First year earnings

You will, and follow what hishspeed said.

If I would have stayed out longer and went home less than I know I would have cleared 42k my first year.

 

i did all van in 1st year, and 26 cpm to start (27 after 3 mos, 29 after 6, 30 after 9, 32 after 12) and cleared 38k. averaged somewhere between 28-2900 miles per week. DEFINITELY stay on fm/dm's good side. he/she holds the key to your success or failure to a point. be on time every time at shippers and receivers. always call the receiver to find out if you can deliver early, unless your company has a cow about that sorta thing. is your delivery a real, hard appointment time, or is it really fcfs situation? many times your "appointment" may be a made up time for a fcfs place, and you can deliver at 7 or 8am instead of the 1pm time shown on your load info. if you are having bad miles for the week and its mid-late in the week, call your fm and let him know. in a large company the fm may have 100 drivers to work, and may not have any idea how much you are running. but if you are professional, pleasant and always on time, many times he will try to make a bad week better if given the chance.
low expectations are good, i guess, but 25k is RIDICULOUSLY low. if you make less than 33k, SOMETHING is wrong with either your equipment, your company, and/or you. some evaluation by you on why you made so little is required.

 

I would add information is key. I had a couple months start off bad last year, and you'd be surprised the difference between these two messages in effectiveness:

1. Not getting many miles, got some better loads?
2. I've been sitting too much after loads. Averaging 2356 mi/wk month to date. I need some more miles. Is there anything I can do to help keep myself preset?

I sent one similar to #2 to my current dm, and haven't had problems since. Turns out he wanted me to comunicate a little different than my first DM. I was happy to oblige.

 

oh,im sorry then...you probably know better than me the importance of your relationship with your fm/dm. a good fm/dm that gives a crap about you can make the job both easier and considerably more profitable. i was quick to anger with my first fm...anytime my miles for that week were bad i was calling, and at times not all too professional about it. the fact that i was never late for anything, other than the couple times roads were really bad or closed due to avalanche danger (4 days-ugh), certainly worked in my favor. i needed some time, i guess, to understand the immense importance of the fm. i go outta my way now to be very pleasant whenever im calling about routine things, and to be at the very least professional and cordial even when im seething. even if that means i scream at the passenger seat for a couple minutes before i make the call.

 

"IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO...." excellent way to phrase it. not "what are you doing wrong" or "why are you screwing me" but "what can I change". even if its not your fault, and you know darn well its not, i cant think of a less antagonistic way of trying to fix a bad situation. kudos to you, passion.