Looking for greener grass

First I'd like to be clear, if your just going to rag on me keep moving I don't care what your opinion is. I'm looking for advise from positive minded people.

After years of being a CD constantly getting the run around, being taken advantage of, and treated solely as a number I finally grew some balls and signed a lease. Was not how I wanted to do it but that's yesterday. I got my truck through SFI and I'm in the Schneider IC Choice program. I am surviving buts that's all I'm doing. I'm single, no children, no house, just a personal vehicle loan. I really don't know how guys survive with any or all the above.

Its been 2 months, I've put on 25,000 mi and I avg $3100/wk rev. My lease and insurance run $1500/wk, plus $500/wk for personal, fuel is usually $800-$1000, I try to pick loads under 25k and keep it at 60mph, doesn't always happen but i do my best, my fuel mpg is 7.3 for 60days.

I try to make the best choices with loads, but I'm often hampered by waiting for loads to confirm, which they usually do while I'm driving. By the time I can get stopped and logged into the board the load is gone. I'm often times running the crap no one wants. I began by booking my loads for an entire week at a time, but after multiple weeks of loads falling apart and having to replan, I've taken to doing one load at a time.

I recently began looking at other companies where I might have an opportunity to be more productive and earn more. I liked Landstar but they insisted on drivers having Hazmat even if they don't do Hazmat. Makes no sense to me so I told them no. Only other company I found with a load board was Advanced Trucking in Indianapolis, but I don't qualify with them. I have 2 speeding tickets in my personal vehicle, one drops in Sept the other in February. I have 2 backing accidents, both of which were extremely stupid and I continue to bash my head for.

What I'm looking for is a company that allows drivers to use a load board and negotiate their own rates, with at least a 70/30 split, although prefer 80/20,

Any suggestions for where I should try? Or should I just stay where I'm at and ride it out?

 

I do want my own mc someday, but I'm not ready yet. I like the security of someone else securing my pay even if it means I earn less. I understand the trade secret thing, no one wants to give up the honeypot.

 

Not sure how to PM need to figure it out.

I'll try to answer; I don't generally spend a lot of time in truck stops, only when doing 34. I sleep in RA's and on ramps, whatever is necessary. I drive 8-10 hour days. I don't like short loads, I don't like doing more than one load per day. I love long loads, 1000-1500 mi runs. MPG is low because I was told, and i stupidly listened, do the speed limit make it up with loads. I've only been driving 60 last couple of weeks, and those weeks i was avging 8.5+. I haven't been home since early May and don't plan to be again until the end of June. I'm perfectly comfortable with 60-90days on the road. I idle very little, I have an APU and use it whenever possible. I look for the high $$ long runs, I'd rather make $5k on 2 loads than 5 or 10. But I do what I need to do whenever possible, sometimes I'm just not lucky. I very rarely find a load to one place and then a few other right back. I haven't even been able to make a triangle. Right now I'm on the west coast, have a load that picks up tomorrow in AZ going to OR on Saturday most likely. Was a bad week because I was sick. Last week I did 3 loads from NORCAL to Wa to SOCAL to NV, for $3600, but I don't get a paycheck because of withholding snafu last week, $800 carries over to next week.