Average CPM pay and benefits for my situation?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Lennythedriver, Sep 18, 2021.

  1. Lennythedriver

    Lennythedriver Road Train Member

    1,938
    6,252
    Feb 14, 2020
    0
    Looking to try and And figure out if I’m getting paid fairly or not. I have a buddy with about the same experience as me and he seems to be making a lot more.

    For someone with a perfect clean record, about 340,000 miles experience over three years, runs the south east, Northeast, and Midwest regions, OTR, out 7-21 days at a pop, dry van, company driver.

    what is fair or average CPM, benefit package etc for someone in this position.

    The first company I worked for for a couple years when I first got out of school, I was making $.40 per mile it was bumped up to $.44 a mile over the course of that two years but that was in a different era. I also got a $7000 first year signing bonus.

    The company I work at now I make $.49 per mile but there are a few incentives where you can get a few more pennies per mile if you meet certain criteria. So I’m probably averaging about 50.5 cents per mile. Seems low from the chatter I’m hearing out there?

    The company I work for, although I like them, one thing I’ve learned is they are not going to step up and offer anything extra unless I ask for it. Problem is I’m not sure exactly what I should ask for. Any thoughts?
     
    Trucker61016 and bryan21384 Thank this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. buzzarddriver

    buzzarddriver Road Train Member

    3,215
    8,633
    Feb 1, 2011
    Dallas, TX
    0
    Your situation is average to slightly above normal.
    Now your buddy. Is he W-2 or 1099? If he is making quite a bit more than you, just what is his pay situation?
     
    4merlinn2 Thanks this.
  4. Lennythedriver

    Lennythedriver Road Train Member

    1,938
    6,252
    Feb 14, 2020
    0
    He’s company driver as well. If it’s a fair rate then I’ll live with it. But I keep hearing about other drivers making $.57-$.60 per mile doing exactly what I’m doing. Lol
     
    Trucker61016 Thanks this.
  5. scott180

    scott180 Road Train Member

    1,212
    4,179
    Dec 10, 2012
    Tooele, UT
    0
    3 years
    Clean record
    Willing to be out 3 weeks
    $100,000 + is a real possibility
    Where are you and what are you willing to do.
    @Chinatown this guy has a awesome resume where would you recommend he work?
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2021
  6. tarmadilo

    tarmadilo Road Train Member

    1,355
    3,433
    Dec 12, 2018
    0
    I can only compare that to what I’m getting paid after 2 1/2 years with my company (after 20 years of bus driving): 48 cpm (going up to 50 in January) plus $2k quarterly bonuses, decent benefits, and home every weekend.

    Sure, I could probably make more if I really looked, but I like the company, they don’t micromanage me, and I live two and a half miles from my home terminal.
     
  7. Lennythedriver

    Lennythedriver Road Train Member

    1,938
    6,252
    Feb 14, 2020
    0
    $2000 quarterly bonuses is sweet. If you calculated that in, you’re probably making somewhere around $.55 per mile.
     
    Trucker61016 and tarmadilo Thank this.
  8. Lennythedriver

    Lennythedriver Road Train Member

    1,938
    6,252
    Feb 14, 2020
    0
    I’m out of North Carolina. I’ve ran reefer and dry van and that’s it. I’m not complaining about $.49 per mile. I get good miles, they leave me alone, I leave them alone. But I hear about people getting all these bonuses and incentives and making in the mid $.50 per mile range that I went to school with or that started around the same time as me. And it does make me start thinking a bit. No safety bonuses but they do offer a minimum mile bonus.
     
  9. scott180

    scott180 Road Train Member

    1,212
    4,179
    Dec 10, 2012
    Tooele, UT
    0
    It looks like you make around $58,075 a year based on miles and cpm you said. Add in $8k for bonus. I'm getting back into trucking after a decade and should make about $20k more than you. You know more than me about OTR and deserve to make as much or preferably more than someone who is basically a new guy.
    Good luck.
     
  10. Cattleman84

    Cattleman84 Road Train Member

    9,598
    66,978
    Nov 1, 2017
    The Sticks, Idaho
    0
    Obviously I'm in a vastly different part of the country with a much lower cost of living... Eastern Idaho to be specific. But we have similar levels of experience (at least experience that is documented, I've been in and out of trucks for nearly 20 years... But little to none of it is documented or can be verified). I recently switched from doing OTR to local/regional within the same company, in order to be home more.

    When I quit going OTR I was making 41 cpm base pay, but I usually ran at least 11k to 13k miles a month which earned me an additional 2 to 4 cpm in the form of a bonus... I figure I was averaging about 44 cpm. I ran from the Rockies to the Midwest and back every week, out 5 to 8 days with 2 to 4 days home between runs.

    Since then my company gave all drivers a raise... OTR guys got a 3 cpm raise. If I was still OTR I would be making 44 cpm base + mileage bonus. Local Regional guys got a $1.50/hr raise. I had negotiated a slightly higher hourly rate than other guys with similar time on the job as me, based on my above average skill set and ability to handle abnormal situations easily... So the raise was a very pleasant surprise... a cherry on top, so to speak.

    I would surmise that you are probably about in the average pay range for drivers of your experience in your area... Maybe on the lower side of the average, but not by more than a couple of pennies per mile.

    Edit: in 2019 I grossed just over $61k, in 2020 that came down some due to me needing to take more time off to finalize the purchase of my house, the birth of my son, and me simply not wanting to run quite as hard. So for 2020 I grossed just over $51k
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2021
    Coffey and Lennythedriver Thank this.
  11. Lennythedriver

    Lennythedriver Road Train Member

    1,938
    6,252
    Feb 14, 2020
    0
    I’m on pace to make between 55 and 60,000 this year. I’m not sure how to get the numbers up, maybe go in and ask them for a bonus or just simply more cents per mile, but other truckers that are basically identical to me are all talking between 70 and 80,000. And I’m just trying to figure out how they get to that pay point for a year.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.