Miles per week?

Before he became a lease operator and was on the company side, yes 300-400 was what he was making a week , his miles were low, I guess its because he was new and was just starting out

 

Just curious where you are based out of? Do you run just NE or all over? I am going through Millis CDL training at the end of the summer, and then hope to run 2500+ miles/week. Either dedicated or OTR, whichever will make me the most $$

 

14 hrs a day 24/7...

I'd be in hos violation if I did that with only 70 hrs in 8 days to work with

 

What part of the country and what company?

 

I got back into trucking early last year without going to school, ran four months with my O/O brother, then signed on with Swift and went through their training and went solo for the balance of the year. I averaged about 2500 miles a week and made $38K on an averaged annualized basis.

This January I signed onto a team dedicated account and ran that until mid June, making $44K on an annualized basis and then signed on to be a trainer and it looks like about $50-$55K will be the rate for the balance of this year, not counting bonuses. During two weeks running solo again and now running with a trainee we average about 2800 miles per week solo and about 6000 miles as a team. The increase in productivity is partly due to better runs and partly due to better planning on my part. Having 100% on time, zero incidents, and running consistently every week seems to result in getting a lot of long haul JIT loads.

Even at a company like Swift, if you work efficiently and look for opportunities within the company, you can do well. If you are afraid of weather, big mountains, hard work, or learning how to work the system you won't do as well.

 

Yeah Lepton1 I was thinkin you're startin sound like a trainer.. thanx for the confirmation ..


OP 2500 miles per week minimum ..

always shoot for more... $35000 plus first year possible

 

I'll add that my productivity increased after I figured out a comfortable seat cushion solution and can drive longer hours at a time.

 

That's exactly right and they must also know what to look for. Pay of course is what everyone looks at first but I'll bet that up around 90% look at it wrong. How many drivers would be beating at the door of a company that advertises 1000 miles a week. And they wouldn't be lying either. But come down to it they only run those miles once in awhile and the rest of the time they do short runs. The number of miles at the end of the years is what everyone should look for. Same with pay. I could have had a $35 an hour back in 1990 running a dozer but it wasn't year long.

It's seems that most of the new drivers are going for jobs that are running the highest advertised mileage and pay plus some don't even know where they're making mistakes. No one sets any goals and no one cares where they'll be in 5 years.

How long does it take to make a goal list and really put down some items that you'd really like. Refine your list over and over until it comes to a doable list. Then do the same for the companies and type of trucks you'd like to operate.

I'd start like this for money and benefits.
1. anywhere from $75K to $65K to start.
2. The least I'd take is $40K.
3. The best retirement plan out there. Not only a 401K type but also another savings and retirements plans. Company should put up 6% retirement plan, and 2% on savings plan.
3. 401K type with company contributions.
4. 1 week vacation that will go to 2 weeks as long as it goes to 3 weeks after 5 years and 4 weeks after 15 years.
5.Cost of medical and dental plan should be standard with the market, will have to shop around at the time.
6. Good educational plans.
7. All company paid items reimbursed the next pay-day.
The list can go on and on but keep money, retirement, and benefits separate.

Then for the work type of truck. You'll need to decide what type from Van to Flatbed before you job hunt.

What kind of trucks do you want?
1. New models with APC's set to run the speed limit.
2. Excellent maintenance program.
3. Top pay for down pay.
4. If the repairs take a long time will the company place me into a motel?
5. Good riders program. Son, wife, and such.
6. Pet policy
7 and so on.

You can go on and make them very detailed then start cutting them back while you're looking. If you want the better jobs then you need to do something different that all the rest are not doing. If you don't your application just gets stacked with all the others and then you become a number and name with some qualifications. You've got to make yourself known to the company you want to work for. You now have your eyes set on this company because you've zero in on them using your goal list. MAKE face to face contact. If they tell you there's no openings ask them if they could please take your application. If they tell you that you do not have enough experience, ask them if they know of any companies they work with that can help you. What you want to do is show them you have your goals set on this company. Go in once a month if you can or call, and for sure go in if there's any changes to your application. All these steps show the company you want to work for them and they might just give you shot. I could almost guaranteed that your application would be picked over the ones in the stack.

 

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