FedEx Freight Diary (ala Russian Rabbit)

I avoided the so called poverty level by $1845 lol, in all seriousness though I agree Bob, in some parts of the country 70 to 80 is great money, I think some drivers just forget how low some other jobs pay.

 

The only exception I would make to this are the drivers that are genuinely wanting to work but can't because of company or freight circumstances, I admit I am even guilty of this, you don't feel entitled and are perfectly content with your pay rate, but cuts in hours, miles or even a whole work day or run can get frustrating, especially if it's a ongoing thing, you get it and understand it and tell yourself well that's LTL and it's that time of year, things will turn around, but none the less it's still frustrating and pisses you off sometimes.

 

The only complaint I ever had at ABF was the heavy workload. They paid me a mint, and wanted to pay me even more. Lol

 

And there is nothing wrong with that lol, I think most of us always want to make more money by human nature, just depends on how far we are willing to go to do it, family, happiness, quality of life, all that life stuff factors in as well.

 

There was something wrong with it after about two years. I can't believe I made it to 5 years. I was miserable. Lol drying my tears with money, I guess.

 

I'd look at it another way. You are very fortunate that your 1st trucking job paid so well that you could complain about grossing under $1,700 in a given week. Some drivers (myself included) spent over a decade in bad to mediocre jobs working way harder for nowhere near that kind of money before they managed to get that kind of opportunity.

I've been there, willing to run my ### off but the work just wasn't there. Now I don't have to worry about that, because I paid my dues. Luckily it wasn't hard and it didn't take very long at all at my place. But I've been grateful along the way because I've experienced the entire spectrum of trucking jobs. My job has been awesome even when times were a little harder, but mostly that's just about my attitude toward it.

The fact is LTL is highly variable and cyclical. It's always feast or famine because of the nature of the freight and economic conditions, and the bottom guys always suffer the most. The company won't run them around all night long with empty trailers just to keep them working.

You are fortunate to have started in a top-tier job and be moving to another one, and I admire your guts to make the switch to a better job for your situation. It sounds like a good deal so far, especially considering you won't have to deal with the cyclical nature of LTL freight and paying your dues climbing a seniority board. Good luck!

 

This was not a pretty check. I only worked 3 days, same as last week, but only got holiday pay for New Years Day. I could have asked to take vacation or sick time to cover not working on NYE, but I’d prefer to just bank those for now.

My attitude has been shifting towards trying to spend as little time as possible at work since I value my free time more than what I’m currently being paid. I’ll never turn down a run, but when it comes to spending hours on the dock, I’d rather leave as early as possible instead of working another hour or two for an extra $20-40. I know that probably sounds bad since this is still a lot of money to some people, but that’s just how it is. US Foods definitely got me hooked on those big pay checks.

 

Anyone heard of the contractor TAG logistics around Knoxville, TN? They seem to be hiring line haul drivers. Just curious if anyone has heard good or bad about them.