Swift Trainer

You'll be happier in dry box umder the cents per mile payscale. Stick to drop and hook freight, maximize you.drive hoirs as much as you can, and there is money to be made.

I won't do what I do for Swift (dragging a deck) for mileage pay. I lose too much time on my 70 with load securement and tarping. Pay me percentage, or watch me walk away. Swift pays mileage for flatbed, and that just doesn't work for me.

 

As far as flatbed, you nailed it. I'd never do what I'm doing now on mileage pay. Percentage is the way to go. I left Swift to do exactly that, with an eye toward becoming O/O within the next year.

 

There's a reason for that. I work for Builders Transportation running regional. When I actually sit and crunch the numbers between pay earned vs. Actual miles driven, I generally average in the .70-.85cpm range. While I don't hit the big mileage numbers that OTR van drivers see, I still bring home a comfortable paycheck every week.

And I actually work LESS as a flatbedder than I did dragging a box, while earning more money. But that is wholly dependent on your definition of "work". I consider all my duty time ( on duty, not driving and driving ) to be "work", since that is the time I am compensated for one way or another.

 

That jives with my experience switching to regional flatbed. I average about 1850 miles per week and that works out to about $0.70 per mile, but paid on a percentage of anything the truck makes. As the oil industry picks up again the pay will get better.

The thing is this job required two years recent OTR experience, which I accomplished with Swift. I'm making about the same now as I was as a trainer with Swift, but I'm home in my own bed at about half the time.

 

Maybe time America starts blessing God.

 

Jerry,can I bang your secretary?

 

Hey,you know a Swift trainer named Joe,from R.I.?