What do Drivers need most?

Listen to your drivers
Have decent trucks that are not governed below 65
APU's & inverters
Good mileage pay and the miles to earn it
Pay for all time spent working even when the truck isn't moving
Good home time
Incentive pay for short hauls
Don't hire recruiters, just be good to your drivers. A happy driver bragging to other drivers about how good he has it at your company is the best recruitment tool a company could have.

 

I'm curious what your background is Sir.

Have you been a driver or have you worked in logistic operations?

 

I want to see more collaboration between companies, and the development of a relay network, so drivers can go to work for 8-10 hours, then go home and have a life. Pay and benefits need improvement industry wide.

 

My first trucking job. And I landed with a Dream company.

Company is Super nice and helpful from the head of operations down to the mechanics in the shop.

Top quality Western Star Gliders ungoverened. Safety allows 5 over without penalty. Up to 10 over for a limited time.

Nice sleepers with epu and big fridges, Any mechanical or comfort requests are immediately met. What ever it takes to keep us happy.

Dispatch is super easy going as long as we do our part. Time off and vacation requests are always met even after only 3 months.

Pay is fair, but not getting rich.

That about outlines it for me.

 

Not to take away from this thread, you can also find my origin story over in the intro section. Short story...not a driver, maybe one day. Friends an family in the industry and it's something I'm interested in. Hence why I generally post in regards to everybody things as I call it. I only posted in this thread for the benefit of Dave. Genies have a wicked sense of humor so I wanted to make sure he was a bit more specific on his wishes.

I guess you could also say I have a background with logistics. Shipping an Receiving, working warehouses an docks. Even done a bit of time being a helper with an uncle who does the big truck moving thing.

Apologies to the OP. I didn't mean to hijack your thread, didn't want @Dino soar thinking I was ignoring his question. Hopefully I've never given the impression I'm a driver, as it was not my intent. I'm not one who claims to be something their not. I find the people who actually do it tend to spot that right away. So eff all that drama. I'm just hear to learn, make someone laugh, and remind you folks not everyone who isn't a trucker/driver hates you or is out to get you. Sometimes it's easy to forget that with all the morons out there.

Well that was a boring post to everyone but Dino who asked I imagine. lol. I should have gone with the "When I was young I was bitten by a radioactive spider..." story. /sigh.

Sirscrapntruckalot - The mystery is gone now.

 

do not get discouraged by posts like this... you do NOT need 100k per driver.. that is ridiculous
you need 3-4 thou to start a trucking company with insurance down payment and all the permits..
get load board, rent a trailer, find good truck down payment maybe 5-10k
get a factoring company to pay you invoices overnight..
might need few thou for first week for fuel.. and that about it..
this truck will make you enough money in first month or two to put down payment for a second truck....
make a plan like that and repeat every 2 months.... be consistent..
take care of each driver, be honest, respectful, pay them on time and you are golden.. in 2 years time, you will have an empire built. its really that simple.. its not for everyone because there is a lot of stress involved.. there is a lot of loony drivers out there that will make your life miserable regardless of how nice you are towards them.. but if this is the path you choose to go.. then do it right and go all in.. little secret (after 2 years of having successful business, you can get a line of credit for more than 1 mil, for cheap.. then you can start getting like 10 trucks at a time, or buy your own trailers or whatever) second secret: as soon as you pay off each truck, sell it for cash, use some of it for new truck down payment, and rest is your clean profit, it will take 3-4 years until you start paying off the equipment, but its worth the wait..you are all welcome BEST OF LUCK

 

Okay Mr. Super trucker, whatever you say. You've made a lot of assumptions about the question the OP made, and nowhere did I state that it would cost $100k per employee. We have no idea if he is planning on starting a company with his own authority, or buying a few trucks to lease onto another company. Had you ever actually started an O/O company operating under your own authority with only a single truck and yourself as the driver, you would realize how ridiculously low and unrealistic your cost estimates are. Insurance alone for a new DOT number today can run $20k or more per year. Drivers running their own business under their own authority with their own equipment are in a completely different league than leased drivers, and the difference in earnings between the two reflects that difference.

 

Screen your drivers. What i see out here you may have a 50% shot at getting a good one. Or is that to harsh?

 

Seeing as We are Federally regulated, how about a Federally regulated MINIMUM wage for each
Type of Equipment/endorsement? I'd start for OTR/Regional around..
Dry Van...$75k
Reefer $80k
Flats $85k
Tanker/bulk $90 to $100k
Specialized, oversized.... $120k
ETC....
Lay off recruiters, stop advertising cuz you wouldn't have too. Funnel that money into pay, benefits, etc
Just starting points.... I realize there are many more categories in trucking. BUT, the drivers can't milk it either... its a collaboration.
You'd have no trouble getting good qualified applicants....more experience, better wages. I think of these as entry wages.

 

Not sure why you quoted me?