Profile For Eric D.

Hey Ms.Donna. I work for PAM now and you have nothing to worry about. Me and my girlfriend have been team driving for them since September of 2014. Like any company people have things they like about it and things they don't and for the most part the things we like outweigh the things we don't like and the things we don't like might not necessarily be a problem for you.

As for them charging you out of route miles for missing an exit is horse crap. They will charge you out of route miles for instance if you're excessively over for instance of upwards of 250-300 miles or more but they will call you first to see what's going on. I've seen people get charged for quitting and taking the truck home instead of taking it back to the terminal and then taking the bus.

We get upwards of 4500 miles a week and that's on a bad week. We usually average between 5800 and 6200 miles a week which isn't bad. Yes they do have deductions from your check but if you're working and running like you should you won't even realize it was gone. They take out the company insurance if you choose to get it, the weekly payment to pay back the amount for your schooling and they take out for an escrow account that's pretty much a deposit on the truck they give you incase you return it all messed up. You'll get that back once you turn your truck back in if nothing's badly wrong with it that they have to repair.

Our deductions come to around 127.50 and we still have money to do plenty. Yea they might take money for the first year but they have several bonus opportunities you can take advantage of also like $500 for getting your hazmat endorsement and another $500 for just keeping your hazmat for 90 days, $200 dollars for finishing school, they have a $1000 dollar team bonus if you chose to do so for the first 6 months and $10,000 split bonus if you decide to team for a year after your first initial 6 month team contract is up.

Half of our checks goes to savings and a 1/4 toward any bills we owe and the other 1/4 toward whatever we want to do while we're out on the road. First it can be a little nerve wracking getting on your own for the first time going solo but eventually you will get the hang of it and be on your way to being a seasoned veteran in no time.

Everyone we have went to trucking school with have already quit the company because they weren't patient enough to wait till things got better and they aren't in much better shape than they were while they were here at Pam. I keep in contact with quite a few of them and they might be getting better pay but they aren't getting the miles. They go hand and hand. We work closely with our DM and that is the key to being happy and having success out here in your first year. We run hard back to back runs for about 2 weeks nearly running out of hours and our third week we take it easy by getting loads that have several days to get to its destination and we stop to see and do things along our route like stopping at a mall, flea market or a movie or even a bar from time to time to entertain ourselves. Our DM usually always have our next destination and pickup time planned out so we aren't sitting around wasting time waiting on a load.

If you and your DM don't get along try to work it out but if you can't request to get someone else. The DM'S are getting new drivers on the schedule board every week so it might take a week or two for them to get you into a rotation and see what you're capable of. They aren't going to give a driver the 1000 plus mile time sensitive loads if they have a habit of being late.

So far PAM has treated us well they gave us a brand new 2015 international with an apu and we've already put over 180,000 miles on it .

MS Donna I think you will be a great driver for PAM or any trucking company because you seem to have the right attitude and I think you will enjoy yourself once you get started. We have been from Laredo,TX to California and from California to Miami Florida then from Miami Florida to Laredo then Laredo to Detroit Michigan so we have literally been from coast to coast and border to border within one week. It's an awesome experience. You will make mistakes and see things that will make you want to crap your pants but if you can make it through it the day the next day is always better. I hope things work out with you and your decision and if you have anymore questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks Chris, I start orientation at PAM in four days and of course had the usual concerns but your thoughts shared here have made me feel a lot more confident about the next twelve months and beyond. Thanks Man!