HeartLand Express Unaccountability

In that ontario, you are away from home just as much, but making less!

 

I stay OTR because I’m single, don’t have kids, and doing the same thing and going to the same places all the time gets old and boring very quickly. I’ve been temporarily side lined in the past for medical reasons and couldn’t work for a month or more. I remember how quickly being home all the time became mind numbingly dull and how much I wished I was in a truck, preferably somewhere west of the Rockies. As a single man with no kids, the parts and pieces of “normal life” that you miss when you’re OTR become monotonous when you’re not anymore, even when it’s only temporary.

 

While I entirely agree with the sentiment of your post, I think you math is very optimistic.

$26,918 / 26weeks / 70 hours/week = $14.79 an hour straight time.

In WA state you should be getting overtime. So:

$26,918/ 26weeks/ (40 hour straight + 30x1.5 hours overtime) = $12.18 considering overtime. That is just a shade over the minimum wage in WA.

My guess is you actually worked more hours then you logged.

 

What were the lies that you discovered on day one.

… .ignore that.

 

Unless you want to be on the road as I did when I went OTR. I put my stuff in storage, gave up my apartment and took all the loads I could get. Eventually I got tired of the east coast. Not the weather---the people SUCK!

 

A lot of this is true. Just realize not everyone values the same thing you do. You can't have much of a "life" with the 4 week / 5 day off ratio and that's just fine for some people. I'd have a hard time doing this even just a decade ago but now with smart phones, laptops and gaming systems it's easy...and the job is EASY. It's very simple, straightforward and rarely stressful. Sometimes I go 2 weeks without even hearing the voice of my dispatcher. I've seen things and met people that I never would have unless I was doing this.

I haven't done daycab work yet but I can tell you this. I hate traffic and I hate moving trailers around cities. Oh and I would HATE having to commute to work to drive a truck. I have a close friend who quit OTR and went daycab work and another who used to do it. They both admit to me they actually get less free time doing daycab work because they get every single hour squeezed out of them possible and then they have to commute to and from home. So I guess it's just how much you value being home in your bed every night. If you have family or someone you're trying to see everyday then I imagine it's worth it.

Let's not forget how big of a deal making 65k is under these circumstances either. You name me another career path I could take that under 1 years experience I could gross this cash without a degree. That's a big deal for someone in their 20s who didn't go to college.

So yeah it's not for everyone and I don't want to do it indefinitely either but it's comforting to know that aslong as I kept my CDL current I could come back to do this at anytime. No hoop jumping.

 

Well Nuffy, if he is an "outsourced" recruiter he is still acting as an agent for HL. If HL allows this practice they are just as big a liar as the recruiter.

 

The rental car thing is bull####. And the going to their doctor at his expense.

 

My hrly rate was based on CPM- Assessorials- days on the road & hrs working per my logs.

I had a weeks worth of accumulated lost time due to truck issues that I did not put a pay request in for because I was not willing to drive another employees seated truck during that time.

I have been a truck owner. I run programs that give me gross & net revenue per day- week & month, track living costs, out of state sales taxes & keep track of expenses that can be deducted at years end.
All the data is put into the grinder & gave me that hrly rate. I included any 2 hr period not covered by detention as a minus as well as bonuses paid for sign-on & operating incentives as a plus.
Trust me, $17.95 was the round off figure I made. When I pay my taxes my effective tax rate will be in the 7-8% range, far less then then the local driver I am now.

 

Agreed, I did the same thing. But for me the traveling could not make up for the lifestyle & long hrs & regulations anymore. For me I just didn't want to be the old guy past retirement age walking stiffly to the T/S bathroom hoping that a stall is open. OTR has it's appeal & advantages but I did it for 2 decades, time to move on.