Looking for greener grass

First I'd like to be clear, if your just going to rag on me keep moving I don't care what your opinion is. I'm looking for advise from positive minded people.

After years of being a CD constantly getting the run around, being taken advantage of, and treated solely as a number I finally grew some balls and signed a lease. Was not how I wanted to do it but that's yesterday. I got my truck through SFI and I'm in the Schneider IC Choice program. I am surviving buts that's all I'm doing. I'm single, no children, no house, just a personal vehicle loan. I really don't know how guys survive with any or all the above.

Its been 2 months, I've put on 25,000 mi and I avg $3100/wk rev. My lease and insurance run $1500/wk, plus $500/wk for personal, fuel is usually $800-$1000, I try to pick loads under 25k and keep it at 60mph, doesn't always happen but i do my best, my fuel mpg is 7.3 for 60days.

I try to make the best choices with loads, but I'm often hampered by waiting for loads to confirm, which they usually do while I'm driving. By the time I can get stopped and logged into the board the load is gone. I'm often times running the crap no one wants. I began by booking my loads for an entire week at a time, but after multiple weeks of loads falling apart and having to replan, I've taken to doing one load at a time.

I recently began looking at other companies where I might have an opportunity to be more productive and earn more. I liked Landstar but they insisted on drivers having Hazmat even if they don't do Hazmat. Makes no sense to me so I told them no. Only other company I found with a load board was Advanced Trucking in Indianapolis, but I don't qualify with them. I have 2 speeding tickets in my personal vehicle, one drops in Sept the other in February. I have 2 backing accidents, both of which were extremely stupid and I continue to bash my head for.

What I'm looking for is a company that allows drivers to use a load board and negotiate their own rates, with at least a 70/30 split, although prefer 80/20,

Any suggestions for where I should try? Or should I just stay where I'm at and ride it out?

 

Start your own mc, but only after shopping around for customers. Take notes on where you've been, whether youve seen other o/os loading and unloading. There are a few decent places to lease on around the country, but for other operators it is a trade secret tbh. If your situation is real bad, get out of the ownership/lease side and work for an o/o to learn how to do it better.

 

I do want my own mc someday, but I'm not ready yet. I like the security of someone else securing my pay even if it means I earn less. I understand the trade secret thing, no one wants to give up the honeypot.

 

I don't know if Greatwide has what you want or not.
Research it and see.
Lease Purchase Program | United States | Greatwide Truckload
Greatwide Truckload | Owner Operator Jobs | United States ...

 

To be honest with you with the freedom you have no kids no debt. I would do some research on the company driver side. That lease is taking your hard earn time. You could put yourself in a better financial situation. You could run the road hard for a great part of the year & then take yourself some quality time off enjoying the fruits of your labor. I'm pretty sure you would do better financial as a company driver save your money learn the business side of running a trucking business, building your network of connections and then buy your own. I hope the best for you & I would step back and give it some serious thought. It can be very frustrating do a honest day's work only to have an empty hand at the end of the day. Keep on trucking all the best

 

Honestly, it's not the company, it's you. And changing companies won't change you.
I'm a Choice driver and have been for 6 years and I know a couple of things:

#1, if you're averaging $3100 a week it's because you're either sitting in a truckstop, going home every Friday, or you're trying to book high $$ short haul that ties you up for a day. I could easily do $3100 in 4 days.
#2, fuel 7.3 running 60 in an EVO is not good. You're probably idling too much.
#3, book 2 loads at a time. That way you have a couple of days to find something you like. Also, if you book something that doesn't have a ride out, perhaps you shouldn't book that load.

I wish you the very best. In the beginning it's tough. When I started if I ran $4,000 in a week it was Christmas. Now I can run well over $5,000 and take a day off.
If you wish to PM me and tell me your circumstances (where you live and whatnot), I'll be more than happy to mentor you for a while. This isn't easy, but it can be done. Good luck.

 

I would stay there at Schneider. I started booking my own freight with Schneider back in 2007 , went to landstar and loved it there , now i am @ f2f playing the spot market and there is no money in the spot market right now. I jave freinds here that are actually going back to Schneider from f2f. Schneider jas their own contract freight and that is what you want now. Imo . good luck.

 

Not sure how to PM need to figure it out.

I'll try to answer; I don't generally spend a lot of time in truck stops, only when doing 34. I sleep in RA's and on ramps, whatever is necessary. I drive 8-10 hour days. I don't like short loads, I don't like doing more than one load per day. I love long loads, 1000-1500 mi runs. MPG is low because I was told, and i stupidly listened, do the speed limit make it up with loads. I've only been driving 60 last couple of weeks, and those weeks i was avging 8.5+. I haven't been home since early May and don't plan to be again until the end of June. I'm perfectly comfortable with 60-90days on the road. I idle very little, I have an APU and use it whenever possible. I look for the high $$ long runs, I'd rather make $5k on 2 loads than 5 or 10. But I do what I need to do whenever possible, sometimes I'm just not lucky. I very rarely find a load to one place and then a few other right back. I haven't even been able to make a triangle. Right now I'm on the west coast, have a load that picks up tomorrow in AZ going to OR on Saturday most likely. Was a bad week because I was sick. Last week I did 3 loads from NORCAL to Wa to SOCAL to NV, for $3600, but I don't get a paycheck because of withholding snafu last week, $800 carries over to next week.

 

I would work with Opus as he said he could give you some advice that might be beneficial to you since you can't pm yet. I would give him your email address so you can communicate privately. All the best to you

 

A piece of advice my Grandpa told me long ago.

If the grass was really greener on the other side of the fence, there would be so many people on the that side of the fence, it would be trampled into mud. Thus, making the side you came from look pretty darn good.