New driver

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Scvready, Dec 30, 2017.

  1. trklife18whls

    trklife18whls Light Load Member

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    Sep 25, 2017
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    no, get some experience in first. their is a lot to learn about trucking.
     
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  3. Aradrox

    Aradrox Heavy Load Member

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    Jan 21, 2016
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    That's gross not net
     
  4. J.S.

    J.S. Medium Load Member

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    Jun 27, 2015
    Texas
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    Fuhgetaboutit.

    And amen

    To be positive and in plain English you can't think ideally for this type of business. You won't be dealing with your brother, mother, sister, close friends, etc. it will take time to find the right niche all the while not making mistakes. Mistakes will pummel you in this biz and we all make them especially new drivers. If I were you I'd thouroughly investigate other opportunities for the money you want. I'd quit today for half the money I make and doing something I enjoy. Try an electrician, carpenter, plumber, painter. Each has potential for food revenue and you can tour the country when you earn the time.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
  5. Scvready

    Scvready Light Load Member

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    Dec 16, 2017
    Louisiana
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    You've never made that much? I'll coach you to it when I make it
     
  6. Scvready

    Scvready Light Load Member

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    Dec 16, 2017
    Louisiana
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    I'm take my chances thanks
     
  7. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    Mar 5, 2016
    White County, Arkansas
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    No. That's "Uncle Sam" who will coach you in taxes and HE will make that much off you. HE HE HE....
     
  8. Scvready

    Scvready Light Load Member

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    Dec 16, 2017
    Louisiana
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    HE HE HE
     
  9. Aradrox

    Aradrox Heavy Load Member

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    Jan 21, 2016
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    Well looking forward to your post here in a year or less have fun

    Don't bother with this guy he going to have to learn the hard way.
     
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  10. LeadFarmer

    LeadFarmer Light Load Member

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    Dec 20, 2017
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    So you are in a, at best, 6 week school learning a trade. Your plan with 6 weeks education is to somehow "work the game" into earning a net $110,000 from a company paying all your costs and risks? And this on the way to a take home of $208,000 (4kx52wk) with 3 years experience?

    The average Doctor with 9 years specialized education at a cost of easily 20-40 times your CDL school in the middle of their career doesn't make that much. For a bunch of them they don't even get close in their gross annual pay!

    Are you really so full of yourself that you think you can earn 2.5x more as a beginner than the industry standard for experienced drivers? And without a day behind the wheel you know you're going to be worth more to employ than a Pediatrician, Vegas Stripper, or VP level Goldman Sachs manager.

    By driving a truck (with an ELD).
     
  11. Slingshot88

    Slingshot88 Bobtail Member

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    Mar 23, 2017
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    I haven't read every post on here so I'm not sure everything that's been said, but I will give my two cents. Don't listen to people who say you won't ever make 2k a week as a company driver. It is absolutely possible, though I'm not sure about the state of Louisiana, I myself am from Chicago so all I have to go off of is my experience working out of Chicago. As with ANYTHING IN LIFE, the difference between getting what you deserve and not getting it, rests solely on your ability to NEGOTIATE. Negotiating and deal-making is something of a dying art these days, you've got so many drivers who don't know what they're worth and they bend to the will of their bosses, brokers, dispatchers, and anyone else in the "chain of command". This is why a lot of drivers are suffering. Don't pay any attention to it. If you are an assertive high-energy person then you will do well.

    I'll give you some background on me. I'm 29 and I've been trucking since I was 24, so I've only got barely over 5 years so far in the industry. My first 3.5 years were as a company driver, and as of the last year and a half I've been an owner operator. The number one all-encompassing thing you have to be able to do is negotiate/communicate. Later on when you are an owner operator you are going to be talking with brokers about rates. If you do not know how to communicate assertively or you are just afraid to, then you will get manhandled every single time and you will go out of business quick. There are many reasons why new owner operators fail (buying a brand new $150k "throwaway" truck that has all the modern electronics and engine-choking bs on it is a great way to go broke) but the biggest reason is that I think they just plain suck at standing up for themselves and communicating properly. I know I'm about to catch flak for this and people will probably swear that I'm just a "young gun" who doesn't know what he's talking about and is exaggerating, but everything I'm about to tell you is 100% true.

    In fall/winter of 2012 I got CDL and went to a small family owned company that a buddy of mine worked at, and they hired me on the spot for 40cpm (not bad for someone with zero experience starting out in 2012). Within 8 months I was up to 45cpm, and with the hustling I did (using paper logs not e-logs lol) I was getting about $1500/week give or take a hundred bucks. Then I ended up finding a more lucrative company through Craigslist. By this point I had just passed my 2-year mark. The ad said "we pay experienced drivers up to 55cpm" so I went in for an interview. All went well and before I left of course I mentioned "so let me make sure we're on the same page, I'm getting 55cpm when I start on Monday, correct?" and the owner said "uh no, we were thinking of starting you at 50cpm and raising it after you've been here a while. The ad said UP TO 55cpm, not STARTING at 55cpm..." Of course I already knew that but I pretended I didn't. I said "oh...sorry but I was under the impression that I start at 55cpm. I think that is more fair considering that I have 2 years' exp and you even said yourself when you seen me drive the truck that you haven't seen anyone drive it so well in a long time. I hustle very hard and I get things done." He replied that that was great to hear and that he is willing to start me at 52cpm. I said "I appreciate you coming up to 52 but I am still looking for 55 and if it can't be had then I still have to consider a few more companies that may give it to me, thanks for your time." Before I walked out the door he changed his mind and agreed to 55cpm. For that whole year or so, I made roughly $2k/week. Then it was time to become an owner operator so I quit on good terms and went back to the original company I had started at, only as an owner this time.

    Bought a 2007 Freightliner Columbia and started work as an owner-op. My truck, though it has had a few expensive repairs, is fully paid off already and only cost me $12k (not including the $10k I put into it). I make $3-5k per week almost every week except for a couple crappy weeks here and there. Average paycheck (AFTER all my expenses have been taken out) is usually around 4 grand/week. Which isn't the best to be had in the industry, but keep in mind I only do dry van, no flatbed or reefer or even hazmat. And the only reason I get even that much is because I always argue when I'm presented with a rate. I usually refuse to drive for less than $2.20/mile, and depending on the season, sometimes I will demand as much as $6-8/mile (like during the christmas season that just passed lol). But if I left it up to my dispatcher to get the rate I want there's no way I'd get it. In my very first week of being an owner-op I figured out that dispatchers don't care how successful you are or aren't, they just wanna go home at the end of the day. They don't care if they book you for $1 or $5 per mile, they don't own the truck so they really couldn't care less. And I decided I didn't want my fate as an owner-op to be decided by a stupid dispatcher who makes $700/week. So very early on I started demanding that my dispatcher put me on the phone with the broker directly. Let's say there was a load that was posted for $950 for 500 miles. My dispatcher would just take it at face value without even being conscious of the concept of asking for more money. Or if they did, they would very easily get discouraged when the broker says he can't do any better, take it or leave it. 100% of the time, my dispatchers would buckle and think that it is what it is. Yet, when I would get on the phone with the broker, I would (literally in 60 seconds or less) get him to come up to $1200-1500 for the same load that my dispatcher had just failed to book for more than $950. This worked for me every single time I have ever done it, and I am not exaggerating. That's how I figured out that YOU are the only one who is in charge of the money you get as an owner-op, don't leave it in anyone else's hands, and if you get stuck hauling for $1.25/mile it's because YOU alone did it to yourself, no one forced you.

    Sorry for my rambling, didn't mean to make the post this long, but I am just trying to illustrate to you how important it is to speak up for yourself, and to know what you are worth and when you are worth it (some seasons are better than others, and some locations pay more than others). There are a million drivers out there who will bend over and take a hard one on command, these ones are mostly the voice of all the negativity you hear and all the complaining about how hard they got screwed. Truckers who stand up for themselves and negotiate even a little bit seem to be the minority these days. Several of my friends are now truckers since I have gotten them into it, two of them are owner-ops and the other two are company drivers, but ALL of them are doing well because of listening to common sense instead of the clowns who make no money in this industry. You can either be an assertive/alpha who gets what he deserves, or you can be a submissive/beta who gets bent over by the company bosses and brokers, it's entirely up to you and that's the real truth you won't hear too often.

    BTW, you're probably gonna wanna buy a pre-2000 model year truck so you are exempt from e-logs. That's what I'm doing asap, these e-logs that just got mandated are already turning into a real headache. About to dump my Freightshaker and get ahold of a 1999 KW W900 here in about a month or two. You don't want a newer truck trust me. Dpf, def, egr, it's all garbage and isn't how a diesel is supposed to be run, that's why all the newer trucks have serious problems.

    Good luck.
     
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