Need Advice

Almost 7 pages in a "which company?" thread?
It almost makes ya wonder if she'll even have to pump her own fuel

 

You put Knight in the same boat with CRE? That pretty much sums up the voracity of anything you will ever say about trucking.
The average OTR truckers wage has not changed for over a decade, those are the facts. Telling anyone to drive OTR is just telling them they will make the same as a decade ago and pay more for everything.
1991 driving for KLLM 1st year as a company solo I made $33,120 gross. what did you make 1st year trucking OTR?
1998 driving for USX as a company solo I made $50,400 gross.
2005 driving for IDC new hrs of service $48.900 gross
2007 driving for May trucking 6months $25,000 gross
What did you make last year? around 42k-48k close? and the price of everything does not stay the same like OTR pay. Because your pay is capped before you seat the truck.
Telling people to work for your company and stay away from those you never worked for? Ask Conway what the drivers were making before it was Conway.
Ain't nothing special about Conway, and it i no better then Celadon or Knight just another OTR piece rate get the miles if you can. get home if you can with winners and losers based on their ability to work the systems they operate on.

 

Bigblue, I made $28K first year with Swift (last year too) in 9 months. I worked there for 13 months, went to Conway Truckload, pay went up a lot, about 40%. Then I bought a truck and leased to Conway, income doubled. I earn more net than I did gross, quite a bit more, with Conway Truckload.

One thing I disagree about, Celadon, Knight, CRST, some companies are not driver friendly, and Conway is, very friendly. For a truck company, that is. Sometimes you have to go thru a few Fleet Managers, but it not often. I changed once, and have a good relationship, good miles, good communication. I went to orientation with 3 CRST drivers and a Celadon driver - they talked about $.22/mile, bad trucks, no service responses, low miles, and other issues I haven't experienced with Conway. It wasn't my direct experience, but I believed most of their comments, with the allowance that they're truck drivers.

 

Bigblue, Gucci25 made a post that Knight is paying him $.20/miles, less $.02 for per diem, gross wages $.18/mile. I wish drivers would refuse to work for that and keep looking. I think Swift even pays over $.30 to start, Conway $.36. (more or less). I just don't get it. If you can get people for $.20, why pay more? I don't blame Knight, not a lot, for taking advantage of desperate or uninformed people. Like Nancy Reagan said, "just say no." To $.20/mile at any rate.

 

I agree with you 100%. Why some companies think it's ok to install cameras on their own drivers is not only beyond me- but it would pi$$ me off if my company tried to do it to me. My truck is my home away from home and any such videoing of me would be considered very much an invasion of my personal space. Speaking of personal. The only thing that camera would catch is how often I say WTF to all the stupidity I see going down on our highways. Not only this... if you can't trust a person, DON'T HIRE THEM.

 

When I was a trainee in 91 we got paid by the week and ran teams from day 1. I believe they payed me $300 per week and I drove around 3,500 miles that comes out to less then $.12 per mile. Now that does not seem like much but if you take into account inflation and consumer prices that same training pay today should be around $.37 for a trainee. So many trucking companies are screwing their drivers. Heck drivers with years of experience are getting paid $.37 per mile these days. So while Knight pretty much keeps you in the poor house for 3 mos as a probationary trainee, you will still be making in the high 30,s by the end of one year as a OTR driver.

 

Lack of pay increase to meet inflation is not specific to trucking.

 

Swift starting pay is .36 or .37 for van/reefer and .37-.38 for flatbed.

 

Companies figure $40 - $60K/yr driving their truck hauling their loads on their costs is fair. I believe. When you think about it, a lot of times it is fair. In some cases, over-paid.

I don't see how $.37/mile is going to happen for drivers with no experience and little knowledge. You need to offer value, beforehand. Best

 

When you train, you're a trainee on a flat rate. Many companies anyway. You learn enough to go out alone, get on the highway safely and on time, pay goes to the next level. See? Easy.