Team driving?

Aside from ODFL I think R&L treats their teams pretty good. And they have property in Pigeon Forge TN and I think Arizona or Florida or something, maybe both, that you can vacation at. I teamed with Estes for a bit, money was ok but nothing more than you’d bring home runnin solo with them. No sign on bonus or anything but the benefits were right. Plus paid holidays off is cool, and they only keep you out a week unless you tell them you want to stay running. Screwin with sets tho can be kind of annoying especially if you’re trying to sleep while your co-driver is hookin em but whatever. If you’re dead set on teaming it’s hard to beat the culture of LTL. UPS Freight I think is rolling at almost $1.50 a mile to the truck so that’s what, 74 or something cents per driver for every mile? That’s not too shabby. If that pay was a chick I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating crackers!

 

Sitting in Hawaii lol (for a month). I like your style. Vacation pay is nice but it’s not a paid vacation. I’m with these guys about a $40k bonus. Show me the money.

 

When you see an advertised salary, 99% of the time that is what the highest paid driver either made last year or could potentially make this year under precisely perfect circumstances.

You will definitely make more money teaming than you will solo. That’s for a reason. Teaming is insane. Gogogogo. It isn’t for everyone. I don’t recommend it. That said, I made about 7k per month doing it at the bottomest of the bottom feeders.

 

If the truck did 6000 miles in a round trip between Avenel NJ and LA California, that's going to be .78 to the truck with me and the spouse. Our gross paycheck will be roughly 4650 for the 6 days and change and it goes to the same banking joint checking account for the two of us direct deposit. Minust about 40% in deductions plus another 100 fed and 175 state from each of us in additional W2 deduction. (That's about around 550 dollars a week going to Uncle Sam as cold cash interest free) against taxes for the current year and the refund check that sometimes reaches 5 figures come the new year in Feb forms the foundation of a new savings nest to start the new trucking year. So call it 32000 dollars gone in taxes, withholding, social security, medicare and local taxes etc) and about another 25000 gone as cash to be refunded minus taxes, per diem deductions etc in the end of Feb once filed electronically halfway through Jan. The rest, around 18000 was our expenses for trucking year and household bills that were essentially nothing at all. Electric was 20, gas was maybe 8 and there was suspended insurance on both vehicles in abyeance, house and lands paid for free and clear water was paid ahead once a year at 1000 per annum to the city. They refunded what we did not use or carried over into the new year. We did not then or now get water bills to pay. The cell phone at 200 a month was the one biggest bill in those days what with the constant touching of Canadian towers in roaming charges up north near Seattle. We fight the phone company all the time for that.We are truckers, we don't roam. Once in a while we forget that we are in Ontario and make the calls. Those come up to 500 to 1000 dollars really quickly those you just paid. The spouses tuition came to 3800. Half paid by FFE, other half pay by us cash.

When you have the kind of money floating in life to where you two become seriously not caring about actual money it can sit and rot in the bank. (And did...) 9-11 came along and changed that attitude.

In those days to hire a team got you a 5000 dollar cash check reward, plus a up front bonus of 1000 each to show up into orientiation ready to go. everything else is taken care of on asking. Want ten new virgin tires? Say it and it;s put on. No arguing. Want a new serta matress for that bunk? It's in there. Both of them brand new. No arguing. A brand new truck? here you go. Hope you like the auto. Because we know "She" will love it.

It's incredibly spoiling to have 30,000 in the bank and put another 5000 dollars deposit into it. You literally don;t care what you do. You cannot spend it all in one night. And if your company effed up the paperwork and you don;t get paid? Its not a problem. They refuse to pay the 6.00 post 9-11 fuel bill? You paid it. I think one company dug in saying that we should not have filled all 320 gallons that day at 1900 something odd dollars. We paid it cash and kept going. Didnt even make much of a dent in our account. We got that money back eventually. (There was gouging going on in some areas of the USA at that time... one truckstop tried to charge 12.00 for fuel here in Arkansas. They were ordered to halt fuel sales. That little episode cost them a bunch of money and potentially the very ability to hold a license to sell fuel in that state in those days.

I can go on.

But when you are a team, making a bunch of money hand over fist with no time to actually stop and spend some of it because you are already late on your next national run (You gonna make it? One dispatcher asked us when we left Avenel NJ onto ROute one south asking that we have 8 minutes to spare to make LA.

I told him to take the governor speed off our truck and let us find out if we will make LA within that 8 minutes of appt time. They did not take the 63 mph gov off and we made it in 4 minutes to the good. But that was our last cross country run of that kind with them. It's a bit touchy to my emotions to say yes dispatcher we will make it to LA inabout 3 to 6 minutes prior to your appointment time across the whole freaking country and two storms coming through betting the entire job on that statement and you are not even out of the Avenel Limits yet and already speeding through the traffic lights on 1 at about 47 mph (Limit is 35... for about 40 miles worth until like 287...)

Most people cannot barely get to the doctors office on time across town. Much less get across the USA on time.

But we enjoyed the money. Those days are gone forever. 20000 dollars a month cash solves many problems and causes the banking people to smile at you when you bother to visit.

 

Keep dreaming lol. Personally I like Tahiti during my home time. Better beach. The Tahitian royal family send a private jet to fetch me anytime I say.