Comcar - CT Transportation Info From New Driver

I was waiting until I had what I considered to be a normal week before posting again, but I'll go ahead and give an update. I chose the $0.40/mile pay scale and later realized that it did NOT include the $100/week availability pay. So, you can choose $0.31/mile and get the availability pay and tarp pay, or you can take $0.40/mile with NO availability pay or tarp pay.

As mentioned above, Christmas and New Year's weeks were cut short due to freight availability. For Christmas week I had 1388 paid miles and New Year's week was 1627 paid miles. The week following New Year's was 1773 paid miles for 4 days, since our pay period runs from Friday to Thursday. This week was only 1643 paid miles because last Friday's pickup was close to where I live and I went home early. I still expect a normal week to be at least 2000 paid miles, out of a total of about 2300 hub miles (CT pays Rand McNally Zip-To-Zip miles).

This week I saw Savannah, Raleigh, Norfolk, and Macon. I hauled sheetrock, lumber, and bags of cement.

 

Availability pay is a $100 payment for arriving at the customer Monday morning by 8:00 and for being available to work all week.

I was averaging 2 tarped loads each week and based my decision to go with $0.40/mile on that average. If you have to tarp 3 or more loads a week, then the lower mileage pay may be better. I find it much simpler to keep up with just the $0.40/mile than having to make sure I get paid for each tarping, untarping, and availability pay.

CT will allow you to change your mind about staying out weekends. I wouldn't mind staying out an occasional weekend, but my wife wants me home. My Driver Manager (DM) told me I can let her know as late as Wednesday if I would like to stay out over a weekend.

 

Like I said in my first post to this thread, I couldn't find much written about Comcar and CT, so I wanted to contribute as much as I could to help others after me. I also understand the anxiety about the truck and outfitting it to make it "home". To answer your questions, I bought the Naxa 19" TV from a Pilot truckstop I believe. The swiveling hanger might would hold a larger TV, but I don't think a bigger one would be better at that distance. The cooler is a 12-volt Coleman, also purchased from one of the major truckstops. It cools to about 40 degrees below ambient temperature, and it has frozen my bottle water on one occasion. It does run all the time, but the fan noise actually helps me sleep at truckstops. Finally, the microwave is a 700-watt unit, the cheap one from Walmart. It works just fine and fits under the bed.

Before getting my own truck, I just wanted to have a CB to listen in on the chatter. That motive ended up being a mistake. CB chatter is far different than it was when I listened to it 30 years ago. I think most truckers just leave theirs turned off because it can sometimes be annoying. However, there are a couple customers we have that use CB's to communicate with drivers, so it makes things a little easier to have one in the truck. For that purpose alone, and for the infrequent need to communicate with a fellow driver, the cheapest model would be just fine. The only reason I would suggest a more expensive one is for the Bluetooth feature. It pairs with your smartphone allowing you to make and answer phone calls using the CB microphone. I don't wear my headset all the time, so its nice to be able to answer incoming calls using the CB rather than putting on the headset.

My recruiter quoted figures more like 2000-2500 miles per week, and I think that's more realistic than 3000 miles. It takes at least 15 minutes to do a pre-trip, 1-1/2 hours to get unloaded, 1-1/2 hours to get loaded, 30 minutes rest break during the middle of the day, and about 10 minutes to do a post-trip. That leaves about 10 hours to drive if you use every minute of your 14-hour clock. If you were able to average 60 mph for the full 10 hours, you might hit 3000 miles over 5 full days. The problem is that you probably won't drive 10 hours for 5 days. I honestly think my average week is going to be between 2000 and 2200 miles. And don't forget that CT pays zip-to-zip miles, which can easily be 10% less than hub miles.

Where you drive will partially be determined by which terminal you're out of, because each region hauls slightly different freight. I've been told that some drivers, maybe out of Mocksville, NC, take loads to NY state but not into NYC. I've heard of drivers going to PA, WV, VA, NC, SC, GA, TN, KY, IN, AR, NY, and FL. I'm not sure if CT covers any areas other than those states.

Good luck with your job. I'm sure you know to be on your best behavior during orientation and driver training. Keep a positive attitude, go with the flow, and know that getting your own truck will make it all worthwhile. Say "Hey" if you see truck number 2127.

 

Sorry for the late response. I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but most of my days are 13 hours long from pre-trip to post-trip. That doesn't leave a lot of time for internet and TV. To answer the Palmer's questions:

There is a built-in TV antenna in the roof of the cab, but it doesn't seem to be very effective. I greatly increased the number of channels I could receive by buying one of the amplified antennas from Wal-Mart. It plugs into the inverter and sits on the small shelf over the clothes rod. I've gotten as many as 40 channels along I-95 in Florida. Keep in mind that permanent installations, such as a satellite system, would be difficult to move from one truck to another if your truck went into the shop.

For internet connection I use my iPhone as a hotspot. Straight-Talk has a good plan with good coverage and is very mobile.

Let me try to explain how per diem works. Let's say you make $35,000 gross during the year. At tax time, you can deduct $59 for each day that you're out on the road. If you spent 250 days on the road, then you could deduct $14,750 from your gross pay. That means you only pay tax on $20,250, and so you might get some tax refund because of that extra deduction. If you want to go ahead and get that refund throughout the year, you can tell the company to not tax the per diem each week. So on a weekly basis, they will only withhold tax for your gross pay minus the per diem. If your gross pay for a week is $800, they would only withhold taxes on $800-$295. That puts more money in your weekly paycheck rather than getting more tax refund at the end of the year. The company isn't paying you any more, they're just withholding less taxes. All this is oversimplified, so please don't use it as "tax advice".

If you're staying at the Comfort Inn, be sure to pack a swimsuit. They have a nice pool and hot tub. And the hot breakfast every morning will cause you to gain weight. If you want to make some brownie points during Advanced Driver Training (ADT), take a piece of fruit from breakfast and give it to Kelvin ("Rattlesnake").

 

I forgot to mention that this week has been a high-miles week. I committed Monday morning to delivering as early as possible each day and performing my work as quickly and efficiently as I could. What that does is put you at the head of the line for the next dispatch. As a result, I've already driven 2600 hub miles this week, with another 220 to go tomorrow. Then I leave early Sunday morning for South Florida, so next week is looking good already. I didn't have to take this latest load that's keeping me out tomorrow and Sunday, I just wanted to see how many miles I could get. Notice that it's still not even 3000 hub miles, probably more like 2600 paid miles.