Pay with Less than 1-year Exp

I think the knowledge a student can gain from you can be considered a pay bonus Bill. One thing that has impressed me so far in working and talking and reading posts here from you, is your ubderstanding of our industry and realizing that going the extra mile for your workers means the world. It is what sets you apart from all of the others, and why I wanted to come work for you.

 

Have you considered drivers with a good record that are reentering driving after an absence from the industry. I've been out for 14 months and now I'm going to go to Knight Dry Van to get back into a truck.

They pay 33 cpm to start. 1 cent raise at 6 months and a year. They also pay up to 5cpm bonus every quarter. The bonus is split into a 3 different categories so it seems if you don't qualify for one section you still get the other two. Was told 2500-3000miles a week so I would say 2500 is probably the norm. Terminal was close to the city my daughter is going to go to college in so that's a bonus too.

I know as a reentry driver I'm going to be more thankful to the company that gave me a chance to get back in a truck without jumping through the hoop of refresher courses and time with a trainer. Also you might want to consider going with some sort of unique pay structure that gives the driver a since of fairness to how they are paid.

I always thought that the following would still give incentive to save hours for driving but not leave drivers with that feeling that they are not being compensated for all work they do and being paid less when the work gets harder(city and winter weather driving).

1. Pay a per deim of $60 dollars every day they are in the truck from midnight to midnight.

2. Pay $10 an hour for all on duty not driving time.

3. Pay $15 an hour for all driving time.

In the end a full day's work would still pay about the same as the old per mile pay system. It would just put a end to the working for free complaints. It would require some monitoring of the on duty not driving time to make sure drivers aren't abusing it but other then that I think most drivers would still conserve hours to make the higher rate that comes with driving. EOBR's should make this kind of system relatively easy.

 

I am going to disagree with the higher pay equals a better driver. I remember when the unions were so big and strong,thier drivers made much more money and had great benefits compared to non union drivers. They were the biggest bunch of crybabys I have ever seen.Not all of them but most of them.It seemed like their whole mission in life was to take the company down.In the winter they would put the truck in the ditch or mediam just to get the hourly pay, they would put a small piece of gravel inside a valve cap and screw it back on to get a flat tire and break down pay.They busted the dash up broke mirrors and windshields and never knew how it happened. I have said it before and will say it aginYuo have got to want to be a truck driver.These people today have no common sense,when they go on a forum like this and ask what kind of shoe or boot to buy or what kinda of jacket do I need. Do you really want to put those kind of people out on the road starting out with higher wages. That makes no sense to me. Now if you can start them low and then maybe pay a premium for not running into or over anything I am all for that. Pay more for low Idle time better fuel milage no speeding tickets ectwhich good drivers should be doing anyway.my point is give them a goal to work towards. Most likely I have made no friends with this post but I am being truthful.

 

The most a new guy at Schneider can make in the first year (date of hire to date of hire) is $44,000, running solo averaging 5.5 days worked per week. The top flight guys that come thru my truck have no problem hitting $40,000. A lot of it comes down to the individual driver. Are they going to take responsibility for themselves? If so they can make a very decent income. Some guys struggle with either personal responsibility, the math of trip planning or the concept of trip planning, or poor communication (more than 50% of it being SNI's fault).

I've run into a guy I went to CDL school twice, once after being out a year, the second tim a few weeks ago. He started out with Wolding, went to Veriha where he also did a stint as a L/O, and now has returned to Wolding. The first time I was making .02 cpm more than he was and had just gotten a brand "new" Columbia glider. While we were waiting at Dollar General I found out he's making $16,000 less than I am, working more days, and is significantly less happy.

I don't think his experices are a reflection on either Wolding or Veriha, but rather his approach to working with a company. Pay structure is a big thing, as is the respect a company shows it's drivers. But so is the respect a driver shows his company. Over the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time on the TTR forum and I've read a lot about how companies "need to respect drivers more". Respect is both earned and given. Too many new drivers drivers demand more respect from the company than they show to the company. Just my two cents.

 

Man, is this post right on the button. Every time I have been sucked into a whining session about some perceived slight from a company, somewhere in the first few minutes the driver (or drivers) inadvertently told me just how badly they sucked at trucking. Funny how it is always someone elses fault.
It is amazing what a good work ethic and a good attitude can do for you, specially if you are not trying to "stick it to the man".

 

A lot of truth there.....and I can see it in the students I train and who will make it who won't.....and I'm usually right.

Yiu have to to establish yourself as someone who can be depended on and who can handle business. Someone who knows when to keep their mouth shut and not whine about little things that aren't worth whining about and when ( and how ) to assert yourself over the things that are. That involves showing an interest in the company and showing an interest in their success as a means to your own. Idle times, fuel solutions, routing, customer relations. Not tearing stuff up. Treating the equipment like you own it. You have to learn how your companies system works and then work it....both to your advantage and their profitability.

Then you you earn the respect from your DM and their bosses that so many complain about not getting. You don't just demand it, you show that you deserve it.

Too many, and yes primarily the younger generation, expect to be handed respect and perks just for getting up and taking a breath in the morning. Worst thing from these types is the finger pointing. It's never their fault. If you screw it up, man up and own it. Where has that gone in today's society?

I understand and that with some ( most ) companies it doesn't matter regardless you're just a truck number. But if you do your homework and go with a better company those things matter and get you noticed and treated accordingly.

 

Just a thought, but why not pay a base salary. What that salary is would depend on experience and would constitue a 5-6 day work week and 1 week vacation to start. Then offer a bonus program based on actual miles run and mpgs to incentivize running as many miles as possible as efficiently as possible. This way drivers would not feel penalized for being detained at shippers and receivers but would still be motivated to run hard. but what do I know? I'm just a truck driver.

 

With Union membership hovering somewhere south of 7%,they sure seem to be a small body to blame for the shortfalls of trucking.Lot of mileage from that tired old tale.

 

You missed my point

 

Lots of interesting thoughts. And while I like to think that I try to find better ways to do things I am under no delusion that I am going to change the industry. At the end of the day my customer pay a certain way. I take the expenses from that and if I am smart I can make a little money.

People have different ideas on the best way to profit. I believe that it is cheaper in the long run to keep good drivers even if that means having an increased payroll and benefit expense. Others think differently and that is on them.

Because I am not a rich man I can't afford to conduct a social experiment with this. Maybe after we get this thing rolling we can try some different things. But if I step out of the box and get a bad driver that burns me it could impact everyone.

My saying for trucking is what came first, the bad driver or the bad trucking company.