want to be a truck driver need advice

Prime, Inc. pays $600.00 a week while riding with a trainer.

Central Refrigerated pays $540.00 a week while riding with a trainer.

Knight pays $400.00 a week while riding with a trainer.

 

Try looking at USA through another source other than Driver Solutions. Or call recruiting direct would be even better. I know many of the trainers are pushing to get DS and C1 OFF the list USA hires from.

 

I don't know why some people at USA would make so little. Least mileage I will have in my first month is 1800 and I am taking off 3 days during that time. Most mileage I got in a week was 3100 and average is about 2800. So you can multiply that by your cents per mile and it should give you an idea about what you will make in a year.

 

I am in the research phase of entering this profession. I am looking to get some basic, but accurate, information. A few things Id like to understand better as they relate to various compinies:
Average Weekly Mileage
First year cpm scale
Governed speeds

I am hopeing for the following situation, and I fell that it is realistic, but someone with more experiance may tell me diffrent.
After the inital (lets say 4 month) training phase, start bringing home $600 a week. (file singe with 1) Being out about a month at a time, then home a few days. A note about home time, Id like to split it evenly between two places halfway across the country. Id scout out a parking place and relay that info to my DM who could hopefully find me a load within 50 miles within a week of when I requested it to be. I am thinking with the proper luck (as far as the things that are out of my control) I can average 2500-2850 miles a week. Figure .30cpm (swift says .25 to start??!!) and that should be prety close, right? Id like to put off training untill I can afford to pay for it out of pocket, so that they cant hold it over me for a year and a half or howerver long they do it.
I do have a CDL-A now, but with no Tractor-Trailer or OTR experiance (I drove a straight truck with trailer to local job sites, then did whaterver the job was).

Also people say it all depends on your DM, how do you get a good one? Is it just luck of the draw? If I treat him/her with respect will that make them good, atleast for the most part?

 

U have a agent? And ur trying to get into trucking? I would think they would push you into something where u can make a lot more for their cut.

 

I can promise you that with this bottom-feeder you'll be lucky if you hit 36K in your 3rd year, much less the first. Trucking companies (especially bottom feeders) DO NOT guarantee a yearly earning. What they push is an "average." Just ask one of their recruiters how they come up with that average...they take an average from their solo drivers AND trainers! A trainer is typically going to be worked much more than a solo, so the average is a flawed number. It doesn't really suit their interest to give the real average of real SOLO drivers. Ever wonder what USIT really means? U-SIT!

 

Have you tried going through the Dept of Labor for a grant? They're still available...and the "schools" will never tell you about them because they make less money (due to no financing) and less kickback from the trucking companies because there will be no obligation on your part to fulfill a contract.