for the week. Keep in mind that On Duty hours doesn't include all the waiting at the shipper and consignee.

2015, 1717, 46
1854, 1580, 47
2301, 2170, 54
2825, 2509, 54
2376, 2118, 50
2482, 2383, 50
1701, 1468, 37
2176, 1998, 48
2462, 2380, 55 (Worked the weekend)
2779, 2534, 59
1669, 1569, 42
2336, 2172, 54
2762, 2630, 59

This year has averaged 2094 paid miles/week.

 

On average I'm consistently seeing about 10% unpaid miles. The difference is because the fastest and preferred routes are usually interstates, whereas the paid miles are based on the Rand McNally shortest distance from zip to zip.

As an aside, I keep good records of everything and reconcile my pay stub each week with my own records. As a result, I've discovered more than a half dozen discrepancies that would have cost me more than $100. The company was good at including the missed pay in my next check, but I think it points out the need for drivers to closely monitor their pay.

By the way, I just finished another 2600 mile week.

 

Given the same circumstances I think I would make the same decision. The big pluses are that they take students right out of CDL school, the weekly home time policy, and automatic transmissions. I've looked for other flatbed companies that offer these advantages and just haven't found a better company that hires drivers in the southeast. The money and the equipment aren't the best out there, but I've been able to make decent miles/money with hard work. I meet a lot of other drivers who started with CT and moved to other companies for more money, but they all speak highly of CT. I know it's a tough decision, but I don't think you can go wrong starting with CT. They realize that many drivers will leave after 6 months to a year, and they're still willing to train new drivers and take the risks associated with them. On the flip side, there are a lot of CT drivers who've been with the company for 10-20 years, and I can see why.

Good luck to anyone who's been following this thread and are faced with the same decision. My purpose in starting this thread was to provide as much information as possible to make that decision a little easier.

 

Finding a place to park a big truck on weekends is a little more difficult than I expected. I would suggest checking with Lowes, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart. You may also be able to park at a truckstop or a parking lot associated with an abandoned or never-completed business, shopping center, or mall. Good luck.