Profile For David T.

I know that Earlbacher Bros (the local company) is around 40,000 a year. According to the recruiter from Keim its 45 - 50 grand a year. But i really dont know how accurate either figure is honestly because they both pay percentage not miles so I kind of just put both on equal ground as far as pay. Earlbacher has more home time which is very important to me with the kids and my wife as well. The local company has 15 trucks and the dispatch is the owners wife. The trucks are older and the trucks are swapped between drivers and they get parked at his farm.As far as I know with KEIM I will have my own truck and yes they are sweet. My thing now is I made a commitment to Earlbacher yesterday and did my drug test. When that comes back tomorrow I can start on Thursday. I am a man of my word and I feel that standing by that commitment is important and that it would probably be a nice slow start to my career before jumping into a large company. I also think both places would respect me more in the end and I think I would respect myself more as well.

Ok guys I need some help. Yesterday I went and did my pre employment for a local place very near my home with an every weekend home-time. The pay is decent and percentage based. Its literally 30 minutes from my house and for the first week I'm in training I will be home every night. The freight is grain and fertilizer and the like. Now today I got called to Keim TS in Sabetha KS. The pay is better and the recruiter tells me that Id have a good home time of average 36 weekends a year. The trucks are newer Kenworth where the local place has older freight-liner trucks and I wouldn't have my own. They want me there on Monday morning to start training which is $100 a day and id be in training for maybe a month. The question here is does anyone have any advice on what I should choose here? Im trying to weigh my options but being new to the game I don't really know what route to go. Any advice is welcome here. Thank you.

Well you guys are spouting the typical "truckers against trucking management" and "business owners versus employers" stuff which, as usual, holds very little water. People who have never owned a business always think every business owner is just swimming in cash.

Basically the industry has a revolving door. That's why all these companies hire all the time. Drivers recruiters make money on referrals and lies, companies get a tax break for the new hires. win win _ for them.

Rich, if you have an ounce of sense you'll run out and finance 20 trucks today and get some drivers in those trucks. If owning a trucking company is as simple as raking in the cash and keeping it for yourself by telling a few lies and garnering a few tax write-offs then for God's sake why don't you own a trucking company? Are you scared or something? Go get your share of the pie if you've got it all figured out. Don't just complain about the people making all the money. Become one of those people. It's easy, right?

Companies have the money to pay their drivers more and they just pocket it instead.

James, you should be right on Rich's tail. Get out there and buy yourself some trucks and pocket all that easy money. Why sit around complaining about not getting your share? Go get it!

In recent years Europe has made some changes to their pay for truck drivers. I know almost nothing about it except that it's now focused more on hourly wages than it is on mileage pay.

This is the first I've heard about this Bill being proposed. If they changed over to hourly pay it would turn the entire industry on its head. I have no idea if anything like this would ever see the light of day. The technicalities involved would be enormous. Everything in the industry would change. From the way the janitors mop the floors to the way CEO's conduct meetings and everything in between. It would all be overhauled. Brokers, logistics software, sales negotiations - everything would change. Not to mention a tidal wave of lawsuits going in all directions for years to come.

The other thing you have to consider is this. Right now companies and drivers make money the same way - by keeping those wheels turning. The more freight a company can move the more money they'll make and the more money the drivers will make.

If you change it to an hourly system of some sort you're now riddled with the same problem that all hourly workers and employers of those workers face - you have opposing goals. In an hourly type system the worker wins by doing as little work as possible while riding the clock. The employer wins by squeezing more work out of the workers than they're paying out in wages. So while the employer is trying to work you to death, the employees are trying to get by with as little work as possible. It's a constant bashing of heads and someone is almost always going to lose.

With mileage pay the company and the drivers win or lose together. You're both on the same side. The employers are desperately trying to get all the freight they can and the drivers are trying to turn all the miles possible.

If they came up with a hybrid system of some sort it might not work out too badly. Keep the mileage pay but include a small hourly rate for "on duty, not driving" time. Now here's where this would get interesting. The overwhelming majority of your paycheck would be made turning miles. Now you might get a few bucks an hour riding the "on duty, not driving" line, essentially getting paid to do little or nothing most of the time, but you're also going to be eating into your available on duty time. If you waste time "on duty, not driving" making minimum wage you're not going to have the hours available to turn miles and your paycheck is going to suffer terribly.

So in the end it wouldn't change much of anything. Trucking companies would simply adjust. First of all they'd reward freight based on how efficiently a driver is using his time. For those who want to sit around collecting minimum wage they'll let you do just that most of the time. You'll spend your time making minimum wage sitting in truck stops until you go broke. For those who want to run their tails off and make those big paychecks the company will make sure to help you do so. This is pretty much how things are done today anyhow.

I may be new to this but this makes the most sense to me and I agree.

Wow I can't believe how time is flying. I know I posted a few weeks ago saying I would update in the diaries but it just seems like by the time I get home from school I only have a few short hours with the kids before I'm exhausted and ready for bed! Today marks the end of my 3rd week at JTL truck driver training in Omaha NE and wow. I have to say that there is so much more to this industry than I thought. Not a bad thing at all just so much info to cram in 4 weeks! I also got great news last week and as soon as I graduate I will begin work at a local trucking company near my home hauling grain and fertilizer regionally here in the Midwest. I'm nervous but excited at the same time and I know I still have immense amounts to learn but I Also have to say that for once in my life I feel like I've found something that I am good at. My instructors here are thrilled with me and I feel like I've made a good choice. And I have to say this too: I feel that JTL is a fantastic training school. I would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about this career. And I am so thankful for this website. It has answered a ton of questions I didn't even know I had!

Thanks guys and I will definitely take your advice. I got a ton of apps and recruiter info from the school and will be filling that out and my school will fax them. Alright I'm off to class.

Well some of you my remember my recent post about having a felony and looking near and far for work with no luck. Well then Werner called. Yes I have heard a lot of terrible things but they referred me to a few schools. Since the community college course I took amounted to little to no actual experience I decided to take the plunge and drop the cash on a private school. I'm totally broke now but I'm in my 3rd day at JTL truck driver training school in Omaha, and, although I don't think Werner is actually going to hire me (since the recruiter is now dodging me) I am hopeful that with the training I will get here I will find work somewhere. I have a lot more optimism now and my wife and kids say I seem much more upbeat. I'm going to do this. I am going to find a job doing what I know I am made for. I don't want this for the money alone or for a job. I want this life. I want what it means. And I want to be a part of something that to me is a way of giving back to this country. Its not the military, but Ill haul freight every day to keep this country running. I will update on the diaries forum daily from here on out. Tomorrow is my first day in the truck!

Thanks Old School. That definitely raised my spirits. I got a call back from Werner tonight and that may be a go. I'm definitely not the type of person who wants to be picky here. I will gladly bust my ass for anyone who is willing to give me a chance here. What I want to stop though is the recruiters that keep calling me telling me how great I can have it only to then say "so do you have any felony or misdemeanor convictions on your record?" Considering I have put my crime and a lengthy explanation of the events of it on every app I can only assume they Dont even read the applications. That is irritating to say the least .

Thanks for the supportive words guys. I feel good about things because at least I'm getting calls you know? This is what I've wanted to do since I was a kid and I use to have my grandfather tell me stories about the trucking industry. He was a retired truck driver. It just took me a while to realize how important the little things are in life and unfortunately most would say it was too little too late. Thankfully there are some people left out there like you guys that don't believe I should be condemned for life for what i on my record. Hell aside from that I don't even have a damn speeding ticket on my record! I'm definitely not giving up.

Hi guys I'm new here, been reading the forums here for quite some time though. Back in 2006 I was arrested on a robbery charge and did some time for it. Before anyone judges I just wanna say that its not how it sounds. I hung out with some undesirable people because I had a bad attitude and I was at the gas station with one such someone and before I even knew what was going on he was holding up the clerk. He took off, I stayed there and when the police arrived I told them what I had seen but nothing about who it was hoping that they wouldn't find out I had come in with him. Well luck has it he was already in custody and they got me as an accomplice. Everyone who knows me knows that I take full responsibility for the actions that led up to me going to prison. But damn. Its been 10 years since my conviction and I have busted my ass to get to where I am now. I am proud of the person not that I became but the person that I discovered was in me all along. I want nothing more than to provide my family with things they deserve and I want my daughter to grow up knowing I did all I could for her. But here I am out of school with a class A CDL in my hand and do you think I can get a job? Nope. As soon as that felony gets dropped the interview is done. If its not the felony alone, its because they need 10 years from my release from prison. I just got a call a hour ago from the owner of Stevens Transport and the dude told me it was a go, that I was going to Texas next week for training and leaving with my own truck. Then his secretary gets on the phone and asks about my felony, which was clearly on my application. i run it down to her and she says they need 10 years from release. Why the **** did you call me then?????!!! You got my whole family stoked just to crush everyone and it was a heavy blow for me. I keep reading on trucker blogs that there are companies out there willing to give people a second shot. Well I'd love to see it. God knows I persevere but damn. Thanks for letting me vent on here. Guess I just hoping for a little advice from anyone.