My first couple months with Shaffer / Crete

All new drivers for Crete/Shaffer are watched a bit closer, and put under special managers who are presumably better trained to help drivers new to the company get settled.

A Stevens review is definitely doable. I worked for them for 14 months.

 

I have a very high expectation for miles, and am very aggressive about seeking them out, though I also am polite when doing so. My weekly mileage goal is 4000 miles. I will rarely, if ever, get there, but I do consider 3000 miles driven in a week to be poor mileage. I do not run on recaps. I drive as much as I can, every day, until I am forced to 34, then start again.

He is saying that my expectations are too high. That is not the case right now. Not with the miles available to Shaffer currently.

 

I've just received my 25th payment from Crete. My first payday was 03/23.
Some drivers will say they make X money working for Y company.
I am doing the same, but I am providing evidence.

Here is a list of the payments I have received:


And here is my 24th pay stub, out of the 25 listed above:
(Sorry the image is sideways. The forum image handler is broken and changes the orientation of the image from what it should be.)


Now. 24 weeks. $28,969 gross. The first couple weeks were my orientation week, and I took a few days home time immediately after getting a load to my home terminal.

That's about $1207 gross per week average, including my first couple weeks when things were a bit slow. That will average out to around $62,766 per year, though the number will likely be a little higher due to the initial slow two weeks and one extended 6-day home time I had to take.

I drive OTR and stay on the road 30-40+ days at a time, then spend 4 days at home. I am also on the BOTTOM of the Shaffer driver pay scale, at 49 CPM. This gross pay does not include the yearly bonus which I have heard Crete/Shaffer/Hunt offers but I haven't seen it yet, so I'm not entirely certain how it works.

I do not chase my 70. I hunt it down, beat it to death, then sleep on it. That allows me to occasionally drive more hours in a week than would be possible for a driver who chases their 70. It also allows me a full day off every week while someone chasing their 70 drives every single day.

So, there's an update with real money numbers.

Now for the self-serving part. If you decide to apply with Crete / Shaffer / Hunt after reading this, I'd love you to tell the folks in recruiting that I recruited you (Employee Code BURM12.) That's $1000 in my pocket if you do, and I like money!

(If the self-serving part is too annoying, I can delete it. I think I've been fair in my comments, and haven't painted a picture of Crete/Shaffer/Hunt that is unrealistic.)

 

Well, after 8 months with Shaffer, and having several issues where taking 34s irritated my driver manager, I decided to give them an opportunity to show me they can keep me busy with 3000-3500 miles per week from the beginning of last week until 20 Dec when I come home again.

I prefer to roll all I can every day as the potential income is better (if the miles are there, and they mostly have been) but if I can average 3300+ miles per week rolling slack and chasing my 70, I can deal with that, and my driver manager and I won't butt heads over my 34s.

Will keep you all posted.

 

I keep a log book, and also store every load in a separate manila envelope with the dates I rolled on it, so no need to download electronic logs.