Feels like a mistake.

Staying out only 12-18 days doesn't help. Coming off of hometime is usually slow and getting you back to a specific to location to get you home usually leaves you passing up better stuff. You're not putting the truck out there long enough to make money. When I was OTR, my first week back and last week out where usually my worst. There's a reason a lot of people stay out 4-6 weeks and that's to make money.

 

WI, would that your experience was the exception. It's not. Many megas treat truck drivers as second class citizens--used as grist to grind down, underpaid with poverty pay and lousy assignments, or work for no pay at all. Not 'entitled' to at least a minimum wage.

Painful to read of your predicament yet all-in-all very, very familiar. Sorry about the loss of your Mom and your work in sales that paid beaucoup better than most OTR gigs for new drivers.

Had a similar experience myself with Gordon but my financial situation was different--no debt, bills, home paid for. Never saw such small pay checks, though, and had made good money prior (and since Gordon). What a surprise!! Laughable. But not funny.

Sounds like you're close to the end of your rope. Certainly you hear the advice that says stick it out (if you can financially) for at least six months. That's good advice as is the to switch to bulk (if you've got enough van experience under your belt for bulk) or dedicated at SNI .

A lot of the so-called 'advice' here is unsympathetic, cynical, unfair and fundamentally wrong as you shouldn't have to put in the equivalent of two work-years in one year to get a fair, one-year wage. Yet some would tell you that's what's required--stay out 4-6 weeks or more. Forget hometime, family, a regular life. They'll tell you, "That's trucking." Hooey. That's unacceptable.

First off, SNI should be doing better by you. Talk to someone above your dispatch and explain that you're getting killed financially. That is, ask SNI what you need to do to start making money at SNI, for example, dedicated, where you know better what your miles will be.

You need a better gig, like ODFL. See: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...2443-old-dominion-a-newbies-experience-3.html
Also be aware of huge trucking health ramifications: http://www.uncg.edu/phe/faculty/apostolopoulos/AAOHNJ.pdf

 

sounds like you dropped the ball on yourself. didn't do the simple math or research to find out where to begin. What to do now? If you leave and go somewhere else, do you think they will treat you better? would you? if someone bailed on a commitment they made because it wasn't going their way, what would you expect of them when the going gets tough on their new job? I would be willing to bet your first year in sales didn't pay a ton either. Takes time and contacts and experience to get ahead in any field.

stay where you are for 1 year. During that year, figure out where you want to go and what you want to haul. that way you avoid coming here talking about jumping too fast and making a second mistake and it sucks and..............

best of luck to you.

 

There's the rub. You agreed to work for less to cover the cost of your training. Now you're having buyer's remorse because you're actually having to pay the bill.

 

Ride out the "Crap Train" LOL - Pitch a "Beep" about your miles and pay - Ask if they can do anything about it or ask if you can change anything from your end to increase your pay or miles -let them think they are the smart ones and are helping you.
Dont let them think you are going to jump ship even if you are, or i would bet they will think of some ways to "Punish You".
Use this forum and your time as a great tool to check out the other threads and companies and try to weed out which are bad and which you can live with.
Start a written list from the potential companies you study as to what is actually offered and what actually is received by the drivers. And what you require as a driver -EX: i would not even consider a company that doesn't have some sort of APU or lets you idle to stay warm or cool within reason even if you pick a company that pays a couple of cents less than others that don't or wont let you do either.
Note that you can have many different stories about the same companies with different outcomes with a variety of different drivers - but that doesn't mean any of them are lying about it good or bad.
FYI: Dieselfuelonly in his thread said "Screw it" to trying to get Schneiders fuel bonus and ran hard which i think actually may have made him better money by getting him more miles or faster miles.

 

wasn't trying to "insult you" in anyway. if you look at your orig post and what you posted as weeks earnings, they seem to average out to "about" 400ish. couple short weeks and a couple good weeks. par for the course. problem comes from not "averaging" your spending on the good and bad weeks. before you get too bent on the "insulting" part, read the last part of my previous post. very serious and meant to be helpful no matter what industry you are in.

have a good day.

 

I wouldn't recommend US Express... but ODFL would be good if they are in your area...also Estes and even Saia.

They have line haul positions open all the time and P&D with hourly wages from $18/$21 per hr..

Depending on where you live there could be some smaller local companies to check out..

 

It would help to know where you live. (Oops, edit: confused 2 threads. Ha ha on me!) Maverick, for example, is more than just a little strict about hiring area. Move out and you're fired (or so a recruiter told me when I mentioned moving from Indiana to Charlotte--but Charlotte and Asheville were okay... )

More info, please. (Let me guess, somewhere up next to my home state, MN... And you're one post away from able to PM, WI.)

Understand that cellopudding at OD makes more just starting out than 90% of the OTR drivers on this site @ 49 cents/mile, runs terminal-to-terminal in the daylight and a company he could retire from should he choose to stay trucking that long. Estes, as tow said, is another great company. Local out of Indy's about $24/hour at full ticket.

Your experience, $400-$600/week gross is typical OTR for the majority out there at mega carriers. Sad but true. And a six-seven day week. However, it has pulled many a new driver off food stamps and down the road into an hourly job with overtime and hometime enough to have a 'regular' life.

Trucking's not for the faint of heart. That's not your problem, though. You just need a decent gig and some time there to decide how well you like watching highway tv all day out the windshield. Many cannot last that long...