Scatter-brained with schools/compaines/contracts

All I know about TMC is what I've heard from a couple of their drivers. I know they were happy with 'em, and they were off just about every weekend. As far as living out of the truck, that's what I'm doing now and it's not bad so long as it's temporary. Regarding the great contract debate, like you I couldn't afford or finance schooling up front either. I went with PAM and they paid for my school. They did payroll deduct $25/week from my check after I completed training until the end of my first year for a total of 48 weeks. This was described to me as being "shared tuition". I still don't think this was a bad thing as I only paid $1200 for my CDL training. Hope this is of some help.

 

Take home really depends on the company. My first full year as a driver I made $39K. My bring home ranged anywhere from $350/wk to $800. If you're pay is dependent on miles/loads ran as most OTR jobs are, you won't get a very steady paycheck from one week to the next, unless you're on a dedicated lane in which your miles are the same every week. However, you will always get a paycheck so long as you've chosen a reputable company (which I would consider TMC to be), and you keep them tires turnin'.

 

Exactly. An example of percentage of load pay is like this: Company is charging $2000 for the transportation of a load. Your rate is 25% of that 2 grand. You would gross $500 for that load. Keep in mind these figures are examples and do not reflect actual rates. Now, the down side to percentage pay is that you do not get paid for empty miles, unlike with mileage pay. So, let's say that same example I just gave out was a 1500 mile run. That would mean that you would be getting 33 cents per mile, however after delivering that load you've got to deadhead (run empty) for 150 miles to pick up your next load. Now your milege pay just dropped to 30 cpm. These figures I'm using are higher than the average for first year drivers. Realistically most newbies only get 22 or 23% of the load. That being said, your cents per mile pay on this same trip with these same miles would be 26. Again, these are just examples.

 

I've always done the mileage pay thing, with one short lived exception when I tried my hand at car hauling. I've made a good living at it, and at worst might have shorted myself a thousand bucks a year, give or take a few hundred. The way I look at it, we OTR drivers don't get paid for all we do as it is, so why should I drive their truck anywhere and not be compensated for it. JMO.