Best Company In Phoenix For A Newbie?

I'm about to get out of school in Phoenix and paid my own way. I learned thru knight How can I find the best paying company with no experience. What should I ask for as far as cpm?

Ray, with all due respect, you are a total green horn. You are going to get paid whatever they are offering. You have no ground from which you can negotiate. Do you realize how many rookies make really bad and costly mistakes? I know we all think we are going to be the best driver they've ever seen, but reality hits us usually about five minutes into that first solo load!

Your first year should be all about safely learning the business, and trying your best to not hit anything. We never encourage folks to go for the biggest money they can find during their rookie year. What we do encourage is that you find a company that seems to fit your needs in terms of what type of freight you think you would like to haul, what type of home time you feel comfortable with, and lastly you want to look at the pay scale.

As an employee with Knight, I can tell you that I am making way above average for most truck drivers out here. I don't know why you just don't stick with them and see where it leads. Wherever you get started, you need to commit to one year of safe driving, and then you can start thinking about moving to a different company. The way you maximize your income in this business is to understand how the game is played. There is soooo much for you to learn still.

That shiny new CDL in your pocket does not entitle you to the top pay, but it does open a door for you to go through and then start proving your worth. I learned how to get things done in this business at a very low paying trucking job as far as cents per mile is concerned, but I still made almost fifty grand my rookie year. I learned the importance of, and the methods to use to move my appointments forward, I learned how to manage my hours in a way that made me productive. I learned the times of day to get myself emptied out so that I was available for the best loads. I learned how the best loads were distributed and how to get myself in line for them. Those are the things that are important for making the top dollars out here. Right now you are still working on double clutching and taking wide enough turns so that you don't take out a light pole on a right hand turn.

Step back and think of your rookie year as a serious time of schooling, that is what it is. There is a lot to lay hold of out here before you can start telling them what you want to be paid. They have been doing this for years, and they know exactly what you are worth to them, there is no getting around that at this point.

This is golden advice my friend. I am a retired state worker on a second career. I was a Network Administrator for the state so I hope that any company that sees this takes note that there are alot of intelligent truck drivers out there with advanced degrees who are sick and tired of seeing these mega-companies take advantage of us. We are not all cowboys and I can tell you that some of the best people around are drivers. They beat the hell out of all of the backstabbing catalysts in the corporate world that is so cursed with political correctness, feminism, greed, and well... you name it. I worked with a guy who was a manager at the state who hated truck drivers and called them some of the dumbest people on the face of the Earth. I of course never led onto him what my real dream was when I stopped working and let him shoot his mouth off. I am also a certified Flight Instructor in my spare time. I also have my degree in advanced technical writing. Red Viking Trucker also has an advanced degree I believe. Never judge a book by its cover my friend.

Ray, with all due respect, you are a total green horn. You are going to get paid whatever they are offering. You have no ground from which you can negotiate. Do you realize how many rookies make really bad and costly mistakes? I know we all think we are going to be the best driver they've ever seen, but reality hits us usually about five minutes into that first solo load!

Your first year should be all about safely learning the business, and trying your best to not hit anything. We never encourage folks to go for the biggest money they can find during their rookie year. What we do encourage is that you find a company that seems to fit your needs in terms of what type of freight you think you would like to haul, what type of home time you feel comfortable with, and lastly you want to look at the pay scale.

As an employee with Knight, I can tell you that I am making way above average for most truck drivers out here. I don't know why you just don't stick with them and see where it leads. Wherever you get started, you need to commit to one year of safe driving, and then you can start thinking about moving to a different company. The way you maximize your income in this business is to understand how the game is played. There is soooo much for you to learn still.

That shiny new CDL in your pocket does not entitle you to the top pay, but it does open a door for you to go through and then start proving your worth. I learned how to get things done in this business at a very low paying trucking job as far as cents per mile is concerned, but I still made almost fifty grand my rookie year. I learned the importance of, and the methods to use to move my appointments forward, I learned how to manage my hours in a way that made me productive. I learned the times of day to get myself emptied out so that I was available for the best loads. I learned how the best loads were distributed and how to get myself in line for them. Those are the things that are important for making the top dollars out here. Right now you are still working on double clutching and taking wide enough turns so that you don't take out a light pole on a right hand turn.

Step back and think of your rookie year as a serious time of schooling, that is what it is. There is a lot to lay hold of out here before you can start telling them what you want to be paid. They have been doing this for years, and they know exactly what you are worth to them, there is no getting around that at this point.

If you read enough posts on this site, I think you will find the experienced drivers here are very, very helpful, taking their time to answer questions as best they can. They also tend to frown on the kind of negativity you posted.

You will also find that there are many of us here with degrees and very successful careers who are trying to learn everything we can from those experienced drivers. That said, I have to ask:

Why would you think a career in front of a computer, a degree in a field unrelated to trucking, or being certified in anything in your spare time would ENTITLE you to greater pay than anyone else starting out?

The reality is that's just NOT how it works. I think expecting special treatment or extra pay from companies based on your unrelated past will only set yourself up for disappointment and failure.

Ray, I'm going to add a bit to Old School's description. In a cold, almost cruel sort of way, nearly all trucking companies see you as a CDL. All the other things you bring to the table are just confetti.

I have a master's degree (MBA), taught school for eleven years. I got my start as simply a driver. We have seen many law enforcement officers come through, retired military, and so on. Their first step through the door is consistently rookie driver. Possibly later their experience can prove useful, but we all have to hit the road for at least a year.

Follow OS's suggestion and stick with Knight, a great trucking company. Learn the ropes, learn about the OTR lifestyle. Learn of other opportunities Knight has to offer. You just may want to stay with your original company.

Hi John, Reread the post. I believe that you've misunderstood what I've said.

This is golden advice my friend. I am a retired state worker on a second career. I was a Network Administrator for the state so I hope that any company that sees this takes note that there are alot of intelligent truck drivers out there with advanced degrees who are sick and tired of seeing these mega-companies take advantage of us. We are not all cowboys and I can tell you that some of the best people around are drivers. They beat the hell out of all of the backstabbing catalysts in the corporate world that is so cursed with political correctness, feminism, greed, and well... you name it. I worked with a guy who was a manager at the state who hated truck drivers and called them some of the dumbest people on the face of the Earth. I of course never led onto him what my real dream was when I stopped working and let him shoot his mouth off. I am also a certified Flight Instructor in my spare time. I also have my degree in advanced technical writing. Red Viking Trucker also has an advanced degree I believe. Never judge a book by its cover my friend.

Ray, with all due respect, you are a total green horn. You are going to get paid whatever they are offering. You have no ground from which you can negotiate. Do you realize how many rookies make really bad and costly mistakes? I know we all think we are going to be the best driver they've ever seen, but reality hits us usually about five minutes into that first solo load!

Your first year should be all about safely learning the business, and trying your best to not hit anything. We never encourage folks to go for the biggest money they can find during their rookie year. What we do encourage is that you find a company that seems to fit your needs in terms of what type of freight you think you would like to haul, what type of home time you feel comfortable with, and lastly you want to look at the pay scale.

As an employee with Knight, I can tell you that I am making way above average for most truck drivers out here. I don't know why you just don't stick with them and see where it leads. Wherever you get started, you need to commit to one year of safe driving, and then you can start thinking about moving to a different company. The way you maximize your income in this business is to understand how the game is played. There is soooo much for you to learn still.

That shiny new CDL in your pocket does not entitle you to the top pay, but it does open a door for you to go through and then start proving your worth. I learned how to get things done in this business at a very low paying trucking job as far as cents per mile is concerned, but I still made almost fifty grand my rookie year. I learned the importance of, and the methods to use to move my appointments forward, I learned how to manage my hours in a way that made me productive. I learned the times of day to get myself emptied out so that I was available for the best loads. I learned how the best loads were distributed and how to get myself in line for them. Those are the things that are important for making the top dollars out here. Right now you are still working on double clutching and taking wide enough turns so that you don't take out a light pole on a right hand turn.

Step back and think of your rookie year as a serious time of schooling, that is what it is. There is a lot to lay hold of out here before you can start telling them what you want to be paid. They have been doing this for years, and they know exactly what you are worth to them, there is no getting around that at this point.

Ray, we all on here always encourage for drivers to stick with their FIRST company at least BARE MINIMUM 1 YEAR. After all Knight invested their time in training you. Its not cool to just up and bail on them. Now I can't judge ya because I have NO IDEA why you are wanting to leave Knight. You have a great setup with them. You LIVE where their HQ is! That means it is REALLY EASY to get hometime if you need it. I am going through CDL school at NADTA here in Cedar Rapids, IA. CRST is who I will be driving for once I have my FULL CDL in my wallet. CRST owns NADTA and they are PAYING for me to go through this school and to get my CDL so I KNOW that I OWE them for what they are doing for me. They PAID my bus from Davenport, they are keeping a roof over my head and they are feeding me twice a day and giving me rides back and forth DAILY from the training center to NADTA. They are probably doing so much more behind the scenes to make sure I get that CDL so they can recoup their investment in me when I do graduate from NADTA (North American Driver Training Academy). They have a 10 month contract I will have to sign once I get to orientation. I HAVE to work for them for 10 mos MINIMUM before I can go anywhere else. I am LOVING CRST/NADTA so far. I plan on staying with them for MORE than a YEAR. They have a 5 million miler that works here. I want my name on a plaque in that Glory case also. So I DONT plan on leaving here for QUITE A WHILE. STICK WITH KNIGHT, TRUST ME HERE. You will feel much better about that decision, ESPECIALLY once that 1 yr mark hits. In the meantime, Stay safe out there.