How milage pay works,for new drivers

Some companies advertise “no forced dispatch”, which means you can turn down a load. Otherwise the dispatcher could get upset with you.....retaliate....hell yes.

 

As a new driver, driving over 2500 miles a week will be a really big challenge (especially if you aren't running the open roads and delivering to big metropolitan areas). You've got a lot to learn in the first year, and pushing yourself to drive that much may lead to trouble.

Best pay is always mileage loaded or empty with add pays for all work (tarping, unloading, etc).

Don't settle for a dismal rate, and don't always think the grass is always greener. Find the company that's doing the work you want to do (deck, tanker, van, reefer, etc), driving the equipment you want to operate (Pete, KW, WStar, etc) and going to the places you want to go (OTR, long-haul rounders, regional, local, etc).

Unless you are being taken advantage of or abused, stick it out with a company if you find something that makes you reasonably happy. Hopping around between companies because X company pays 1 cpm more than Y company is the last thing most companies want to see when hiring.

Most smaller companies want dedicated drivers that are loyal when treated right. They want to depend on you, and not dump the truck halfway across the country from their terminal because you got start crying that they didn't get you home on time. This is trucking, delays are part of the business. Suck it up buttercup and you'll be fine.

 

Your only confused cause your new other than asking in here, all you have to do is talk with the potential company representatives which usually are the recruiters. Just be careful about any company making pie in the sky promises about you getting certain miles per week. I'm not saying their lying, however you'll find to get those miles you'll have to do all the loads they give you no rejections once you start refusing loads and requesting time off you'll find your miles will start to decrease. Have you figured out how you will be physically able to do 3000 miles per week? Check what speed their trucks are governed at, the slower they go the less miles you'll be able to do per week. I'd factor in an average speed of say 60 mph x by 11 hours x by 5, 11 hours at 60 will give you 660 per day over 5 days that would be 3300 miles. However that's a big if you got to factor in driver fatigue, the weather, delays etc etc.

 

Any company that "guarantees miles" should be eyed with caution. This is very uncommon. Too many variables, at all levels. However, some might guarantee a minimum salary provided you're doing what's asked of you and available for dispatch all days in the pay period. But they have so much fine print, you can easily get screwed out of getting the "minimum pay", maybe as a fault of yourself, maybe not.

How many miles you can expect to run in a week can vary wildly from one gig to the next, and one week to the next. Anywhere from 1,500 to 3,500. So many variables can affect this week to week, even just considering a single carrier's fleet.

 

Almost all will promise 2500 miles but few deliver; especially the megas. I costs them nothing to make the promise and it attracts fresh meat to the seat.

And since it costs them nothing to have you sit, don't expect office staff to give you any more loads then their weekly quota of miles is. For many companies that is in the 1500-2000 mile range. You get it? You sit for free; driver miles mean more work for office staff with no benefit for them.

Now, you will get folks answering your question with saying they got 2,800, 3,000, or 3,500 miles at XYZ mega crap training company. A few years back, we would get BS here that would insist they regularly run 4,000 - 4,500 miles on a 60mph governed truck with a legal log book at a mega. Those are of course lies, but people sincerely believed them. The reason is ego.

These companies lead you to believe piece work pay is "performance based pay." It is not. These braggers believe the falsehood perpetrated on them that putting forth a little extra effort will pay big dividends for a piece work driver. Of course office staff is motivated to put forth that idea, since the BS costs them nothing and they are in a constant battle with their employee turnover at a 100% annually.

And like all good lies, their is a tinge of truth involved; some of the drivers they hire cannot handle the pittance of miles they do hand out. It is kind of funny, but you get people signed up for the trucking business that cannot log 200miles in the saddle a day.

The end result is you get what you get at a mega trucking company. Some weeks more, some less. They run a seasonal business and what you get for a load is more dependent on the freight available then anything else. That will be most often less then the 2500 miles the lure you in with.