Pay at Crete is good for company drivers. Proof inside.

i am not necessarily arguing for or against OTR, but remember that IF you do have a local job that pays well, a lot of the time you only have time to go home eat, sleep, then wake up shower and do it all over again. Then, there's that commute back and forth..................

i know some people are saying, but you have no home time with OTR (and you don't), but i'm just throwing this in here for a fair and total comparison.

 

So if you extrapolate out his pay for 12 months it comes out to $60,000 or so for the year.

Just curious. Where else can you make $60k with 160 hours of training ( 1 month full time) and a little over a year of experience? Especially if you like OTR.

I know the Vets here mean well. But, part of getting to where they are is paying your dues. It seems to me this is the vital training that gets you understand what the Vets are saying and in essence you get paid $60k to do it. I hear about local companies etc that pay well. I hear about a lot of things...but the baptism by fire in the heart of mega with 3 days off a month seems to be a pretty good sophomore year.

I could be wrong. Not trying to start a fight, but I hear so much negative #### about megas, but you can’t get to O/O without experience. You can’t get to O/O without owning a truck. L/P is a way and I hear all the negative about it as well. Everyone isn’t supposed to succeed. Some aren’t cut out, some aren’t lucky and some just suck. But #### the torpedoes boys and put the hammer down! LOL

 

I have made 33k so far this year, as of mid-June, including a 1k referral bonus. I am now moving to a drop and hook loop route. If I don't make 70k this year before end of year mileage bonus, I will be annoyed.

If this drop and hook loop works out, and is as good as has been advertised, or at least close, I might buy a truck and try o/o on the loop.

 

Good on you. If you like your job and you like company you are better off then most in this world. I have always enjoyed the otr life myself.

 

Yes yes ... i was an otr driver in an otr truck running a local/reginal dedicated where most of the drivers where local home every night. They had poor lives becuase of what you just mentioned.

 

Exactly! I couldn’t do that! That is exactly why I do what I do: just like this poster! Thanks

 

Is it true that Crete has started paying per diem? If so, it is not such a great deal and is very misleading. Per diem does nothing but screw you when it comes to social security when you retire, and really screws you if you apply for a mortgage because most banks don't consider it income, reducing your buying power. If your a younger driver, you don't have to worry so much about the social security issue, unless you stay with them forever, but any older driver that hires on there with them paying per diem is really screwing themselves.

 

If you take perdiem pay, you can ALSO take a standard deduction, even as a company driver.

Put what you saved in taxes into retirement, and you will more than make up for some social security wage losses, since social security is probably going to implode before 2050.

 

I enjoyed working for Crete but my wife hated having me home every 3 or 4 weeks. Local jobs are hard because you work 14 and head home to sleep and repeat. But the wife likes the fact that I am home everyday. That is what counts. Happy wife Happy life!

My current job is semi-local. I run a daycab but might have to stay at a hotel 2 nights a week on average. So far it works for me.

 

Well, a new year is upon us, and I have received my final paycheck from 2018.

Total year's pay was 66,433. $1000 of that was a referral bonus, so 65,433 was my pay for miles driven. My third full year as a driver (1.75 years with Crete/Shaffer) ends in 9 days.

I did intentionally slow down the last couple months of the year, and start chasing my 70, running 8.5 to 9.0 on duty hours per day on average, in order to start driving after the plows have been out, and park before most lots are full. I also had a few bad days due to making a trip to Nebraska to attend a class at HQ that ended up being cancelled.

No excuse though, I am a bit irritated with myself. I did make less than 70k this year before bonuses (have not been advised what they will be.)

Also: Crete has modified their pay stub to indicate per diem non-taxed income more clearly on the earnings statements, adding it to the taxed take-home income, which reduces some of the confusion.

It is possible that the next statement will also be included in this tax year. It has not yet arrived. That will make the numbers a bit nicer, but the next pay period was nothing exciting, and this is close enough to the end of the year to make my point.