Insert Bad Company Here>Watkins/Shepard<

What do the bottom ones make?...The top at WS have to make that if not more too...

 

The bottom would make between 45-50K. Our lowest pay is .36/mi.

 

I get that you can make a reasonable living at WS as a new driver. However, only my hardest working drivers run more that 125K miles. That is a lot of miles. You will quickly burn yourself out if you think you can run 120K miles every yeat.

 

First of all... .25/mi..if you have 15yrs exp like you're claiming, why would you accept .25mi???

Either you're a rookie or you got such a bad dac record that no one of higher echelon would even bother with you.

 

I'm at .32cpm, so not too far off +.03cpm Fuel Bonus my September bonus was $398



American Trucker

 

Aren't state highways and back roads where most of these delivery locations are? I can probably count on one hand the number of places I've delivered to that were right off an interstate. Interstate isn't always the fastest way from point A to point B, plus there are some state highways that are just as good as an interstate. 4 lanes, exit ramps, 55/65mph speed limit.

 

I'm doing LTL in KY now so I'm going to easy places such as Lowes and not so easy places in the most rural areas of KY or downtown Louisville...I've done so much LTL work in my first year delivering furniture, my confidence and ability to make the tough dock is pretty solid...Again, like the OP said, the experience you get making multi-stop runs to 'anywhere, usa' are invaluable experiences...And like the OP complained about, I find calling ahead to places I haven't been is also invaluable as there are times when the address is on one street but access to the dock is on another street(ex: parallel to delivery address but takes you to back of building where dock is)...Have I got bad phone numbers occasionally, sure, but then there's 411 so all is good!...If someone finds that inconvenient, they're in the wrong profession...I call it doing what I have to to make my day move as efficiently as possible with the least amount of surprises and headaches...

 

I didn't read all 8 pages of this, I kind of get the gist, but I can't really see how you feel WS sends trucks in to places that trucks aren't supposed to be. Like Walstib said, maybe there's some tight places they send you but if you're a professional, or atleast on your way to being one you'll find a way to get it there, do you really think they would take a load to a place that just couldn't accept it due to not being able to fit, kind of like an "oops my bad, thought you could fit"?

I find that hard to believe, and not being arrogant here but you want to talk about places where you don't thinks trucks belong? I recently moved to western PA and work for a company hauling bulk products for the gas wells and coal mines up here, you want to see tight, sometimes seemingly impossible roads and customers, come up here for just a week and you'll see the worst of the worst, you know what I do? Take my time and adjust my driving habits to get the load where it needs to be.

And the whole pay issue I don't quite understand, any newb company is going to be in about the same ball park pay wise as WS is, but you've got guys like AT making over 45K, I've driven for 8 years and have only managed 43K as my best year, granted this was local and in Florida of all places, but those kind of earnings for a new guy are nothing to be ashamed of.

 

I've gotten that bold line from receivers, never from WS...I've called ahead to ask how a particular place take deliveries(as WS teaches you to do), inform them of the truck I'm driving, and been told, "no problem just do A, B, C" but come to find B and C weren't in the cards, sometmes at my peril as getting out of the situation wasn't as easy as getting into it! ...Once they realized what I said(not everyone that answers the phone knows, which is something else I've learned), we figure out what it takes...For example, I've been to Rent A Centers where there was no way to get behind them and no way to get in front of the strip mall with out relandscaping the place...We found a place I could park and they'd send over one of their delivery trucks for a back to back unload/load...There's always a way!...Using Google maps has also saved me headaches and wasted time...If I have the time I'll run all my stops thru Google Maps, check out lay of land and decide on best way to attack!...There are many tools at our disposal...

 

I DON'T mind.....in fact I PREFER to. I am driving that truck....not my dispatcher, not my broker, not my QualCom, not my GPS.....me, I, myself, is driving that truck----I rely on the people that actually drive to the place every day (ie.- shippers, consignees, security etc...NOT receptionists) to tell me how to get there....and I'll gladly pay for the phone call.