Folk's, it's really simple!

A lot of drivers I have talked to like companies that let them "fix" their logs. So longs as it looks good, they keep making money, and they don't get caught by higher powers they are perfectly happy. I work for one of those 100% legal companies. For the most part, they stick to their guns. That being said, there have been a few questionable moments. It doesn't benefit me to run illegal, so I don't. I make the same money either way. Granted, if I was a mileage driver I'd probably be looking for ways to maximize my income.

 

I work for one of those 100% legal companies. For the most part, they stick to their guns. That being said, there have been a few questionable moments. It doesn't benefit me to run illegal, so I don't. I make the same money either way. Granted, if I was a mileage driver I'd probably be looking for ways to maximize my income.

Thats the whole point, You have these company's that are exempt from operating like a normal company who takes in revenue and then disperse it out in a hourly wage. The industry as a whole through their lobbyists have been getting over on every driver who drive OTR so that they do not have to plan better.

Tell me how a industry can tell a driver you have 70 hours a week to work but only the hours you log on line 3 will be paid hours even though you are under dispatch and under their authority from the time you get into the truck at the terminal till the time you get out for time off. And then say they care about you and all the other bull they spout off in their ads about.

If the law says you have 70 hours to work then ANY company could easily pay the driver for 70 yours a week and there would be no need for driver to drive illegal ever again. But the company's want to have control over a drivers income and don't want to have to plan proper utilization of a drivers time on the road. They prefer to have a bunch of employees sitting around that they don't have to pay until they start running a load.

ANY company who pays by the mile and then says they are serious about safety and the driver are just liars plain and simple. Paying by the mile does more to promote unsafe driving then anything else in the industry.

All drivers could be placed on a salary tomorrow. Taking the incentive for the company and the driver to break the law would be the biggest safety improvement in the history of trucking. But that would make the Trucking company's utilize your time properly and plan loads better and they don't want to lose all the loads they make money off of due to illegal practices by them and their employees.

 

Some people are desperate, they are in a bad financial situation and they will do whatever it takes to make a paycheck. These big companys know that and thats who they prey on. Its really sad but true. When i first started trucking I was in that boat and i had to do whatever it took to make the miles. Whether I had to wait for free 5-6 hrs to get an Ld then drive 600 plus miles or drive around for hrs to get emty i had to do whatever it took to make the miles!

Then you have the social rejects, who all they know is trucking and they cant find any other job. And you know the people who I am talking about!
Example: The ones who are so fat and lazy that they drilled a hole in the floorboard so they can piss through a tube while driving down the highway!

Thridly, you have the people who love the freedom of tucking. And would drive for free, as long as they get to drive.

There you have it, these are the three catagories of people that the big trucking companies thrive on.

 

or just gready. before I had kids I figured if I wasn't home I should at least be moving if not sleeping so I ran for a company that let me be creative. Now I have a family so I get home almost every night get paid by the hour. Whatever your preferances if you look and talk to the drivers of companies you can always find what you are looking for. Sometimes the perfect job is a couple years of seniority away but then you have a reason to work toward. Driving is a career not a job if it is a job to you chances are nothing will fit

 

I can help all of you. Click on motor carrier questions. 95% of those companies listed at the top of the page are bad companies. It's all in front you in black and white. Open your eyes people. #### near ever one of those companies listed have been talked about here. I don't mean to sound rude but get a clue people.

074344 Your posts made a lot of sence. I to enjoy reading the truckstop rags to. The ads are so pathetic. Having to pay people up front to come work for them. A sign on bonus. What a joke. If the company was that good why the bonus. Drivers should be lining up for a job. Your much much more comment was funny. I wonder how much more they can offer. It all seems like the usual crap. I saw an ad for celadon where they give a driver a week off with pay for every 30,000 miles. The only thing is that the first 30,000 is pay but no time off. I just wonder how much the pay is for a weeks vacation. If it is less than 100.00 a day, it's not even worth it. I even saw an ad that said they pay 50.00 per day for 5 holidays. What a joke. At least they pay holidays I guess. Which seems to be better than most of the companies.

 

At Celadon the first 30,000 you get $1,000 but no vacation the next 30,000 and after that you get one week vacation and $1,000

 

Somebody got something twisted here.Driving a truck is a job,and if you stick with it long enough it becomes a career.Looking back overv my work life,or career, there were a few jobs which,I stiuck with for quite a while.I have done many jobs,from setting pins in bowling Alleys long before automatic setters.Working as a process operator in a chemical plant. Turning wrenches for many years,And oh yeah,three years in Uncle Sams Army.Last job was driving truck til retirement age. All of these jobs made up my career.And no matter how you put it truck driving is a job,which not everyone is cut out to do.I found that after a few years I didnt have to reach for that road atlas to plan my trips. This meant all of the adventure was over.But one thing for sure,I can still go back out and drive if it ever becomes necessary.

 

SInce my company is mostly interstate driving - with a few state roads here and there, you don't need an atlas to plan your trip. What you DO need is a history. My truck is governed at 60 - and from (say) Missoula to Denver, I average about 57mph. So it's reasonable to predict that - in general - for that kind of highway driving, I'll continue to pull 55. Other stretches - say, US 97 from Weed, CA to Biggs, OR - or, more accurately, from Cottonwood, CA to Biggs, OR, my average is much closer to 45mph.

Why does this matter, if my trips are pre-planned and routed?

So I can let the DM know whether I can run a load legally and make the given delivery appointment.

Fortunately, it's not an issue with them if I tell them "I can't do it legally". They'll either re-schedule the appointment, or tell me "get there when you can". I appreciate that. Zero pressure to doctor my logs or run illegally.

My DM has, on occasion, asked "why" I can't do it in the pre-supposed time - and has accepted my response every time "It takes this truck X driving hours to make that trip. I can't do it in X-y hours"

'Course, I'm still new enough that even getting down the on-ramp is an adventure. Was in Spokane the other day, accelerating well because I was empty, and some nut-job in an Impala decided he was in too great a need to wait for the 4-lanes to open up and passed me on the shoulder of the on-ramp.

I lost a lot of weight in very short time - and completely ruined my favorite pair of underwear.