You will no longer be a company driver... You would be 'his' driver... No benefits (health insurance, 401K, vacation, layover... Just what HE provides) PLUS once you split the money coming to the truck (if that's how he pays you), after putting aside the $$ for taxes and maintenance... Oh and speaking of taxes, you would be responsible for paying your own!! You won't get paid any more than you would as a 'company' driver... So my recommendation... DON'T!
Starting out, what is the pay really like?
Discussion in 'Central Refrigerated' started by dfaf, Oct 28, 2013.
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Now that you've gone over the Cons, how about some of the pro's? Am I wrong in thinking that driving teams tend to get the longer hauls and have priority over solos? By that figure, would it not mean that I could potentially earn quite a bit more(if he pays me right)? Another plus is he has a year with CR, so he knows the game, has made connections with his DM/Dispatchers, and I'm sure I could benefit from this as well. A further benefit would be that we're from the same county, so I could see getting routed home a bit more often, as longer hauls could take us closer to our home terminal.
I have at least 4 months to figure out what I'm going to do. -
dfaf Thanks this.
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After six months as a solo company driver for Central my average net pay / week has been $616. That is take home, after all taxes and deductions (tuition, reserve acct, legal plan, etc.) I do not have a health insurance deduction so bear that in mind.
Food for yourself is a daily expense that can really add up fast. If you insist on eating out and trying to survive on truck stop fare and buffets you can easily spend $150+ a week. If you are willing to rough it a little more and don't mind existing off of cold sandwiches and shop smart at Wal-Mart for whatever you can heat up with the truck stop microwave for free you can cut that in half.
If you don't have appropriate clothing, tools, a cooler, smartphone (a must) and some form of entertainment (ie dvd player, internet access, satellite radio, etc.) you're going to end up buying them. A CB radio and GPS are optional IMO but can be very very useful at times.
Tolls, occasionally scales are two out of pocket expenses you'll encounter regularly. As a company driver you will get reimbursed... eventually. But it's cash out of pocket for a week or two.
Keep copies of everything and always, always check it against your paycheck. Eventually something will get "lost in TripPak". And having copies will spare you and your paycheck. In my orientation they told us that we could make copies of our bills and receipts for free at customer locations. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha.....oh my sides.....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Ummmmm.... yeah. You'll need to pay for your own copies at truck stops. Not a huge expense but it can be $1 or $2 per load. You can get an in cab scanner at WVC for $100 and eliminate the need for copies ... I dunno if its worth it or not. Maybe just to eliminate the hassle.
And now for the big one.... Home time. It may seem obvious, but Home time will wreck your paycheck. But it's not just getting 0 miles for the days you are home. Typically, you're going to "sacrifice" miles in order to get onto the load that will get you home. If you insist on going home every 3 weeks your paycheck(s) will suffer. Pretty badly. I find that going out for 5-7 weeks at a time is much more realistic.
This has been my, admittedly, short experience anyway. Hope it has been helpful.dfaf Thanks this. -
Why not just tell us your 6 month gross pay.
We can then get a good estimate on your yearly gross.
everybodys deductions differ.....
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When I went lease-op, my average check was $1081 per week, gross. I was taking out 25% for taxes. You will make more money as a lease-op with Central, but you will also be RESPONSIBLE for everything. It can be stressful at times. Hope this helps.
unloaderdfaf Thanks this. -
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