USA - is it supposed to be this way?

Did not mean to step on any toes , also neglected to mention usa wanting to recruit me. They seem to be in hot pursuit of newbie's like myself.

 

No matter what the situation he needs to stay on top of his pay. Payroll makes mistakes all the time. There's a lot of drivers and a lot of info to keep track of and you know how that can go.

Yes living on the road is very costly if you are not very smart about it. Besides eating in truck stops and such another really costly item that sneaks up on you is DVD's and CD's. A lot of drivers feel there is nothing else to do so you buy a DVD at $25 a pop at truck stop prices! A handful of DVD's a month will wreck your finances! I highly recommend your hubby listen to some Dave Ramsey while he is on the road. Will help set him straight financially. Would be health for yourself too! Have his money direct deposit and then give him Walmart gift cards if he can't control spending. Now he can only buy food and necessities from Wally World, not the truck stop.

Didn't catch how long he has been driving, maybe a month or so did you say? There are a lot of expenses that they do charge you for and the stretch it out over a few pay checks. Stuff like locks, load locks, king pin locks etc...

 

Final chapter in the USA sucks story. After being charged for orientation, having his final pay check docked to the max, making the final tally Chris 0 - USA $450 (so they thought) the "contract" was finally faxed to him. Indeed, it did say that he had to stay with the company for 6 months or be charged for orientation, but it also said that he would be out on the road for 14 days with 3 days of home time. They breached the contract before he did. He might have actually stayed with them but for that "begging for home time" thing that he had to do. They waived the orientation fee (good idea) and finally sent him money that they OWED him. It wasnt as much as I thought they owed, and they never did settle up for the VA haul he did, but we are still in negotiations for that. In the meanwhile, he signed with CASE Enterprises, and although has not gone out on the road yet, hopefully will within the next week.

 

I have never heard of a company putting home time in writing. With all due respect as an over the road driver you must be willing to stay out 4-6 weeks this is usually the norm. This is the number one reason I recommend newbies with wives don't become otr drivers. They just don't realize the length of time that you must stay out. Most think they will just work otr for a few months then quit and find a local job. Seldom does that ever work out.

I think your husband should find another career. Trucking really isn't for him being he has a family at home.

 

You may have never heard of a company putting home time in writing, but it was there, in black and white. Inasmuch as they put it in their contract, they were as bound to it as the clause that demanded payment if he didnt stay with the company for six months. My SIGNIFICANT OTHER believes he can do well at trucking being out for two weeks with several days of home time. His grandfather is an OE and a neighbor is a company driver. Both do well with this schedule. Thanks for your input.

 

Girltrucker, I know this is hard to do right now, but give yourselves some time to fit in. Give him some time to find a routine and get used to the system. Let him work as hard as he wants to- or as hard as he can, things should start clicking soon.

He's going through the same things all new drivers do, it's tough for awhile. As he gets familiar with the company and gets more confident and efficient things will get much better. Right now he's being tested and yes, abused a bit, too. Tell him to hang tough and support him, make sure he doesn't take out his frustrations on the company- that's what they are watching for. If he does, he's failed the test. It's his time to build a reputation and prove he's trying his best.

If you can make a career out of Trucking, the first few months will be over and forgotten soon. Right now his job seems like a huge barfight, when the dust clears it'll look much better.

We're here for encouragement and help anytime you need someone to lean on.

 

Truckergirl, first off, your SIGNIFICANT OTHER is a brand new driver. Brand new drivers don't get to dictate to companies. It doesn't matter how long he's "been around the industry." Second, he was cut a break with that little clause in the contract. You should be grateful for that. Third, freight rates and driver pay have not gone up in over 20 years, yet prices for everything else have. And fourth, you came in here asking questions of experienced drivers. They answered your questions. Too bad it's not what you wanted to hear. But these guys aren't going to candy coat it to make it more palatable. If you know the answer, but you want to hear something else, go to your best friend. She might do that for you. These guys won't.

Your neighbor and his granpoppy are/were probably experienced drivers with companies paying enough to accommodate the schedule you want to see. Those jobs are not easy to find these days. Your SIGNIFICANT OTHER may have to put his dues in before landing one of those gravy jobs.

Now, he has a short-term gig on his record. What did he do, last three months? You will be hard pressed to find another OTR company with that two week clause in their contract. And who knows what USA might have put on his DAC.

Sorry this industry isn't all flowers and sunshine. Wish him luck finding a company that pays what you want while he gets home all the time. Keep us updated on how that works out for ya.


(Edit: I see Granpoppy was O/O. That means Granpoppy was able to set his own schedule. If you two don't have money to go buy a truck and trailer, your own authority plus permits, tags and insurance, you cannot compare what SIGNIFICANT OTHER is trying to do, to what Granpoppy did.)

 

Not insulting your husband/significant other Girltrucker. Like the other poster said, he is new and hasn't quite figured out the game yet. If the home time is in writing then you have something to dispute with them. I can tell you from many years of experience though you aren't going to make crap driving for two weeks and taking home time. Every time you go home it messes up three consecutive weeks of pay! You slow down trying to get a load home, then while you are home you aren' t making miles, then the week getting back out is slow. THIS IS HOW TRUCKING WORKS! There are companies that have regional gigs and such which if you live in the path of your runs you can STOP by the house here and there. This is not your husbands case. He is an over the road driver. The average time out for an otr driver is 4-6 weeks. Mainly because this is the time it takes to average out some decent paychecks. Now the reason I am explaining this to you is because if your husband is concerned about home time and this is an issue he is bringing up to his DM all the time then his DM is going to make him sit until he quits. They tend to get very peeved when drivers take advances and then ask for home time or complain about miles then ask for home time. THIS IS WHY OTR DRIVING IS NOT MEANT FOR THOSE WITH FAMILIES! You either stay out and run and make money or you will pretty much be a back up driver, meaning that if your hubby wants to go home every two weeks then his DM won't run him anywhere. They will give the miles to the guys who want to stay out there and they will make your hubby make all the deliveries and pickups for the guys running. He'll also pick up all the scrap "short runs". This will allow him to get home when he wants. Won't make a dime though.

Like I said, by no means am I insulting or being negative toward you guys, you are just new and aren't very familiar with how it works out there and this is how the mega-carriers operate. If you were to put yourself in his dispatchers shoes think of how you would operate. You have 10 drivers you are responsible for getting loads and keeping busy. Out of those 10, 6 of them run hard and stay out and the other 4 are new drivers and are asking you about home time every 10 days. Now getting drivers home is a pain in the butt cause you have to find loads that go in that direction or eventually go in that direction. So give the guys that are staying out good solid long runs and the others you know not to run far from home cause it will be a pain in the butt getting them back. So you give those four guys little runs here and there and have them make all the pick ups and deliveries. See how that works. You have a good team of drivers because the balance each other out. So now that you have established who does what and you know who you can depend on to do what then it stays that way. Now if one of them makes you upset or keep bothering you during your extremely busy day then what are you going to do? Most likely put them last in line to deal with or sit them at a truck stop until they quit and are out of your hair.

Sorry to everyone for dragging this out. Just trying to make a point while being sensitive to ones feelings. Thought if I explained in depth it wouldn't sound insulting. Hope it didn't sound insulting and hope you have a little better understanding of how it works out there.

So if hubby wants to be an otr driver, then don't piddle futz around. Hit it hard, run it 4-6 weeks or find a local job. The in between just doesn't pan out.

 

This the way i ran too, if i went home , my miles dropped by half or more, then i had too run harder , like 24-7 too make up for it, so i learned too bank one week paycheck for hometime , run the other 3 weeks and i was never out of money that way.

 

I appreciate all the information and replys. I had no preconceived expectations when I posted, and the honest answers are welcomed. Chris and I are not married and will most likely not be married. Already got that teeshirt, and aint gonna get another one. There was no encouragement on my part for him to be home....I was simply writing this on his behalf. Yes, he was hoping for a gig that would get him home every once in a while, and inasmuch as they included those terms in their contract, and stressed it during orientation, this is what he was expecting. He has found a company that will keep him regional, get him home on weekends occasionally, and will pay a decent living wage, not to mention, take care of his DAC.

Some of what y'all have said, I kind of suspected myself. All companies, no matter what kind, test their new workers. They want to know, not only what the newby knows, but how hard they can push. The dispatch that came through, in the early days with the company, for him to pick up a load in Texas, when he was in Binghamton, NY, was probably a common sense test. Thanks again for all your insite. Ill pass it all along to him.