Assistance In Finding A Good Company???

Realistically... You should make about $75k +/- your first 2 years...before taxes.

 

Many think that going on the road in diesel is the answer to their financial dreams. Sorry, that just is not the case.

Depending on freight, dispatch, and company, you could end up with 8 - 12,000 miles per month. Base the miles on your pay rate from the company you sign on with.
(EX: 32 Cents per mile x 8,000 miles = $2,560 per month gross.
10,000 miles x .32 cents per mile = $3,200 per month x 12 = $38,400.00
12,000 miles x .32 cents per mile = $3,840 per month x 12 = $46,080.00

Multiply that x 12 months and deduct for time off.

Now, you can only estimate your income as you really don't know.

Now, deduct $20 per day for meals, and other out of pocket expenses.

When you get your tenure in you might be able to count on 40 cents per mile or more.

Forget about Owner Operator until you have 3 to 5 years behind the wheel. In that time, learn all you can about running such a business as the profits just are not there for most drivers and small companies.

You will turn a sizable income, but you will also have a huge expense bill.

The Cost of the Equipment, Insurance, Fuel, Maintenance, Tires, etc, will eat an average of 50% or more of your total revenue. Most Owner Operators do not make more than a company driver when all is said and done.

The difference is the freedom to shut down when you please, as long as you can afford to. However, you better carry an escrow account of about $20,000 minimum these days to cover major breakdowns as well as to fund another truck, if you are lucky enough to maintain your equipment through the transaction of a upgrade.

This is not a get rich business. You can maintain, and you can earn a living, but very few do better than that. A company man/woman can invest their money elsewhere where the Owner operator must sink it all back into his business just to stay ahead of the game.

Cold Hard Cruel Facts of Life. If you want wealth, you have to learn where it is and how to acquire it. It is not in the Trucking Industry.

From "All You Ever Wanted To Know About Truck Driving, But Could Not Find Anyone To Tell the Truth"

 

If, and I mean it's a very big IF, I were going into trucking today, I'd go this route:

1. I'd get a grant to pay for my training. I'd also make sure the school is accredited. Going to a good mill will increase the odds of my being hired at a good company. And getting hired on at a GOOD company is every new driver's foremost mission, whether he or she knows it or not. I definitely would NOT pay for training out of my own pocket, as trucking isn't secure enough to take the risk. Given the high turnover that plagues the industry, plus the tendency of companies to can one who has only one minor wreck mean I'd insist the government foot my training or I wouldn't be going to training. Period.

1a. To increase the odds I get hired on at a good company even further, I'd make sure I'd work for the same employer for at least two years before going to trucking school. This would give me a good, stable work history that will impress the good companies of the industry, which would be the only companies I'd ever hire on with.

2. I'd hire on with a company such as Crete or Roehl and go to town with a trainer for about 6 weeks. However, I'd first call these companies before going to trucking school to make sure I could get hired on after graduation. If these good guys wouldn't hire me because of issues with my work history or driving record, I'd hold off on going to school until the issue(s) get cleared up. I'd stay at my non-trucking job the extra year or two, as it would definitely be worth it. I definitely would NOT go on to the trucking school, graduate, and then hire on at a lesser outfit with the intention of climbing the ladder later. Going this route is idiotic, as one can get stuck at a bad company and blow his future plans to hell. All it takes is a minor accident or even a DACcident to put the brakes on one's upward mobility.

3. After getting on a rig, I'd keep all my log books from my time on the road. This is because drivers can take a per diem of about 52 bucks a day while away from home. If I am in a 30% bracket, this means I myself can get about 15 bucks per day in free money, which I can use to pay for meals. All I have to do is claim the deduction when I do my taxes, which I would do myself. I'd never hire anyone to do my taxes for me.

4. If I ever had any small incidents on the road, such as a curbed rim or a fuel-out, I'd pay for the repairs or service call out of my own pocket. This would keep these incidents from becoming DACcidents, and thus would keep my DAC cleaner. This is a wise investment, as the savings created by insisting my company pay for any minor damage would be dwarfed by the costs of having a DAC mark on my record. This cost may run into the thousands of dollars or even more later on down the road if I lose my job because of accidents and can't get another job immediately at another good outfit. Yeah, choosing to pay 500 bucks of my own mulla for a new rim, tire, and labor "ain't no choice at all" if it means protecting a precious DAC report. I'd keep quite about, meaning I'd not report it to my company and would just let it be. One never knows when he'll be moving on with his career, and when the big quit day comes, a clean DAC really comes in handy.

5. I'd always watch my calorie intake. A driver can gain 50 pounds driving a truck in only a year. I know, because it happened to me. I didn't watch what I ate, and I ballooned from about 180 to over 230 in about 9 months. Never would I allow this crap to happen again. It was a royal ##### to lose that weight, plus being obese causes health problems. Trucking is dangerous enough without a pot belly giving you diabetes later.

6. I'd buy a carbon monoxide detector and put it in the truck. I'd probably have one for the cab and one for the bunk. Diesels create CO, no matter if an idiot desk driver tells you otherwise. Be sure you protect yourself from fumes with a detector. I wouldn't even start up a truck today without at least one in the cab. The CO detectors that are used in RVs are the best for trucks. I'd have mine on all the time, and if it ever went off, the truck would get stopped right then and there and would be towed to a shop. It'd be this or the truck would get left on the side of the road, DAC or no DAC.

 

Hello:

How are all of you doing this weekend? The weather here is cold, surprisingly for June! The first day of summer no less! I guess that is what global warming has in store for all of us. So I want to say thank you for the advice. I never had it put that way to me before and I appreciate it. I just want to say that I never imagined that I would get rich quick. I just want to maintain a nice living.
I have met older truckers who have done their fair share of trucking. From what I was told by all of them was that trucking is not for everyone. However, if you really want to do it, go for it because you can live a nice life. Besides tell me a job besides an airline steward, where you can see our beautiful country for free? I would be lucky if I saw the entire country in my own life time. Some people in NY have only been to Florida let alone going any where else. Sure I can go to Europe, but after a while it becomes same old, same old. You get tired pretty quick. I know because I have seen it. However, I have heard of some beautiful places in our country that I would love to see if only just once.
Now as far as the trucking is concerned, I am definitely considering it. My contract with my teaching job has expired. Now I have to search for a new full-time teaching position since I was only a full-time sub. The only good thing about my job is that I get my benefits until August 31, which gives me some time to figure out what I need to do. I am dead serious guys about this and I appreciate all that you can offer me. I do have a few questions though.
Tip mentioned something about getting a grant for training. How do I go about getting a grant? Does that involve me writing one? I remember writing my thesis for my MA and I thought that was a trip. How do you go about getting a grant? I know about student loans from Sallie Mae and other banks as well. I do owe student loans now and I don't think adding more will help me much in the long run. So who would I need to contact in order to obtain one. What is the criteria for a grant? For example, financial hardship et?
Also I have done the math and the earlier calculations that I saw quite fit what I was thinking but I am glad that someone was kind enough to put it down to the penny. This helps me a lot. Also as far as owner operator is concerned. The advice I recieved on that makes complete sense to me. It is like any other business. You need experience to do it. In other words, if I don't know the do's and dont's about trucking, then I would be a fool to buy my own truck at such an early stage in my career. That I understand and will consider down the road.
Also someone mentioned Roehl and Crete. I heard that Crete offers training but you have to go to a state PDI course at a local community college. I heard some nice things about them. I also heard many good things about Roehl, but I don't know if they are hiring here in NYC. Guess I need to make some phone calls. Does anyone know anything about Maverick? Thanks again.

John

PS: I will ask more questions as I look deeper into this. Thanks again.

 

In Utah, I'd go to the local community college here and ask about taking their truck training course. They'd give me all the details, and then give me the price of the training. I'd then feign a groan and say something like "too much." They'd bite and tell me about the grant or grants I could get to pay for it. I know this is what would happen because it has already happened this way in real life once, you see.

More than likely, I'd have to fill out the paperwork for the grant at the local unemployment office or labor board. No matter the hoops I'd have to jump through, I'd jump through each and every one to get the grant. No way would I pay for training out of my own pocket. I did that once and regret it today, over 12 years later. When I went to training school, I pulled a cool 5,000 bones from my wallet and said goodbye to it. I was also unemployed for five weeks during training and for two weeks after training while waiting on a company trainer. This lost income (opportunity cost) ran me probably another 5 grand or so. I then hired on at one of the worst companies in the business (SwiftCo), and ended up quitting that POS oufit after only a few months. I was then dead in the water and couldn't get another driving job. I had a CDL, but I was 5K poorer and had just missed out on over 5K in income to get the CDL. Don't go this idiotic route, whatever you do.

 

Hello Tip:

I called Roehl and they are not hiring in the NY area specifically, Brooklyn, NY. On the other hand, Crete Carrier Corp is hiring in the NY area. If you get the chance take a look at the crete corp careers website. When you get there it displays information about the company and its satellite companies like Shaffer and Hunt. Now if you look at all three companies, what companies are good to work for? As far as I know both shaffer and hunt are owned and runned by Crete. So does it matter which one you work for as far as pay, benefits and miles are concerned? Also they mention that they pay drivers practical miles. Can you explain that further to me as well as per diem and non per diem pay as well? Also they also mention pay increases from 0.02 - 0.03 per mile. How does that work?
What is also the difference between driving as a team, solo and regional? What is good to start with since I will be a new driver? How do the benefit systems work as far as medical, dental and vision. How much out of pocket expense for each one (no family, just single)? Also what is lumper pay and chain up? Thanks again for the information.

John

 

Okay, JohnB, let me start by telling you I worked for CCC back in 2002. Some things may have changed by now, so my info may be a little outdated.

The "practical miles" thing is something started recently by Crete. Back when I started driving in 1995, and even as late as 2002, most companies paid "map miles", which meant the driver got paid for maybe 92% of the miles the wheels turned on average. Unfortunately, Crete was a company that paid map miles, and this is something I had a big issue with. I think in about a year there, I gave that company over 1500 bucks gross in free miles. While I was at Swift, I probably gave them the same amount in free miles and was there only four months.

Map miles works like this: the distance between cities on a route is the distance between their borders, not their centers or CBDs. Imagine a city as a giant sphere that extends out maybe 20 miles from the central business district (the CBD). Once you pass a destination city's border and you go into the sphere, you are working for FREE if you get paid map miles. Ditto for the pick-up. You don't start getting paid until you get to the edge of the sphere.

And no, you won't get paid for actual (hub) miles at a company you go with as a newbie. Usually only union drivers enjoy hub mile pay. The closest I ever got to hub was 98%, but only because the pay was lousy. This is usually the case. The more you get paid per-mile at a company that pays map miles, the more you'll give them in freebie miles.

Under the map miles scheme, the location of the shipper and receiver determined how many actual miles I got screwed out of on a run. Sometimes I'd come out "even", as the docks coincided with the distance between borders. Other times, I'd get hosed big time, as the pick-up and delivery docks would be on the far sides from each other.

More than likely, you'll be touching a dock that is far inside a city's sphere, and you won't get paid for those miles inside the sphere, or at least you wouldn't have back in the day. I remember Oklahoma City was an example of a place that could get a driver hosed on miles. When I was coming in on I-40 from the west, I'd hit the city limits about 20 miles from the skyscrapers. If I happened to be delivering in OKC under the map-miles scheme, my pay would stop at that border, meaning if I had to deliver 20 miles beyond the skyscrapers on the east side, I'd be giving the company 40 miles on a single run. What a crock that would have been. And this is just the delivery. It's the same story for the fetch-end, especially if I were picking up on the west or southwest side of Los Angeles. One doesn't get out of the Los Angeles bubble until he's about 40 miles away from the LA CBD. So. 120 miles of give-aways on a run from LA to OKC. That sounds about right.

The best a driver can hope for under the map miles scheme is to come out even. However, in 99.9999% of all cases, a driver will have to give the company at least some free miles. This is quite a gouge, considering companies know exactly how far a driver actually drives given the Q-comm system is installed in most rigs today. Q-comm companies that pay map miles know exactly how far you drive on any run, yet they'll still use map miles to pay (stiff) you. It's a scam, really. And when you get paid map-miles, the difference between what you drive and what you get paid for will build into quite a loss in a year. This is a loss you can't write off on your taxes, either. You'll have to take it or leave it. I left it.

The practical miles scheme is something new to me. However, I see it as working like this: a company that uses this method will rely on the Q-comm to determine the actual mileage. This is the best system, as it calculates mileage from "dock to dock", not border-to-border. The driver thus gets paid more, as the miles he gives his company are reduced. Today I'd work only for those outfits that paid practical miles. I wouldn't work for a map-miles outfit. Too many free miles for my blood. And I don't like giving away my labor, as I myself never get anything free in the real world. When I go to a doctor, I have to pay 3 bucks for a lollipop stick and 3 more for an aspirin. I have to pay a lawyer 25 bucks to look at me. No way would I give a trucking company anything free, though many guys prove wrong the old adage "there's no such thing as a free lunch". Yes there is such a thing as a free lunch. You'll find it in trucking when drivers get paid map-miles. The average freebie leg was around 80 miles for me, and at 25 cents per mile average, this would be about the same cost as a big, fancy lunch.

As far as CCC's companies, I'd go with Crete. Shaeffer is reefer, and green drivers should avoid reefer. It's aggravating, plus the hours are insane at times. You'll have to do a lot of waiting at docks as a reefer driver, and your sleep schedule will almost always be at least a little out of whack. Not only this, reefer pays less than the other modes. Hunt is CCC's flat-bed outfit, and I wouldn't go with a flatbed as a newbie either.

I don't know what "per diem pay" is. Ditto for "non-per diem pay". I've never heard of these, so they must be new terms for some old idea. They could be something involving pay while at orientations, or maybe even layover pay. This is pay you'll get while you're sitting at a truckstop for a day or three spending big money on truckstop junk food and watching NECKCAR. Sometimes you WILL have to sit and let your HOS cool off or wait on loads, especially if you make a delivery somewhere on a Friday afternoon. Yeap, at some companies you'll be sitting the weekend waiting on a reload, as all the insiders go home on Friday at 16:00:00 sharp and don't get back until 8:59:59 the following Monday. I've spent more than a few weekends in truckstops, especially when I went to California on Friday afternoon/ Saturday morning deliveries. This was because of bad planning on those companies' part. You may see this too.

When a driver is driving solo, he is alone in the truck. Most drivers are solo drivers, but this will be changing in the next few years. More and more teaming operations will be seen on the roads, as when a driver runs solo, the truck will sit for up to 12 hours a day, and most of this time it's idling away fuel. Nope, this isn't going to be allowed much longer. Teaming is the way of the future in long-haul, OTR trucking, like it or not. And teaming is exactly what it sounds like--you run with another driver in the cab with you. While teaming, you will be expected to sleep in a moving truck, and most guys have a problem doing that. This is the main reason drivers run solo. However, the prospect of being stuck in a little cab for weeks on end with another sausage is another big reason drivers run alone. I wouldn't run team unless I ran as a husband-wife team or father-son deal.

Driving regional means you'll be making deliveries in only in certain areas and driving only certain lanes. You'll make more running regional, but I would find running regional extremely boring after a while.

I recommend you go with dry box, OTR, solo if and when you begin. You'll be happier, I think. Solo driving is as good as dead, but the teaming wave may still be several years off. I think some companies will adopt mandatory teaming in the next two years or so, which will give them a competitive adavantage (less fuel use). Other companies will then be forced to follow suit, a process that will take another year or two. But these policies may not be adopted for another five years, so jump into solo driving and enjoy it while it lasts.

Also know that the railroads may rise again in the near future and displace many a truck fairly soon. I know Warren Buffet just dropped a ton of other people's money into big rail, so you know something is gonna become of it. I tell you what is gonna become of it--shippers are gonna start using trains in a big way because of permanently-high diesel prices, meaning fewer trucks will be needed. Fewer trucks means fewer driving jobs, so be warned.

As far as benefits go, I have no idea what the ratio of your costs to theirs is for any company. Give the companies you're interested in a call and ask what it is.

Pay increases are the increments of increase when you get a raise, I believe. On your one-year anniversay, you will see a 3-cent increase in per-mile. On your second, you'll see 3 more cents added on. No matter the company, there is always a cap put on pay increases, so you'll max out after about 3-4 years driving at any company. I know J.B. Hunt used to brag in its ads about its fantastic pay increases, and they actually were paying drivers at one time like 42 cents per mile for 5 years' experience. After a little while, JBH was asking for give-backs. This wasn't advertised in the slick magazines, of course. Beware of pay increases. You'll get 'em, but you may have to give back some later if the company gets into financial trouble.

I hope this helps.

 

Lots of good advice but I noticed the $52 per day per diam. Yes, and that is nice, but for new drivers not making a lot of money with a family at home, that equates to eating light and as healthy as possible and saving the money for family. What shame to have to work in such an industry and have family trying to get welfare and not being able to because the husband makes too much money.

I have seen it, and I know the drivers were doing all they could to cut corners.

Things are getting better in some ways for company drivers; especially pay rates have increased. Unfortunately so has the cost of automobiles, rent, house payments and all the necessities of life; forget the nice things we all might want.

It is not easy starting in life today. Cost is too high and income just has not kept pace. Such is the history of this country though as it has been this way all my life.

Thanks for a great post.

 

If a driver takes a per-diem allowance, he is allowed to reduce his reported income by 52 bucks per day he's on the road. If he pays 30% of what he makes to the IRS, his real savings is only about 15 bucks. 52 x .30 ~ 15 bones. However, like the lost income from the map miles scheme, this 15 bucks a day will add up to some major bucks later. It'll be about 15 x 300 or around 4500 for a driver who's on the road 300 days a year.

I think the average driver pays only about 20% to the IRS, however. This will reduce the per-diem to around 10 bucks a day, 3000 a year for a 300-day-a-year driver. This still beats the standard deduction, which is about 5400 x .20 or about 1080.

 

Hello:

Thanks again. Wow! I am happy to have come to this forum because of the fact that I have recieved so much info. So I think I will apply to Crete as a solo driver. I like team though because I don't have problems sleeping in a moving vehicle. Try the NYC subway on for size some time and see if you can catch a wink, when everyone is pushing, shoving, coughing and blasting their I-pods. Its as if they want the whole world to listen to their crap! I still manage to sleep even when the train is constantly squeeling and lurching. However, solo sounds good too this way I can learn the highways on my own and the business aspect of trucking as well.
Now I am looking into trucking schools and possible grants to pay for them. If too expensive and I can't obtain a grant, I think I will opt for their company driver training. However, I will see what I can do here first. So now I have a new question? How is life on the road? Does it get really lonely? Also where do you do your shopping, eating, and cleaning up? Is that what the truck stops are for? One more thing, are the company truckers unionized? Is it better to work for a union or not, and what are the teamsters? Thanks again.

John