I just got hired by USF Reddaway

$800/week if there is no downtime. No work from the end of June to the end of September.
First time motor carrier. We had to take on that title when we needed to buy our own semi-truck for the farm..... Boss man burned some bridges with our delivery services... They're learning as much as I am right now.

 

With downtime that works out to $32K per year. That's terrible with no benefits.
Do you want to run coast to coast or Western 11 states?

 

Your like a friggin placement service.

 

I'd like to stick around California because I live in the Bay Area, but, I haven't got much requirement for home time. This is the first day I've been home since I started two months ago! Sleeper cab every day.

I like the western states, but I can't say I've got a real preference yet. Whatever my next gig is, I just want a company that respects my HOS and doesn't ##### when I tell them, "nope, 70 hours means I leave the truck here and go home for a day."

 

Leavitt's Freight Service
Watkins-Shepard
Northern Refrigerated Transportation

 

As soon as my contract is up, its bye bye crumby job and hello real wages! (hopefully, the trucks wont drive themselves entirely by then. Fingers crossed.)

 

Hey Cugino,

Been working NorCal, basically the Bay Area, since 2012. $18 an hour is about what you will get out here as a company driver the further out you go like Sac/Stockton/Fresno they drop to $16 or less (independent contractor low ball bidding).

Mail carrier and package delivery seem to be the strongest and longest through thick and thin. They black out November and December and require night driving.

Kraft-Heinz is shutting down the coffee plant in San Leandro.

Rail like UP is 24hr but can take a long minute to get a container off a pile or chassis.

Amazon built a for-USPS relay warehouse in Fremont and yanked their On-trac contract nearby.

Other port operations for company (want to go owner op) would be Devine and Uti (just bought Market Trans). ITS pays about the same hourly in the port.

I'm doing flat bed wood and dry van beer at the moment on top of mainly doing containers. My 1st year with it as my own carrier though. Only saw 2 ships on the docks last Friday and everything else in the bay is empty. SSA took on Taiwan's Evergreen while they put Nutter under construction and are closing the appointment line so congestion is double the norm with 1 to 3 containers per day and long detention time and frustrated drivers rampaging the piers.

We'd be better off working legacy in the hostlers waiting on the Canal to widen and automation to kick in.

 

Reddaway is an old and big company with many different divisions. Get your tanker and double/triple endorsement. Don't have to use it but I know it is an automatic pay raise for many that do pull doubles like reddaway. Doubles are fun and keep you fit as an ox pushing the dolly around. Bobtail, must mean you are doing last mile LTL deliveries/pick-ups with or without a lift gate and pallet jack and e-tracks.

As far as your Owner-Op: Stay company as long as possible get a house with an affordable mortgage first then save a little at a time in a place you will forget about. My credit is diving from really good to satisfactory. You'll want an older truck that you like in looks and buy a new engine to be CARB compliant and will save you the most money. Sign on with OOIDA and have them do all the company formation and permits. I did it all myself and wouldn't wish the process on my worst enemy. Even after writing notes I can still barely remember what is required before what. Cali has a minimum $800 tax too with no way to write off expenses below that like the federal and city/county.