I've Been Accepted To Maverick! Any Other Mavericks With Opinions?

You guys are correct I am still a rookie. That is why a new driver should be able to relate to my experience with the company. I would like to know if there are any other drivers on here that have less than 6 months experience and work for Maverick are getting 2800-3000miles avg per week on USA flatbed. During our orientation we were told things like the average driver will make 60-85k their first year. From what I saw in the driver portal a few weeks ago those numbers are more along the top drivers numbers and I did not see any of those listed as being under a yr exp.

I do believe good money can be made in all forms of trucking. I also believe companies are out to make money. There is a lot of truth in the statement if the wheels ain’t turning you ain’t earning. I’m all for drivers improving their driving skills and making more money because of it. My problem was all the work that is not paid for that burns up your 14 hour clock. The idea that even if you can setup, get loaded, secure, and tarp every load in under 2 hours you make 12.50 an hr if it goes 3 or more hours it’s sub minimum wage.

You are all correct there is no universal form of trucking for everyone in fact trucking is not for everyone. One rookie to another I would say ask the questions you need in orientation. I have stayed in touch with a few drivers from my graduation we started feb 4 and all that are in flatbed are tracking for about 34k this year.

I came to trucking to get out of debt and make a better life I want to do it as fast as I can. My first full week in TCD I made more than any regular work week in flatbed. My weekly miles was just under double what I was doing in flatbed. For me it was the right choice. Also in tcd I’m not cooking the e logs or working 80-95 hours a week either. I get plenty of rest in fact often It’s hard for me to wait to start driving again.

Maverick is a great company to work for. As with any job though you need to determine what is the best fit for you. The training for tcd is only two days. Always Thursday and Friday. You will be assigned a different truck then flatbed.

During our orientation we were told things like the average driver will make 60-85k their first year.

I very much doubt they said that, being that it's not true at any company in the U.S. for an average rookie and everyone know's that. But I have no doubt that's what you thought you heard. It certainly is the range of pay a decent experienced driver would make.

Turtle turned massive mileage at Prime as a rookie flatbedder. I can't remember what he said he made but it had to be in that range. But there's certainly nothing average about the miles Turtle turned. He was clearly exceptional for a rookie, and indeed performed exceptionally regardless of driving experience. That's pretty rare.

Everyone has their own preferences in trucking, which is one nice thing about the industry. Whatever your preference, it's out there somewhere. However, there's also no such thing as a type of freight that doesn't pay as well as the other types. You have the same potential earnings in flatbed, refrigerated, dry van , or tanker. If there was one type of freight where it was common to make more or less money than the others we would be talking about that all the time.

So don't make the mistake of thinking you'll change from one type of freight to another and make more money. If that's the case then you were simply underperforming at the type of freight you were making less money with.

I very much doubt they said that, being that it's not true at any company in the U.S. for an average rookie and everyone know's that. But I have no doubt that's what you thought you heard. It certainly is the range of pay a decent experienced driver would make.

I'll be right in the middle of that range at the end of my first full time rookie year, and I'm not even working as much as I could. But Linehaul starts a more CPM than OTR pays rookies.

I very much doubt they said that, being that it's not true at any company in the U.S. for an average rookie and everyone know's that. But I have no doubt that's what you thought you heard. It certainly is the range of pay a decent experienced driver would make.

I'll be right in the middle of that range at the end of my first full time rookie year, and I'm not even working as much as I could. But Linehaul starts a more CPM than OTR pays rookies.

That’s an interesting perspective about none paying more than another. Could you then explain how as a company driver getting paid the exact same cpm and detention, breakdown pay in flatbed or tcd. Financially I’m only seeing two differences bettween the division that is stop pay and tarp pay. When you look at the amount of work required of a flatbed driver especially in the first year and compare it to the work expected from a tcd driver that does very little other than drive. Which if you get paid by the mile and detention pay at the same rate seems to me that the tcd driver would make more.

Keep in mind the flatbed driver does a lot of work when they arrive at a shipper or consignee that a tcd driver can pretty much open the doors back up to a dock and go in sleeper berth till the phone rings telling him to come get his paperwork. Then put in an empty call and go to the next shipper and repeat. All the time a flatbed driver spends loading unloading and tarping are hours off his 14/70 hour clocks limiting his hour to drive and be paid.

Granted there are people that can get loaded secured and tarred well under the 2 hour detention threshold and who can do it fast enough to still get good miles in but that is not what most rookies experience.

To say that the only reason a person makes less with one type of freight than another is because they are underperforming at one is rediculas. The two different types of freight have different responsibilities. More work is expected of a flatbed driver then a tcd driver.

If you're making more than about 3% of your total pay in detention pay then you're not doing very much driving. Top drivers don't get squat for detention pay and they never worry about that. Sure, their dispatcher will throw some at them, but it's the last thing on their mind. You make money in this industry keeping those wheels turning, not sitting around doing nothing. So don't consider detention pay in the equation.

Trust me, I know that flatbedders do a lot of work. They have more responsibilities to cover than other drivers do also. So does it stand to reason that a flatbedder is going to make less money than other types of truckers even though they have more work and more responsibilities? Who in the world would do it if the money wasn't there?

Flatbedders tend to get stop pay, tarp pay, a little more money per mile, and they can turn just as many miles as anyone pulling any other type of freight.

To say that the only reason a person makes less with one type of freight than another is because they are underperforming at one is ridiculous

Well then maybe I didn't get the message across so let me say it twice. If you weren't making as much money at flatbed as you are with refrigerated then you were underperforming at flatbed. And I don't take kindly to rookies telling me my information is ridiculous. Your performance is ridiculous if you were only going to make $34,000 your first year.

Old School started at like 25 CPM at Western Express and made over $50,000 his first year. Obviously he didn't stay at 25 CPM that entire year, but I'll bet you didn't start that low either, and you were on track for $34,000?

It comes down to hustle. You have to figure out how to get more work done if you want to make more money, plain and simple. There are tricks to the trade. There are shortcuts. There are efficiencies you haven't figured out yet. But trust me - those flatbedders are making awesome money. They're also hardcore folks, the most hardcore in our industry. No one loves their job like flatbedders do. Most of them wouldn't dream of doing anything else.

So do the math. If Turtle cranked out a ton of miles he surely made over $50,000 at Prime. If Old School made $50,000 his rookie year starting at like 25 CPM imagine how many miles he cranked out. You were on track for $34,000. You were underperforming when compared to those two.

Trust me, I know how it feels to underperform. I'm a rookie in the endurance world and at alpine climbing. My more experienced peers turn more miles in less time on their recovery weeks than I could ever dream of. The climbs they do are years in the future for me. So I know how it feels. But when I tell you that you can make the same money at flatbed as you can anywhere else I know what I'm talking about. It may sound ridiculous to you, but that's because you haven't figured it out yet.

Don't like where this thread is heading lol. I think what Kevin is trying to say is tcd is easier and worked better for him. Flatbed does have its pros and cons, and so does tcd. The biggest pro for me is the hometime and depending less on loaders and unloaders and more on my own efficency most times. If you don't want to or can't be home weekly, you can't go wrong with any of the divisions here. Not sure what Kevin meant by working 85-90 hrs a week, maybe he just meant long days. Also, when he said a few fellow students were on track for 34k, I assume it's what they had made so far this year or maybe they just started. I will say that Kevin probably didn't give flatbed enough time, but if he's still here and happy it's all good I guess.

Ps. If you try to break down the pay to an hourly rate it will never look good on paper.

Ps. If you try to break down the pay to an hourly rate it will never look good on paper.

I was going to mention that. There are certain red flags that I look for that tell me that people are looking at trucking the wrong way. One of them is worrying about detention pay, and another is trying to figure out what they're making hourly.

If you're worried about detention pay or thinking in terms of hourly wages then you're not understanding the basic premise in trucking. Trucking isn't about putting in time, it's about getting as much work done as possible in the time you have. The more you can get done in a given amount of time the more money you're going to make. It's about productivity and efficiency.

Most people have never had jobs that paid them based on the amount of work they got done. People are used to getting paid for the time they put in. So they expect to get paid detention pay because they think they're putting in time, and even when they're doing nothing with that time they think it's worth something. They also get upset when they see they're doing work but they don't figure they're making enough per hour for the work they're doing. They don't think they're being paid enough for their time.

So you have to learn to switch your mindset away from thinking you're getting paid for your time and over to thinking about getting paid for the amount of work you're doing.

You also have to look at the big picture and don't sweat the small stuff. Don't worry about the little details, worry about the golden rule - keep those wheels turning. When those wheels are turning you're making great money. The longer you're in this game the better you'll get at finding ways to turn more miles every week. The drivers who are turning 3,000 miles per week consistently and making all of their appointments on time or early are making top dollar in this industry. It doesn't matter what company they're working for or what type of freight they're hauling. When you know how to get the most work done you'll be making top wage. It really is that simple.

Don't like where this thread is heading lol.

I actually think it's a great discussion. It gets to the heart and the core of the things we struggle to teach in here every day. It's hard for newcomers to trucking to lay hold of the concepts and the details that make for success at their new careers. They really want to think it's the type of freight, or maybe the name of the company on their truck doors, or even whether they are driving on the right account that will determine how much money they make.

There's a reason why there are truck drivers with years of experience who are still unhappy with their results, and still searching for that "golden nugget" of a trucking job. They just can't seem to grasp the concepts for success in the very dynamic environment of this industry.

I thought it was interesting that detention pay got brought up. I very seldom have ever had any reason to get detention pay. After years of being out here, you'd think surely I've experienced unnecessary delays. The truth is, I've learned to anticipate and deal with potential issues way before they ever take place. Just today I was communicating my revised PTA on my load with my manager, and got a message back from him saying, "I wish I could get everyone else to communicate these thing with me like you do. None of my other drivers can come close to running like you do, because they're always waiting on loads. You seem to instinctively know how and when to give me just the right information I need to keep you moving with maximum efficiency."

There is so much more to success at this than just being able to drive for ten or eleven hours a day. You have got to be able to inspire a strong level of confidence from your support personnel. That only comes from consistently exceeding their expectations of your performance. Planning and executing strategically flawless deliveries consistently ahead of schedule will always make you stand out in the crowd as a professional driver. Knowing how to make that happen is the fine line of distinction between an average driver and one who is really enjoying success at this.

I love it when I see people laying hold of the secrets of success at trucking, but to be honest with you, it's a really small percentage of people who firmly grasp the concepts and the details that can really put you head and shoulders above the crowd. We use the title of Top Tier Drivers for those who manage to get the most done out here. They aren't in that position because they can survive on less sleep than the rest of us, or because they can tarp a load really fast, and not even because they have exceptional driving and backing skills. They have mastered all the little detailed things that the majority of drivers don't even see as important.

When I was going through school a recruiter came out, and was giving out those same numbers 60 to 85 k. Their selling points were that and brand new automatic trucks. At time though they were pushing hard for glass haul. One student did end up getting hired by them but didn't last long. Claimed not enough miles and went to McElroy. Lost contact after that.