One Trucker's week

[I'm placing this in New Drivers because they would be the ones most likely to be interested. I work for a furniture manufacturer and have just finished my first year.]

Monday....I have to be in Memphis at 7AM. That means I gotta be on the road at 5. No problem....I made the appointment. WHAT A BREAK! One of our trailers is there and the boss tells me to drop and hook. I'm outa there in 10 minutes flat! On the way home he wants me to stop at a parts house and pick up metal parts; I know where it is and I'm back home by 3PM....end of trip.
But my new trip starts right now! I gotta drop and hook in Atlanta - 5 hours away at 0345 Tuesday morning. So I beat feet over to GA/AL line and get some sleep.
Tuesday....I got some sleep, but not much. Made my D&H and they said "bring 'er home". I'm too tired to drive straight through so I catch a nap and get home Tues at noon. Spend a coupla hours sitting around with my wife but I gotta go. My next trip is in New Jersey for Thursday morning so I gotta drive some miles today. About midnight I pulled into my favorite rest stop in Tennessee 420 miles away
Wednesday....Drove. I made it to within 150 miles of my final destination, but I've never been there before, it's dark and raining and I'll have time to find it tomorrow if I get at it early.....
Thursday....Early. Made it over to New Jersey and found the place, but there are trucks ahead of me. I waited 4 hours, got the dock, and then the dock crew shuts down for lunch! No prob. I made friends with one of the other drivers so we walk over to Burger King. BY 1:30 I'm talking to dispatch.......
Now I've got a pick up in Middletown, NY to go to North Carolina....takes three hours to get to Middletown and an incredible 5 hours to get loaded. Now I'm dog-tired....I drive about 30 miles to a truck stop, found a spot and went to bed.....
Friday.....Got up early and made it from Scranton, PA to NC in 12 hours. Pulled into the yard at about 6 PM. And sat for two hours. Then three.
Finally called their security and told them I was outa hours and was going to have to leave the yard. He asks when I will be back and I told him I didn't know, maybe next week some time....It was all a lie, but it worked! They unloaded me pronto! Now I gotta go to one of our suppliers in NC and do another D&H. I take care of that and am safe in bed at 12 midnight......I ain't getting much rest this week!
Saturday.....No real schedule, just herd this beast home and then call Monday. It's 650 miles, though so it's 6 PM time I get home.....

Miles: 3655 (32.5 CPM).........................$1187.87
Drops....5 (15$ each)..............................$75.00
Pick ups...3 (25$ each).............................$75.00
Downtime....16 hours ($7.50 each)............$120.00
Safety bonus ...3655 (2.5CPM)..................$91.37

Total....................................................$1549.24

I don't usually make that much. Closer to 1100/week is my average. But it was a good week and dispatch appreciated me getting it all done....

Hope this helps some Noob....BOL, ya'll.

 

I averaged 1100/week for the year; will make 57K. There hasn't been much variation since I started.
Note that the little things make a big difference........try to go with someone who pays for drops, pickups, down time, etc. I don't like any of the freight companies, but then I've never worked for any of them........
Since I work for a manufacturer I even get paid holiday pay - whether I work or not. But not everyone will get as lucky as I did. You may have to slug it out at some freight company for a year or even two before you get what you want. Or maybe you'll like freight companies.....