One Year Mark Decisions

I left my first company after the one year mark. Money was not the primary reason but it certainly made the decision easier. I wanted a local, home daily position with weekends off. The fact that I am making more is just icing on the cake. Do what’s going to make you happy, what good is more money if you don’t have time to enjoy it and are miserable to boot.

Hey all,

I am coming up on my one year mark with my company and I had a few questions regarding potential decisions.

So I'll start with: I really really like my company. They are a mid sized carrier, my DM is great, the team is great, the equipment is great, and I genuinely do not want to leave. They also have a heavy haul fleet that does dedicated runs along the corridor my house is on. So I could, one day, get OTR miles / Per diem / no touch freight but with a semi local home most days setup.

That said, I am currently sitting at .42 per mile. One of those pennies is a safety mile. We do get slight mileage bonuses if we hit 12k in a month and the miles are good. But..... I do this because I want to ensure my wife and kids are cared for and taken care of. After one year, is .42 cents a mile decent? What is a general median rate after year one? What is a good earning potential bracket if you had a safe and productive first year?

I only ask because, while I have nothing but love for my company, I am out here to make money. So you can see the moral dilemma.

On a side note, I only ever had two jobs before this. Spent 11 at one and 6 at the other. And the only reason I left that second job was because I moved from WA to ID. So I do enjoy earning stripes and gaining seniority. But I also know trucking is very different when it comes to personal politics and job hopping. Thoughts?

This is all good input and I appreciate the time.

Also, I am out of Caldwell, ID but my company is out of Idaho Falls, ID.

I also average around 11k per month.

I'm not unsatisfied with my pay, but I didn't want to undercut myself either.

But having said that, after much thought, I will stick with these guys out of respect. They did go out of their way to get me in the door and get me moving on my first solo job. The least I can do is show the same respect for time invested and see where it goes.

Thank you for all the great advice as always. :)

I'll tell you one you could check that is fairly close for you. Check out Crete, specifically the Walmart dedicated account out of the Cheyenne DC. I made a lot of money there in 2021, only leaving because I wanted a return to OTR driving again.

This is all good input and I appreciate the time.

Also, I am out of Caldwell, ID but my company is out of Idaho Falls, ID.

I also average around 11k per month.

I'm not unsatisfied with my pay, but I didn't want to undercut myself either.

But having said that, after much thought, I will stick with these guys out of respect. They did go out of their way to get me in the door and get me moving on my first solo job. The least I can do is show the same respect for time invested and see where it goes.

Thank you for all the great advice as always. :)

Just finished my 1 year solo mark and have been thinking about the same thing nonstop the past couple weeks, stay here longer (currently at .46 cpm otr) or find something local/regional for more home time and potential pay increase.

Gotten a few approvals from different companies but it’s been such a headache trying to decide what to do, so I think like you I will just stay put for now. I like this company for the most part, I know how they operate, and I know what I can do better to make more $ weekly, but I do not know these things about the other companies except from reading mixed reviews.

I know that facility well. My company is always making drops there. I always see the Crete trucks. Not sure if they would let me operate out of Boise, but it is something to think about down the line if things don't pan out where I am at.

I'll tell you one you could check that is fairly close for you. Check out Crete, specifically the Walmart dedicated account out of the Cheyenne DC. I made a lot of money there in 2021, only leaving because I wanted a return to OTR driving again.

Yeah its a head scratcher but I think I'm going to settle and see how things pan out over time. I'm still relatively new all things considered. And the worst that can happen is I end up with a 2-3 year work history when and if I branch off.

This is all good input and I appreciate the time.

Also, I am out of Caldwell, ID but my company is out of Idaho Falls, ID.

I also average around 11k per month.

I'm not unsatisfied with my pay, but I didn't want to undercut myself either.

But having said that, after much thought, I will stick with these guys out of respect. They did go out of their way to get me in the door and get me moving on my first solo job. The least I can do is show the same respect for time invested and see where it goes.

Thank you for all the great advice as always. :)

Just finished my 1 year solo mark and have been thinking about the same thing nonstop the past couple weeks, stay here longer (currently at .46 cpm otr) or find something local/regional for more home time and potential pay increase.

Gotten a few approvals from different companies but it’s been such a headache trying to decide what to do, so I think like you I will just stay put for now. I like this company for the most part, I know how they operate, and I know what I can do better to make more $ weekly, but I do not know these things about the other companies except from reading mixed reviews.

Not sure if they would let me operate out of Boise, but it is something to think about down the line if things don't pan out where I am at.

I'll tell you one you could check that is fairly close for you. Check out Crete, specifically the Walmart dedicated account out of the Cheyenne DC. I made a lot of money there in 2021, only leaving because I wanted a return to OTR driving again.

Sure they would. I operated out of Virginia while there.

This is all good input and I appreciate the time.

Also, I am out of Caldwell, ID but my company is out of Idaho Falls, ID.

I also average around 11k per month.

I'm not unsatisfied with my pay, but I didn't want to undercut myself either.

But having said that, after much thought, I will stick with these guys out of respect. They did go out of their way to get me in the door and get me moving on my first solo job. The least I can do is show the same respect for time invested and see where it goes.

Thank you for all the great advice as always. :)

Just finished my 1 year solo mark and have been thinking about the same thing nonstop the past couple weeks, stay here longer (currently at .46 cpm otr) or find something local/regional for more home time and potential pay increase.

Gotten a few approvals from different companies but it’s been such a headache trying to decide what to do, so I think like you I will just stay put for now. I like this company for the most part, I know how they operate, and I know what I can do better to make more $ weekly, but I do not know these things about the other companies except from reading mixed reviews.

Check out Cypress. Guy in my neighborhood brings his sleeper truck home just about every weekend and parks at his house. Venezia is a home daily option.

I'm pretty green here but wanted to offer some insights I have from life experience and as a current owner of a family business. I've been spending the last 6 days or so reading so much on this forum. The info is here is insane and I love it. I've been researching different companies in my area, the different driving schedules, benefits, and pay. I've also been reading the "Truck Driver Career Guide" on this forum (WoW), watching YouTube videos, and reading different articles on the net about what to look for in a company, as well as what questions to ask the recruiter.

One of the things you should ask before deciding on which company to driver for is the pay scale, how to get increases, and when. I would suspect that you should have gotten a little increase after 6 months or so, and another after your year. I mean many companies advertise that, or recruiters tell me that. If not ask. If you like everything about your company I would most certainly ask about it, and while you're talking about it ask them how the increases work in the future. I mean that's your promotion, and we all want to know how to get them.

Now the flip side of things I always tell folks is that it's hard to prove your worth to the company you currently work for. Many just don't see the value of their current employees. I know many folks who are currently dealing with this exact issue. My brother got hired out of one year of college to work for the court system as a IT tech. He is currently their number one tech. Everyone even the supervisor and boss go to him with questions about the court network system. He has been there the longest. Here is the kicker, everyone that is hired after him are making more than he is. They keep telling him he is maxed out and can not get anymore money! They have hired a couple different supervisors over the years that don't even have all of the certification that he has and they are making more than him. He had been considering leaving for a private sector job but the benefits are great, he doesn't work hard, he has 100% job security and he has about 15 years left to retire with full pay at the age of 44!

He has been told to leave his job and come back in 6 months and he will be offered more money! But they would most certainly fill it before then so not worth it. Just something to think about. I think you should get some offers and then talk to HR about it. Make sure you let them know how much you like working for them but could really use a increase in CPM. Like others have said, if your doing well that shouldn't be an issue.

Good luck. I am very excited to get into this myself and look forward to my first year.