Prime losing contract

They say you must be doing something wrong because they feel it's always the truckers fault and never the company's fault or the company didn't play a part in it. If you didn't get the revenue amount for that week the. It's your fault and not because there wasn't any freight that day or a slow area. Some drivers are brainwashed into thinking if they make a certain amount, then every driver in that fleet should be doing the same. With over 3k trucks, it's impossible. Some guys have dispatchers who have more pull than others with whatever dept that issues the loads . If you are out here working and smart on loads you take and good on your fuel yet not making a certain amount then clearly it isn't your fault. Some drivers are paid spokesman. They have a mindset like cops who feel no matter what a 4 wheeler does in traffic, the trucker is at fault because he is the professional. Even if that 4 wheeler cuts you off and slams their brakes, they will still try to assume you could have done something to avoid them liking seeing the future.

 

Yes it seems to be something people spout out, but no one can tell me how to raise my numbers. "You're a rookie." so? Explain to me what it is I can do to change what loads I'm getting, because I seriously don't understand how someone can play the system. You can't do #### with the night and weekend crew.
Actually. I've only been recently told our FM doesn't even control our loads. Sales does that. So..again..what is it that can be done?

 

The only other thing you can do is slow down, and avoid tolls, and repairs. Twenty percent of $1200.00 leaves $1000/week. Some weeks more, you have to take home time for less. But you're not going to be bringing home 2k unless you train, or buy your own truck outright.

 

Well when I started at Prime as a lease driver I could only get $700-900 a week for two months accepting every load but was capped at $3500 a week by my dispatcher in Pittston then. I almost left but switched to company driver and was earning $900-1300 a week. Never understood how I could earn more as a company driver. Got tired of being stuck in the northeast and switched terminals. Got a new FM and I was averaging about what you are doing now. The market this year is down so earnings are down for many drivers working at certain companies. Yes, your FM waits for loads from the sales dept. Sometimes it depends on how long your FM has been there and how much pull they have with sales. You state you are averaging about $1200 a week but another driver with the same FM could be averaging $1600 a week and another $900 a week while all of you are taking every load and watching your fuel. I think it's the lick of the draw of you ask me. When I got tired of getting similar loads weekly at similar rates, I put my foot down and started turning down loads. All of a sudden my revenue increased. I would be sent a $1 a mile load originally then after declining, the loads got better. Sometimes I rejected 2 or more and in most cases the loads got better after each reject. I'm not saying this works all the time but did for me for a long time. I went from $1200 to $1900-2300 a week but the higher end came when I bought my truck at Prime under their Ace lease. Yeah my FM was pissed but I'm not working to please them, I'm working for me. There really isn't a perfect answer to get more income unless maybe you want to train. That's something I would never do again but I know some guys who do well and some who don't.

 

What are you grossing per week and what is your average per mile? With fuel prices down, you won't see much of a difference slowing down. Sometimes you get better fuel speeding up depending on the load and highway you are on. If your average fuel per gallon is let's say $2 a mile and you average 2300 miles a week, the difference between 8.5 mpg vs 7.5 mpg is only $60. Repairs will happen and some you can't avoid. You can service your truck correctly and drive well but still have breakdowns. It's so many variables that fit into the equation. I suggest training and if that's not your cup of tea then possibly trying a different division like flatbed could make a huge difference. I know guys who do much better on the flatbed side grossing $5k a week compared to the reefer side. But whatever you do, don't take those long $0.80 to nearly $1 loads that include fuel surcharge. I see lease guys do that and all they do is destroy their entire work week. I recommend if you are going to be a solo lease driver, you better to train because it's hard on solo's. If you don't want to train, then it's better to do the Ace lease and get the title at the end of the lease instead of a check for $5-12k and start all over again forking over $150k over 3 years renting a truck.

 

Yeah. I'm done being miss nice lady. Last weekend they basically forced me to take a local walmart load from Lewiston. I found out this is against my contract. Weekend dispatch lied and told me I'm expected to do it and that my FM hadn't told me.
I'll be waiting for a load this afternoon from the weekend jerks and I'm not taking another crappy load.
As for my average gross? It varies. I made 5800 or so last week, net 2300 after fuel and such. The previous week was 2100 or so, net 670. You can't look week to week for me because I don't fuel just for a trip, I fill up cheap if I can fill up cheap because I don't stop moving. I won't miss out on fuel that's potentially 20 cents less a gallon just to have a larger check that week. I say potentially because of course I don't know where ill head, could be the same price, but I could end up saving.

 

Also, right now my checks say 1.41 a mile.

 

That's not bad. But don't think net, the IRS ain't going nowhere. I never cared about a week net. I only look at monthly average. I also run at 65mph, average 7.8g/ mile. I'm clearly not in this for the money. I'm just here for the experience. There are drivers out there with a life AND money. I'm shooting for that.

 

Monthly average of what... Your gross? That doesn't make sense to me. I'm here for experience (trucking and business) and money. I want to learn as much as I can about taxes and such.

 

Lol, monthly average of what you keep. You keep using net. You don't our shouldn't be keeping all of net. And unless you have a spouse for health insurance, that cuts net further, because now or later, at the end of the year, you will have to cough the dough up.

At the very least, what you average AFTER TAXES.