Heading to oreientation for "Good News Trucking Corp." Will Update Regularly

Alright so lets take a break from the 1099 and healthcare BS and do a major update on this company and gig as a whole.

-Paid on 1099
- NO benefits
-100% Brokered freight, normally this is a downside but all of the freight Ive been given has been high paying
-Driver makes 40% of the trucks profit AFTER fuel, tolls AND any damage cause by the drivers negligence (When I bent that wheel last week)
-You are guaranteed a minimum of $1800 a week as long as you run that week
-Easy to run legal and make upwards of $2000
-Paper logs, no word yet on their plan for the ELD mandate (Does have me slightly worried)
-All loads are ran by the driver prior to dispatch, dont want to do a load? They'll give you other options. Want to run south from your current location ? They'll look for loads going south.
-They would like you to be out at minimum 2 weeks before going home. There is no arguing about how much time you want to spend at home, want to take 3 days at home ? No problem. Want a week at home? No problem. I have told them I want to be out for 3 weeks ad home for one week, not a single negative thing to say to me about it.
- Yard is in Lemont IL, truck goes home with you. They try to route the truck to Lemont for all scheduled maintenance and large repairs.
-Weekly direct deposit, for me it has been submitted on Monday and is in my Account Tuesday mornings. One strange thing about the pay, while you are guaranteed $1800 minimum a week direct deposit if you earn more then that they want to hold it back. When I asked what this was about I was told they like to guarantee the $1800 and then all additional $$$ gets paid at the end of the month, they call this settling up. I have had to keep meticulous records for each load breaking down what the load paid, fuel expenses, toll expenses and miscellaneous expense and then deduct what Ive been paid so far in contrast to what they will still owe me at the end of the month. Its a pain, but if you ask them about numbers they have no problem talking to you about them. Haven't been here a month yet so cant say for sure if Im ok with the settle up at the ed of the month pay system yet, but with me working 3 weeks and taking one week off itll be nice to get that check during the week Im sitting at home at the end of the month. My first day out was Halloween, so as of this post Ive been with them for 15 days. Ive had a total of $500 cash given to me, a $300 advance, a $1500 direct deposit and a $2000 direct deposit. Thats a total of $4300 in 15 days (see screen shots of deposits, as i know many of you will call BS without proof lol ) working 3 weeks and taking a week off should get me to 6k minimum. Dispatch said as of right now I am still owed $1400 in what theve held back for the end of the month.
-They are foreign, the guys at the yard are of mostly Russian background and dispatch is in Europe. The Russians at he yard are somewhat difficult to communicate with just because of the language barrier, but they're good guys and extremely helpful and nice. Dispatch is great, slight European accent but very easy to understand and work alongside. They aren't pushy at all and ultimately and most importantly you the DRIVER have the final say in EVERYTHING you do everyday.
-Equipment is ok, nothing fancy in these Cascadias but its getting the job done. All 10 speed trucks and the driver gets to have the Russians set the governor to their liking on their first day.
-I finally got around to asking about the team bonding in Alaska since a few people were interested in that. It is of course optional and they do it for 2 or 3 weeks in the summer. You are not paid during the time you are there. They rent a few large cabins and the owner brings his boat.....im assuming from Russia lol. You fish everyday and the fish you catch and dont eat while youre there are packaged up and sent to your house if you so choose at no cost to you. THE TRIP IS NOT FREE! Depending on your performance during the year you either pay to get yourself to Alaska or the owner pays 50% if your numbers are good. This is something to consider hard because not only will you have to come out of pocket at least a little bit to get to Alaska you also wont be earning money while youre there, you can stay the 3 weeks or one week or two weeks its up to you. The housing is paid for but travel and items you need while there are not.
-As of today 11/14/2017 I can honestly say im happy and would recommend them to someone looking for a change, high pay and a lot more freedom then drivers have with most companies. If you are not good with finances and aren't prepared to run the truck like its your own business its not for you.

 

The worry about elogs is they havent implemented a plan to get them or install them. im not worried about running legal, i can do that....its going to cut down on my nap times though lol.

 

Pretty much. I don't even have experience with electronic log so I have no idea what I'd be getting into with that. My driving style is different than a lot of people's I think I'm the type I struggle to sleep at night like it doesn't matter if I've worked all day or not I still have trouble going to sleep before 2 or 3 in the morning and it absolutely kills me. So what I've always done on paper logs as you know I might wake up after being awake all night and have only gotten for 5 hours of sleep I might wake up drive for for 5 hours start to feel tired pull over and take a 3 hour nap and then start rolling again. Now not being the least bit experience electronic logs I'm curious as to how that affects the number of hours I can drive or how long my work day is so if I log out and I'm in the sleeper for 10 hours but I only actually get 4 hours of sleep because my body sucks and I can't sleep worth a #### when I'm supposed to sleep what happens if I start rolling get tired and take a three-hour nap? How bad does that affect the rest of my day or my legal hours so there's a lot I still have to research about electronic logs myself to figure out how to better myself when that day comes and I have no choice but to run those #### things

 

See that was one of my biggest fears. They're trying to pass it like it will make driver safer but in the reality it doesn't give the driver the choice to make that decision for themselves. It's the same as gun laws you're making everyone pay for the mistakes and choices of a few bad apples. So now instead of getting my nap when I'm tired and then driving again I have to drive my entire shift tired LOL what the hell kind of sense does that make. So basically if i get 14 hours of on duty time i can wake up, pre trip, drive two hours to the shipper, wait 2 hours at the shipper, spend a hour getting loaded and strapping, drive 3 hours get tired take a 3 hour nap and be out of time lol, horrible.

 

What are you talking about ? Nobody said anything about the hours changing. On your best day have you ever once found it possible not to go into a thread a be useless ? No ? Pretty much what i figured.