Getting Paid - For Real?

Excellent feedback! That explains a lot. Thanks! Just one more curiosity....JB Hunt seems to advertise a salary range with each position they put up. They explain that different types of hauls make different rates, the most outrageous being 50-90,000 annually for intermodal. What do you make of that? Maybe they would never hire a newbie for that?

I drive for JB Hunt. They only hire experienced drivers, so depending on what account you are applying for/assigned to will determine what your pay scale will be. I currently drive on the Georgia Pacific (GP) account. We are paid .37/mile with miles incentive pay that they just recently started.

If you have questions about JBHunt, let me know. I will do my best to answer your questions.

Ernie

If you want to make a lot of money then linehaul is definitely the best way to start out.

It is a lot of work but that is why you get paid more. Just this week I made over $1,250 net and I am just barely over a year old since I got my cdl.

David, here is a quick rundown on my situation.

I went through C-1 last September.

I started with PAM making 23 cents per mile getting 1500 miles per week on a good week, and less on bad weeks when the tractor was in the shop.

I heard that Crete Carrier Corporation would hire me with only 6 months experience, and at the 8 month mark I left PAM.

I was started at 43 cents per mile at Crete.

Beginning the first of January, Crete is raising it's base pay to 45 cents per mile, and 52 cents per mile is their top pay for dry van. Reefer and flatbed drivers get paid more.

There is no sliding scale at Crete. The only way you make less per mile, is if you leave the national fleet and go to work running a dedicated route so you can get home time every night or every weekend.

I am now making more money than I ever did in the past as a Tig Welder.

Was it worth it making peanuts working for PAM for 8 months, and putting up with all that went along with it?

Absolutely! :^)

Well, I'll be the third linehaul driver to chip in. Even if the OP prefers OTR w/ truckload, I'll post for anybody else reading the post that might be lurking in the forum. I too am in my first year - about 6 months - and I'm netting (after all deductions for 401k and benefits for my family) around $1000 a week based on about 2500 miles at .58 cpm , plus all accessory pay for drop and hooks.

Linehaul jobs at LTL companies are some of the top paying jobs in the industry. If you live near a place that has LTL company terminals, you may have one of the best opportunities available right out of school, considering pay and hometime. But, you must live near one of these terminals. Lots of folks may not, and thus have to choose OTR, since those jobs are easier to get.

You asked for pay, and what to expect, so I'm posting my experience for you. You will can make 70k + as a linehaul rookie, depending on the company. Experienced linehaul drivers can top 100k.

The driver above mentioned Crete. I was looking at Crete / Shaffer, and Prime before my opportunity came along to be employed by my LTL company. Crete would be an excellent OTR choice to make some good money as a student driver, and even as an experienced driver. Also, Crete will hire student drivers right out of school - they don't require 6 months if you just graduated from a school they approve.

David, here is a quick rundown on my situation.

I went through C-1 last September.

I started with PAM making 23 cents per mile getting 1500 miles per week on a good week, and less on bad weeks when the tractor was in the shop.

I heard that Crete Carrier Corporation would hire me with only 6 months experience, and at the 8 month mark I left PAM.

I was started at 43 cents per mile at Crete.

Beginning the first of January, Crete is raising it's base pay to 45 cents per mile, and 52 cents per mile is their top pay for dry van. Reefer and flatbed drivers get paid more.

There is no sliding scale at Crete. The only way you make less per mile, is if you leave the national fleet and go to work running a dedicated route so you can get home time every night or every weekend.

I am now making more money than I ever did in the past as a Tig Welder.

Was it worth it making peanuts working for PAM for 8 months, and putting up with all that went along with it?

Absolutely! :^)

Pretty much what Im doing at GTI, they where the only place that would hire me with the issues from my last employer (couple accidents that damaged the truck) after I finish a good 6-12months of solid driving, I plan to head to another carrier doing either tanker or flatbed. Just paying my dues at the moment. I'd love making .40+ on a 2500mile week.

Excellent feedback! That explains a lot. Thanks! Just one more curiosity....JB Hunt seems to advertise a salary range with each position they put up. They explain that different types of hauls make different rates, the most outrageous being 50-90,000 annually for intermodal. What do you make of that? Maybe they would never hire a newbie for that?

I drive for JB Hunt. They only hire experienced drivers, so depending on what account you are applying for/assigned to will determine what your pay scale will be. I currently drive on the Georgia Pacific (GP) account. We are paid .37/mile with miles incentive pay that they just recently started.

If you have questions about JBHunt, let me know. I will do my best to answer your questions.

Ernie

Hi Ernie! Thanks for the input! I'm a little puzzled by the fact that JB Hunt only hires experienced drivers. Then why would they introduce themselves to a class of brand new CDL Candidates? I guess it could be just for the visibility and maybe to pick and choose from among the best candidates.

I'm gonna have to get the greediness out of me. I see these numbers being tossed around and for a guy who has made 25K delivering pizza, its pretty heady stuff.

I agree with all the numbers unless you go into Linehaul. You can make 50,000+ even starting out in Linehaul. In some cases considerably more.

Looking at the Linehaul website, it looks like they are specializing in a lot of coast-to-coast work. How hard do they run you? Home once a month? How many days? In a way, I feel like I would like to spend a lot of open-road time at first to really let me get comfortable behind the wheel with just a little backing and turning on each end. Have I got it figured right?

And one more FUN question. How long do you think it will be before the coast-to-coast runs are being done by robotrucks with live driver connections on each end?

David, I'm not sure what "linehaul website" you're referring to. Linehaul traditionally means having runs from one set point (usually a terminal) to another set point (usually another terminal). THere's no dealing with customers, and typically no variety unless you run a 'wild' schedule or are on the 'extraboard.' You're basically running company freight from point A to point B, every night (linehaul is also usually nightshift work).

A linehaul driver is employed by an LTL company, although some truckload companies have what they refer to as linehaul runs (TMC would be one example), which can be confusing. In the truckload world, having a dedicated account would be closest to having a linehaul run, although like I said, in linehaul you don't deal with customers, and you don't touch the freight. A linehaul driver in the LTL world moves freight for the company from one terminal to another, so that the docks can break down the freight to give to the P&D (pickup and delivery) drivers to deliver to the customer.

Now, my company has team drivers that are still considered linehaul drivers, but they do run coast to coast. As a norm, usually linehaul drivers are not running such long runs. Normally, linehaul drivers run anywhere from 300-600 miles per shift, and can work longer hours than OTR drivers.

What I described above can vary slightly from one LTL company to another. Also, note that I'm making a distinction between truckload and LTL companies. You can research these subjects on your own, but generally when referring to truckload companies that's when you're thinking about OTR jobs, much like this website forum is focused on. There's only a few of us LTL guys on here that are linehaul drivers.

Historically, you couldn't get a LTL job, whether as a linehaul driver or P&D driver, until you had a couple years of OTR experience. That's changing now. If you want more info on LTL trucking, linehaul, and P&D jobs, you can check out my thread on the subject:

LTL Trucking - My Linehaul Job

I chose linehaul because I get home every day and I earn top tier pay in the trucking industry. If you're focused on making the most amount of money you can in the trucking industry, and you live in an area where there are LTL company terminals, then I'd suggest looking into seeing if they're hiring linehaul drivers.

David, I'm not sure what "linehaul website" you're referring to. (TO CLARIFY - I'M TALKING ABOUT LTL TRUCKING. OTHERS HERE HAVE CALLED IT LINEHAUL) Linehaul traditionally means having runs from one set point (usually a terminal) to another set point (usually another terminal). THere's no dealing with customers, and typically no variety unless you run a 'wild' schedule or are on the 'extraboard.' You're basically running company freight from point A to point B, every night (linehaul is also usually nightshift work).

A linehaul driver is employed by an LTL company, although some truckload companies have what they refer to as linehaul runs (TMC would be one example), which can be confusing. In the truckload world, having a dedicated account would be closest to having a linehaul run, although like I said, in linehaul you don't deal with customers, and you don't touch the freight. A linehaul driver in the LTL world moves freight for the company from one terminal to another, so that the docks can break down the freight to give to the P&D (pickup and delivery) drivers to deliver to the customer.

Now, my company has team drivers that are still considered linehaul drivers, but they do run coast to coast. As a norm, usually linehaul drivers are not running such long runs. Normally, linehaul drivers run anywhere from 300-600 miles per shift, and can work longer hours than OTR drivers.

What I described above can vary slightly from one LTL company to another. Also, note that I'm making a distinction between truckload and LTL companies. You can research these subjects on your own, but generally when referring to truckload companies that's when you're thinking about OTR jobs, much like this website forum is focused on. There's only a few of us LTL guys on here that are linehaul drivers.

Historically, you couldn't get a LTL job, whether as a linehaul driver or P&D driver, until you had a couple years of OTR experience. That's changing now. If you want more info on LTL trucking, linehaul, and P&D jobs, you can check out my thread on the subject:

LTL Trucking - My Linehaul Job

I chose linehaul because I get home every day and I earn top tier pay in the trucking industry. If you're focused on making the most amount of money you can in the trucking industry, and you live in an area where there are LTL company terminals, then I'd suggest looking into seeing if they're hiring linehaul drivers.

oK....I HAVE LEARNED SEVERAL THINGS HERE AND DEVELOPED a couple questions. First of all, I HATE the location of the CapsLock key on the keyboard (LOL)! Second, LTL is both a style of moving freight AND the name of a trucking company. And LTL trucking does exclusively linehaul freight hauling. Linehauling is a subcategory of OTR. Good, I got that. bUT WHY SOOO MUCH MORE money? Arguably the work is easier, right? Do you run longer with less time home? Well, in any case, I don't think I have any ltl terminals around me so the point is moot.

Is Primes pay information accurate. It clearly states that during company training after you get your CDL you will be guaranteed $700 a week and when you get on your own it says 38c per mile, 42c for their lightweight fleet. Why would you get paid more to run a lightweight truck? Do they lack that the larger tractors have besides space? Do they pull smaller trailers?