Can Any Newbies Tell Me If This Is Your Experience?
Topic 11900 | Page 1
I finally went solo at an unnamed big trucking company rolling a Freightliner with a flat bed... I have picked up and dropped off every load on time.. My take home pay is averaging $350.00... Seems like I am securing more loads than driving as well as waiting 10 hours to either load or unload more often than not.. For instance.. Right now as I write this.. I have been waiting since last night for a load of drywall ... I'm sitting in a drop yard with no pay... A driver did come by to get the flatbed to be loaded .... 6 hours ago... Anyway... This presumed "Hot Load" is only going 400 miles when the flat bed returns loaded... What I'm driving to on this is..... I'm a great driver.. 52 years old .. Accident free for all the years that I drove... Drove trucks back n the 80's but then persued other ventures.. Decided to try OTR for a life change.. Buzzed right through school and blew them away on the driving portion of graduation... Now... I'm stuck with an outfit that could care less if I'm sitting for 2 resets a week! Is there a legit trucking company or reccomendations for one that deliver what they promise? I mean.. Really.. I'm one of those guys who are out here to roll... Pick up and deliver... I'm out here for months at a time .. Not weeks.. And I'm stuck with a company and or DM that pulls every call that what I assume got turned away by other drivers and fed to me.. I'm out here to make money.. Not camp out in their truck forever and a day.. Where is a trucking company that rewards drivers that drive long and hard no matter their seniority ? Seems like this venture has to change for me because $350 a week tied with flat bed securement labor is BS. Seriously considering dry van or tanker as well at this point. If anyone has a suggestion for whom to apply.. Please do! I only require solo with an assigned truck... And a mission to complete with assigned truck... Mike... (919)556-4599
Hey mike,
Sounds to me like you need to find a new company. There are a few good ones out there. Melton, TMC, Mavrick.
Might be worth checking them out
You should also see about layover pay. Generally if you arrive on time for a load wether it's picking up or delivery, after 2hrs you should get paid per hour until your load is done. Plus tarp pay if they pay for that. Which most do.
When I drove for GTI doing dry van, I got layover after 1 hr. They paid 15hr. I sat for 10hrs and made 150 doing nothing.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
I would ask about layover and detention time pay. Also possibly asking for a new dispatcher , but right now is the slow time for flat bed, how much OTR experience do you have? and when I wasn't happy anymore I would always talk to other drivers about how they liked who they were working for and what the perks were. You could also try ATS.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dispatcher:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Simply tell your driver manager that this pay is not working for me.. I've been here x amount of time and I think I have proved to you that I'm a go getter and would like better runs... Now be nice about it and see what happens... If nothing changes fire him/her and get a new one
Driver Manager:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
I finally went solo at an unnamed big trucking company rolling a Freightliner with a flat bed... I have picked up and dropped off every load on time.. My take home pay is averaging $350.00... Seems like I am securing more loads than driving as well as waiting 10 hours to either load or unload more often than not.. For instance.. Right now as I write this.. I have been waiting since last night for a load of drywall ... I'm sitting in a drop yard with no pay... A driver did come by to get the flatbed to be loaded .... 6 hours ago... Anyway... This presumed "Hot Load" is only going 400 miles when the flat bed returns loaded... What I'm driving to on this is..... I'm a great driver.. 52 years old .. Accident free for all the years that I drove... Drove trucks back n the 80's but then persued other ventures.. Decided to try OTR for a life change.. Buzzed right through school and blew them away on the driving portion of graduation... Now... I'm stuck with an outfit that could care less if I'm sitting for 2 resets a week! Is there a legit trucking company or reccomendations for one that deliver what they promise? I mean.. Really.. I'm one of those guys who are out here to roll... Pick up and deliver... I'm out here for months at a time .. Not weeks.. And I'm stuck with a company and or DM that pulls every call that what I assume got turned away by other drivers and fed to me.. I'm out here to make money.. Not camp out in their truck forever and a day.. Where is a trucking company that rewards drivers that drive long and hard no matter their seniority ? Seems like this venture has to change for me because $350 a week tied with flat bed securement labor is BS. Seriously considering dry van or tanker as well at this point. If anyone has a suggestion for whom to apply.. Please do! I only require solo with an assigned truck... And a mission to complete with assigned truck... Mike... (919)556-4599
Are you driving for prime ?
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Mike, how long have you been solo at this job? I wouldn't blame it all on the company if it is just a short time. There is a time period at the beginning where you will be the new guy that they don't really know what he is capable of. Also flat-bed freight can be a little slow this time of year. I completely agree that your take home pay is unacceptable, but try to have a professional discussion with your DM - by professional I mean let it be known with firmness that this is not working for you, but don't be rude, and don't be telling them how the company sucks or anything like that. They realize you have to be able to make a living to stay there, and trust me they want to see you being more productive than what you are doing now. If that doesn't get satisfactory results then tell your DM you want to talk to a supervisor over the flat-bed loads and air it out with them. Always be polite and professional, it makes a world of difference when trying to get something changed for the better in your situation.
These trucking companies do not want you sitting around any more than you do, so don't even think that. Something is going on here, and part of it is that you are new, and part of it is slow freight, but there may be some other things that I would have no way of knowing about. Try what I suggested before you jump ship. I have proven before that a guy can make some decent money and run like crazy at a company that most people seem to think just plain sucks.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
$350? My local McDonalds starts out $9.50 hr. I seriously hope you are talking about $350 take home pay net not gross not that it really make s a difference it's still low.
$350? My local McDonalds starts out $9.50 hr. I seriously hope you are talking about $350 take home pay net not gross not that it really make s a difference it's still low.
Would help if i read more i see you said it's take home pay
Old School gave you some really good advice.
As for being a new guy my first solo week was only half a week and I netted right around $670. This Friday I will get my first full week paycheck. It'll be just north of $1200/net.
As for whether that is normal or not, only time will tell.
$350? My local McDonalds starts out $9.50 hr. I seriously hope you are talking about $350 take home pay net not gross not that it really make s a difference it's still low.
Would help if i read more i see you said it's take home pay
Good to see you figured it out on your own.
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I finally went solo at an unnamed big trucking company rolling a Freightliner with a flat bed... I have picked up and dropped off every load on time.. My take home pay is averaging $350.00... Seems like I am securing more loads than driving as well as waiting 10 hours to either load or unload more often than not.. For instance.. Right now as I write this.. I have been waiting since last night for a load of drywall ... I'm sitting in a drop yard with no pay... A driver did come by to get the flatbed to be loaded .... 6 hours ago... Anyway... This presumed "Hot Load" is only going 400 miles when the flat bed returns loaded... What I'm driving to on this is..... I'm a great driver.. 52 years old .. Accident free for all the years that I drove... Drove trucks back n the 80's but then persued other ventures.. Decided to try OTR for a life change.. Buzzed right through school and blew them away on the driving portion of graduation... Now... I'm stuck with an outfit that could care less if I'm sitting for 2 resets a week! Is there a legit trucking company or reccomendations for one that deliver what they promise? I mean.. Really.. I'm one of those guys who are out here to roll... Pick up and deliver... I'm out here for months at a time .. Not weeks.. And I'm stuck with a company and or DM that pulls every call that what I assume got turned away by other drivers and fed to me.. I'm out here to make money.. Not camp out in their truck forever and a day.. Where is a trucking company that rewards drivers that drive long and hard no matter their seniority ? Seems like this venture has to change for me because $350 a week tied with flat bed securement labor is BS. Seriously considering dry van or tanker as well at this point. If anyone has a suggestion for whom to apply.. Please do! I only require solo with an assigned truck... And a mission to complete with assigned truck... Mike... (919)556-4599
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.