When considering working for a trucking company what factors are deal breakers?

I used to work for a company that would pay an extra $35/week if you opted out of their insurance...or if you took their insurance, they paid 100% of the premium. Sounds great, right? Well, when I started shopping for my own truck, I found that I could've put an extra $20/month into my pocket by refusing their insurance and buying the same exact BC/BS policy on my own. I wound up buying a plan that better fit MY individual needs for half of that.

Your best option isn't ALWAYS through your employer. In my experience, I'm better off taking the extra money and taking care of my own needs out of pocket. Doesn't matter if that is insurance, or time off. Pay me more when I'm working, and don't worry about paying me not to work. I can save up for my own vacations, when I want to take them, for as long as I want to take them.

 

What I have bolded.

For your information and for many others here as well, I tried getting my own BC/BS instead of accepting my current employers, United Health Plan, which frankly sucks.

Wanna know what I was told by BC/BS?

If your employer HAS health benefits, it's against the law for BC/BS to sell you insurance! (as it would be double insurance)

Look it up yourselves at any BC/BS website as you "try" to buy from them, and answer their questions.

But as an o/o as you are, you are "free" to shop around. I figured you to be an o/o earlier when you were saying you don't take vacations and such. But as any company driver above has already said, we WILL TAKE THEM. As we earned them.

 

Deal breakers....Not too many...I think when shopping around for a job , any job , a new driver needs to step back , take a deep breath , and look around. Don't just take someones word on an open forum. The main thing I've seen after my time driving , has been a companies driver retention rate....If a company has drivers that have been with them for 25 to 30 years or more , then they are doing something / providing something there that keep drivers hanging around. On the other hand , if a company most senior driver has 5 years or less , they might need to get a pass , even IF , the pay is great , the trucks are nice ( read fast & shiny) etc.....

Money isn't everything in a job.......... lots of things to consider. A good job , will already have money , benefits , good equipment. Ask the employees , " just what attracted you to come here , and most importantly , what has kept you here " One of the best questions to ask before signing to go with any trucking company.

 

You are correct, I am an O/O these days. This was back in 2007/2008 when I was shopping for my truck...LONG before the unaffordable care act screwed things up...before the occupant-in-chief was elected. I bought my truck already on my own health insurance plan and haven't shopped since then. Wouldn't do me any good to shop around now because I refuse to pay for a lot of the mandated coverages which I not only have no use for, but oppose for various reasons.

I still think plans purchased individually are better...not relying upon somebody else, which leaves you stuck with whatever plan they think works best for THEM instead of what works for YOU. By owning the policy yourself, there is no more lapse in coverage when changing jobs, no more expensive-as-all-get-out COBRA plan to bridge the gap between leaving one job and the next one's insurance finally kicking in. It is yours. If Obamacare won't let you have your own policy just because you have the option to get covered through your employer, it is just another flaw in the law to add to a seemingly endless list of things wrong with that law. That is all I'm going to say about that, though, because we don't need to have this thread locked down or moved into the politics section.

 

As I am looking around at companies to get started with there are a few main things I am looking at

1. Money (Percentage, CPM, Hourly, etc)

2. Money (Layover, Tolls, load/unload, tarp etc)

3. Money (Miles or hours or percentage amount)

4. Money (average loads available a week and profit)

5. Money (W2 or 1099)

6. Bonuses(amount, frequency, likelihood of receiving)

7. Money(Estimated gross yearly income)

7a. Ease of obtaining gross yearly income(Doing good easy runs vs running non-stop snorting coke to stay awake to make the same estimated amount)

and a few other things that involve a combination of these concerns. I built a little spreadsheet so when I call these companies and talk to their drivers to get the info, I plug the numbers in there and see if the company is worth my time or not. I do not acknowledge benefits into the equation as that does not fatten my pockets. I'd prefer to have no benefits and more money. Home time is also irrelevant in the end I am just trying to size these companies up for maximizing my bottom line.

 

And I can respect that you are an o/o, and have a health plan you can work with. However, please do not think that a person who works at say ABC trucking, and they have say, Cigna Health, that the employee can up and get his/her own health insurance. Per federal law, IIRC, when an employer has benefits, you cannot get benefits else where's. Yeah, I have read some of the things the OBooma care has, and I do not like it either, but for now, luckily I have my company benefits, which do suck, which I still have to pay into. As an o/o, you people can go where ever you please for health care benefits, and change yearly if a better plan comes up. We as company drivers are indeed stuck with the cost cutting that many companies do each year, in search of cheaper (to them) monthly payments.

It is not OBooma Care that does not allow one to get health insurance, it's the health insurers themselves that will not sell it to you, if your company already has benefits. Again, IIRC, it is a federal law?

Yeah, COBRA crap. Been there, done that too.

 

I had my own policy prior to buying my own truck...when I WAS still employed by a company which offered benefits. If what you say is true that you can no longer buy on your own if it can be had through your employer, then that is something that has changed in the last 7 years. If it is the insurers who will not sell to you, why inform them that you can get it through your work? They don't need to know that.

 

I think it was only last year, that I tried getting my own BC/BS and this is when I found out, on the BC/BS website, that it is against Federal law to buy health coverage if your employer has it.

NOW, if OBOOMA CARE, has made changes to that.?

I cannot say, but I am checking into this right now.

When you try to buy insurance on your own, you have to mention where you currently work, and from there I would imagine they will check it out if your employer has health coverage's or not. I can only pretty much relate to what I had gone through regarding any of this.