My Pay As A Rookie Driver

You have been doing really well at CFI. Congrats on the hard work paying off for you. I'm just curious about how often you get home and are you running recap or doing 34s on the road?

I run recaps and let 34s happen when they do. If I ever feel I need one I just ask my FM and he will find me a load with enough time on it to take one. I go home about every 6 to 8 weeks. I usually go home 4 to 6 days at a time.

Bumping for people.

Great info!! Good to see real numbers and great job posting. 125k miles for the year and you made like 58k. Makes me wonder what would've happen if you were getting paid 10 cents more per miles. Either way my job pays around this year now with no Sundays and all holidays off in an a/c office so it makes me wonder if me getting into trucking is worth it. Thanks for the insight.

Hi Guys and Gals,

I just have a question about reimbursements from company. Is it common for drivers to have to lay out there own money for company expenses? I understand They pay you back pretty quick. I dont know, maybe I am way off base but Imjust shocked at the things drivers have to put $ out for and wait for reimbursement. Why dont they make you put out for fuel and get reimbursed for that. lol i know thats extreme plus the whole taxes thing blah blah blah. Im sorry I guess im just in a bad mood and this struck a chord with me. I just got screwd awhile back for "helping" the company out by putting out the money to replace a tire. I take partial blame for that considering the truck stop Where I was told they wouldnt be sure if the tire could be fixed, and couldnt know til they could get to me in about 3 hrs. I made the mistake of going to good year down the road who said they could take me right away, I replaced the tire and was able to make the very important pickup time. However being that the tire was a small oddball size cuz I haul heavy equipment it was $508. That and the fact I didnt get the authorization (they found a place 45min away that had the tire for $412) they wouldnt reimburse. Again thats where Im partially to blame. I am all about doing the right thing when I work for someone, and knowing that I made the right call only makes it worse. Anyway sorry for the rant. Back to my original question. Is it Industry standard to pay out of your pocket? Thanks

Sure, we get things and get reimbursed. It’s better than not getting reimbursed. Major things like a tire, you should wait for company approval. If that’s why a load is late, so be it because it’s beyond a driver’s control.

If i pay for wipers or reefer fuel cause I am far away from a network fuel stop, I have two options. I can put out the money, scan the receipt and get paid the next pay. Or I can ask for money to be placed on my ComData Card and write a check to either myself (my bank deposits them within hours of scanning on my phone app) or writing the check to the vendor. We can also cash these checks at truck stops, but they charge a % fee unless you buy fuel too.

I am all about doing the right thing when I work for someone, and knowing that I made the right call only makes it worse

You made the correct decision if you were an owner operator , not a company driver. First, you authorized someone to work on the vehicle without permission. What if that company damaged your truck somehow? You would be responsible. Second, any owner is going to do what is economically reasonable to them. You assumed responbility for the issue. If I was the owner of the company, I might have only given you the $412 and let you eat the rest.

Sometimes we need to realize what we think is right isnt necessarily right. I know plenty of OO who buy used tires and parts to save money. So if I spent $1500 on a new part for your truck, but the used one was $500 and I expected you as the owner to pay it... would you?

No. You might even fire me for allowing someone to work on your vehicle without permission.

CFI pays us back the week we transflo the loads. I can add oil to my fuel receipt, but I don't because when I'm at a terminal I grab as much as I can. Not all companies reimburse for parking and showers, CFI does. It doesn't hurt me to lay out a few bucks here and there knowing it's coming right back.

See the thing is, I dont need authorization to have work done on truck. (but thats what they used as an excuse since it was my $) We dont have any kind of shop or maintenance. I am required to do thwe required preventive maintenance, and if something breaks or gets blown and needs to be replaced, it is my responsibility to get it taken care of. And that includes tires. It goes on the company credit card. And this all stems from not being reimbursed for the tire. I never feel good about a company using my money to help them solve a problem, maybe I woudnt have a problem if they would say give me $5.00 for every $300 of my money I loan to them. That would be fair. And yea I know companies that have 1000 trucks that would cost a fortune, but thats not my problem. Same goes with being paid every 2 weeks. there is no reason for your company to not pay on a weekly basis. Thats your money why should it sit in there account for an extra week? Drivers give enough time for free and now they basically are getting a short term loan from you at no cost to them. I know this has gotten extreme and I apologize I hate to see what I think are good people being taken advantage of.

Just one more thing about 412 dollar tire compared to the 508 and taking upon myself to do, If I dont show up at john deere or wherever to pickup, and I miss that pickup that day and have to wait til following day because I drove an extra 45min (and who knows how long I have to wait once I get there) The company gets chargeback of $250 a day. So now that $412 tire now is a $662 tire. Not counting my salary, and the possibility I have to get a new permit since I lost a day of travel. There is a thought process that I go through. So for a company to decide to reimburse me $412 and I eat the rest as some kind of punishment, Im sorry thats not right.

I dont understand what you are talking about. If it is going on the company credit card why are you paying? If you dont like this company's business practices, why are you working there?

You first stated

the fact I didnt get the authorization

Then the next post you said you dont need authorization. Apparently you do.

Everything you are talking about is a matter of inhouse logistics decisions. It is possible things come from different budgets. So the maintenance budget and the permit/change appt budget are different. It makes sense to someone with clout.

Easy fix is stop putting out money and see how fast they get you rolling. You want to blame the company, bit this is n9t partially your fault. This is entirely your fault. Make a change if you are so frustrated and disagree with the practice.