For the Newer Drivers, Advance your career!

I work for a mega.

I'm home every week.

I made over $80,000 last year.

In November a small local company offered me a job with the promise I would make at least $60,000, being out 3 weeks at a time. If I stayed out 6 weeks, I could make $75,000.


Some of us make good money working for the megas.

 

If you're doing good at a mega, say 75k + and it fits you I don't see a point in jumping ship unless its a good line haul gig or local where you can do 80-100k a year. Grass isn't always greener.

If the mean is say 62k at a company you know for sure their go to get er done guys are bringing down much more than Joe blow door slammer

 

I all y'all got this mixed up. It doesn't matter if you're making $30k or $100k you're still sitting on your ### driving down the road. Not much advancement really. Not saying making for money is, just not advancement.

 

Company drivers should not work for less than $1.00 / mile.

 

So the guy likes where he works, he didn't seem to get screwed over because he seems to made a good living off of them and what he felt was good compensation.

So not mentioned is the reality of all of this so I will mention it, not to piss on your parade but drivers don't have much choice unless to step out of the box and become better than the other driver who he "competes" with, then they are not much more than just another driver.

You and others don't seem to get that the reason we ALL have problems is because we HAVE TOO MANY DRIVERS, this is because of the revolving door/JUST A JOB mentality drivers have. Just look around dude, read how easy it is for someone with a crap driving record or some bad behavior (drinking/drug use) get their CDL.

You want to offer some useful advice, then start with telling people to fight against the Megas by getting this driver thing recognized as a skill trade, it is that simple.

Oh and if that happens, then many drivers will have to go, others will have to stand up to the crap some driver's pull and all of the drivers will have to further fight to make this a close shop with real cdl licensing and apprenticeship to a driver position.

 

I respectfully disagree.

Let's assume a scenario on the low end of the scale, let's assume a driver only wants to be an employee. How can that person advance their driving career? THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. The "box" means dry van. Dry van earns the least amount of revenue per mile of any catagory of trailer. Want to step up in your career? Pull a reefer. They earn more revenue than dry van and hence a reefer company should pay more. Flatbed earns more than that. A dedicated flatbed company should pay even more. ANY specialized trailer is going to earn more per mile than the boxes or reefers on the road. Want to advance? Then start looking at ALL the different semi trailers on the road with you.

There's another way to advance, a way that not everyone is cut out for. You could become an owner operator. Buy a truck and lease it on with a carrier. Pull their trailer(s) for a while, then maybe buy your own trailer. You can pay yourself a wage and make a profit after all of your fuel and other expenses.

Next up, buy ANOTHER truck and lease it onto the same carrier. Hire a driver to run it for you. Pay him his wages and payroll taxes (the company often handles that for you) and after all expenses you are making a profit on two trucks. Now you are a dad gum Fleet Owner!

Add trucks. Rinse and repeat.

Maybe take it up another notch. Register your own authority and start getting loads for your trucks off a load board, increasing revenue per mile over the deal the company you were leased to was giving you.

Oh NO! Then you start going out and making sales calls, getting direct customers and bypassing the brokers. Good Gawly! You're a DAD GUM TRUCKING COMPANY!

But maybe you are right.

There's no advancement in trucking...

 

What if the guy who makes .38-.40 cpm is getting more miles than the guy making .50 cpm?

 

That's a good point. At the end of the week you need to figure out your average gross pay. A guy running 3000 miles a week at $0.38 per mile is making more than the guy running 2000 miles a week at $0.50 a mile. Not much, but take into account everything.