I'm Back!

Well the second baby is here and about 3 months old. I am working at Ihop as an assistant manager. My wife has finally given me the okay to get into trucking. I'm almost certain I'm going to go with Prime. They are hiring for the refrigeration fleet in my area. Starting pay is .43cpm. I have experience with temperature control from restaurant business.

How is prime? I have read good things. I haven't seen anything bad lately all the negativety posts were in 2007 and before.

They are telling me 2,500-3,200 miles per week. $900-$1,500/wk. I would only need 1500 miles per week to break even on income. Or 250 miles a day from what I read 400 miles a day is a good number to plan on. While a 8,900 mile day is possible 400 is a better number. I plan to go out for 5-6 weeks at a time.

My biggest concern is, income will I make more than $700 per week? More than 35,000 per year? I am willing to drive I am willing to work hard to get miles. The recruiter told me they have more accounts than they do trucks and trailers for the refrigerated fleet. So I am assuming they are not short on miles by no means. Like I said 1500 miles a week would sustain my current lifestyle. Here's to hoping for 2500+ a week!

Welcome back Zach, and congrats on your young family!

I see you're in FL, and I know opportunities there can be tricky. Have you considered local driving jobs, or do you have your mind set on OTR? Perhaps you don't have local jobs available, without experience? Or maybe you want to go OTR.

I'm sure you've been cautioned on going OTR with a young family. And you might understand how tough it can be, but it's a lot different once you're in the middle of it. I'm not trying to discourage you. Not saying you can't go OTR with a family, but it will tax the families with the best of ties. Just make sure that everybody in your family knows what going OTR will mean.

Going with Prime, and residing in FL, you might have to wait a few weeks before you can get home. There's a fella by the name of Terry on this forum who resides in FL and is with Prime. He could shed some light on living in FL and working for Prime.

The miles will be there, and the money will follow, but your first year will be about learning and gaining experience. Your paychecks will fluctuate. You will not make as much in the beginning. THe $700 figure you'd like to make a week, are you talking net, i.e. after all taxes and deductions like health care? Keep in mind that being on a budget while on the road will have every bit to do with keeping that money you'll earn. Grocery bills can skyrocket on the road if you're not budget conscious.

I hope my response didn't come across as condescending. As a fellow family man, I want to see you succeed and support your family. I'm just bringing up some points that I think you should consider, if you haven't already.

Welcome back Zach, and congrats on your young family!

I see you're in FL, and I know opportunities there can be tricky. Have you considered local driving jobs, or do you have your mind set on OTR? Perhaps you don't have local jobs available, without experience? Or maybe you want to go OTR.

I'm sure you've been cautioned on going OTR with a young family. And you might understand how tough it can be, but it's a lot different once you're in the middle of it. I'm not trying to discourage you. Not saying you can't go OTR with a family, but it will tax the families with the best of ties. Just make sure that everybody in your family knows what going OTR will mean.

Going with Prime, and residing in FL, you might have to wait a few weeks before you can get home. There's a fella by the name of Terry on this forum who resides in FL and is with Prime. He could shed some light on living in FL and working for Prime.

The miles will be there, and the money will follow, but your first year will be about learning and gaining experience. Your paychecks will fluctuate. You will not make as much in the beginning. THe $700 figure you'd like to make a week, are you talking net, i.e. after all taxes and deductions like health care? Keep in mind that being on a budget while on the road will have every bit to do with keeping that money you'll earn. Grocery bills can skyrocket on the road if you're not budget conscious.

I hope my response didn't come across as condescending. As a fellow family man, I want to see you succeed and support your family. I'm just bringing up some points that I think you should consider, if you haven't already.

I am making a net income of 35,000 or 673 per week now. I know miles will fluctuate but in the end I feel the +/- would be more than I am making now. They said first year drivers are making 40-50,000. I know everything they tell me might not be fully true. Its hard to get a local job with no experience. US foods, Dominos they all require experience. She told me they need refrigeration drivers in my area. With doing basic math I would need about 225 miles per day to break even. If I have the drive ( no pun intended) and ambition hitting the numbers I want shouldn't be too hard correct? Even 2000 miles 500 less than their prediction would put me about 200 bucks a week up. Anything more than that would be gravy.

Thanks for the info and advice.

I'm an instructor at Prime, so if you have any specific questions please come to us first. We are a lot more knowledgable and honest than a recruiter is.

Having said that, you said you wanted to be out 5-6 weeks at a time. Well, I simply don't think you can manage that considering your personal life. Your wife will want to see you more often, and you'll want to go home to see your kids. Having said that, I would recommend that you go home every 3 weeks. Staying out for 5-6 weeks is better for the wallet but it'll be at yor family's expense. I was the same way, I wanted to stay out for many many weeks at a time. But it's much easier said than done especially when your wife tells you that she misses you in a sad voice.

So I would take it easy and just go home every 3-4 weeks.

About the money, I am an experienced driver and make between 50-55 net yearly at .45cpm. I also go home every 3 weeks unless I have a student. Having said that, if you go home every 4 weeks, have a good DM and you run hard then I'll predict you to take home around 45K.

Prime's LW fleet pays very well at .43cpm and taking home 1k in a week is not uncommon. However, there is a huge downside.

The training is extremely long and when you leave for training you probably won't be home for 6-8 weeks depending on how long the PSD phase takes you. That first time out is extremely difficult without a doubt.

Also, you'll be put in a LW truck which is a smaller truck with much less space than a regular truck. For more information about the LW trucks check out my thread below:

Prime's LW Trucks

But please don't let money be your driving force. This is a lifestyle, not a job. The folks who come into trucking for money are usually the ones who get eaten alive by it.

A conservative number for a rookie driver's first year would be 30-40 gross, not net.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'net,' based on your example and comparison to your current income.

If you're currently taking home, or netting, $673 per week, you would not match that with your example. You'd only be GROSSING $677.25 a week using your miles / cpm formula. 225 miles * .43 cpm = $96.75 per day. Multiplied by 7 days a week gives you your $677.25 - gross, not net. Rough estimate for netting would be to take away about 25% for taxes, and assume about $100 weekly for family benefits, which would give you around 400-425 net weekly income.

Now.... this is all assuming you're working an average of 225 miles per day, 7 days a week. Either way, you're assuming at least 1,500 miles a week, which is very modest. Average experienced drivers can expect anywhere from 2000-3000 weekly. Not sure what a rookie should expect, but I'd assume you could at least do 1,500 miles a week, on average.

But you're confusing me with how you're using 'net' and 'gross.' Net is always take home - after all deductions like taxes and healthcare. To match your current net of $673 weekly, at .43 cpm, you'd have to average at least 2500 miles a week.

Daniel, so as not to confuse, I believe you meant to say that you gross 50-55 per year, correct? Unless if you're really grossing over 70k a year, which would bring you to the neighborhood of 50-55 annual net. I can see you were typing as I was, and I'm trying to help Zach by understanding what he might really be bring home, NET, not gross.

A conservative number for a rookie driver's first year would be 30-40 gross, not net.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'net,' based on your example and comparison to your current income.

If you're currently taking home, or netting, $673 per week, you would not match that with your example. You'd only be GROSSING $677.25 a week using your miles / cpm formula. 225 miles * .43 cpm = $96.75 per day. Multiplied by 7 days a week gives you your $677.25 - gross, not net. Rough estimate for netting would be to take away about 25% for taxes, and assume about $100 weekly for family benefits, which would give you around 400-425 net weekly income.

Now.... this is all assuming you're working an average of 225 miles per day, 7 days a week. Either way, you're assuming at least 1,500 miles a week, which is very modest. Average experienced drivers can expect anywhere from 2000-3000 weekly. Not sure what a rookie should expect, but I'd assume you could at least do 1,500 miles a week, on average.

But you're confusing me with how you're using 'net' and 'gross.' Net is always take home - after all deductions like taxes and healthcare. To match your current net of $673 weekly, at .43 cpm, you'd have to average at least 2500 miles a week.

Yes, That was my bad. My Gross take home weekly is 673 per week. I net $570 per week, That's after dental and other benefits. I pay health insurance separate so my NET take home is $2,280 before health $2,203 per month. After deductions and health insurance.

Really my wife is ready for it she knows what it entails for sure. My friend works for Swift and he told her about it and now she's having a new tone. My uncle did driving, my dad did it, and My Brother is the CDL instructor at the North Arkansas College. The only thing holding me back is I can't afford to miss out on income. So if I go by what they say it'll be 1075 gross per week at 2500 miles per week. But, I know just starting out that is not going to be easy.

I'm an instructor at Prime, so if you have any specific questions please come to us first. We are a lot more knowledgable and honest than a recruiter is.

Having said that, you said you wanted to be out 5-6 weeks at a time. Well, I simply don't think you can manage that considering your personal life. Your wife will want to see you more often, and you'll want to go home to see your kids. Having said that, I would recommend that you go home every 3 weeks. Staying out for 5-6 weeks is better for the wallet but it'll be at yor family's expense. I was the same way, I wanted to stay out for many many weeks at a time. But it's much easier said than done especially when your wife tells you that she misses you in a sad voice.

So I would take it easy and just go home every 3-4 weeks.

About the money, I am an experienced driver and make between 50-55 net yearly at .45cpm. I also go home every 3 weeks unless I have a student. Having said that, if you go home every 4 weeks, have a good DM and you run hard then I'll predict you to take home around 45K.

Prime's LW fleet pays very well at .43cpm and taking home 1k in a week is not uncommon. However, there is a huge downside.

The training is extremely long and when you leave for training you probably won't be home for 6-8 weeks depending on how long the PSD phase takes you. That first time out is extremely difficult without a doubt.

Also, you'll be put in a LW truck which is a smaller truck with much less space than a regular truck. For more information about the LW trucks check out my thread below:

Prime's LW Trucks

But please don't let money be your driving force. This is a lifestyle, not a job. The folks who come into trucking for money are usually the ones who get eaten alive by it.

Okay, I understand about staying out longer, maybe 4-5 weeks at a time would be more attainable. Eventually after 1-2 years I want to go local or regional , I know Prime is very limited on regional jobs.

So do you feel for a new driver getting 2,500-3,000 miles is possible as the recruiters say? Yeah I know the training is long. But that's the price we pay for a solid training I guess.

I know it's a lifestyle, I can completely understand and appreciate that. Money isn't my driving factor. When I think about trucking I have an unexplainable excitement within my gut. I've always been interested ever since my brother in law came down with his big truck. I know it's not a glamorous job. I know it's tough. I am ready for the challenge. My wife and I argue a lot as it is, We both think the space and time will do us good it may have the opposite effect but We will have to work through it.

OK Zach, just wanted to make sure you understood the kind of money you could expect. Glad we're on the same page.

Sounds like you have done your homework, and your wife is in the loop. That's a great start. 2,500-3,000 as a new driver is probably a stretch, but Daniel will be able to give you firsthand knowledge of that.

Trucking is fun, I love it. I'm not your traditional OTR driver, I'm a linehaul driver for an LTL company and pull doubles. I'm home daily now, but I used to have to stay out for a few days a week. Believe me, that was tough enough! I have a young family. If I had to go OTR, my family and I could do that, but I don't have to go the OTR route. I live in an area with plenty of local / regional truckload opportunities, and lots of LTL opportunities. Sometimes I wonder what OTR would've been like, but I've made my decision and it's good to be home every day.

Prime's a great company. Crete / Shaffer also hires out of FL. Not sure if you're going with Prime because of the company-sponsored CDL school, but Crete / Shaffer hires student grads and has comparable wages to Prime. Their training period pay is also comparable. I looked at both Prime and Crete / Shaffer. Shaffer is the reefer division, and they're paying $600 a week for training ( 8 weeks long ). and then .37 cpm for the first 4 months. After your first 6 months, you can earn .48-.51 cpm and have a full size truck, not a lightweight like Prime's. Something to consider.

Daniel, so as not to confuse, I believe you meant to say that you gross 50-55 per year, correct? Unless if you're really grossing over 70k a year, which would bring you to the neighborhood of 50-55 annual net. I can see you were typing as I was, and I'm trying to help Zach by understanding what he might really be bring home, NET, not gross.

No sir, I NET 50-55K per year. That is after taxes and all expenses, in other words, that's what goes into my bank account. These numbers are verified and very accurate. I may be young but I know the difference between net and gross :)

Prime pays pretty well especially when you're an established driver consistently doing 3k miles per week. My largest take home paycheck (net) was 1850$ and I've brought home 1500+ 4 seperate times. I average barely above 1k net per week. It takes me about 2400 miles in a week to take home 1k (net).

2500 x .43cpm = 1,075$. Usually you make 100-150 per week off of fuel bonuses if you know what you're doing.

Now I'm not bragging so please don't take it that way, but I haven't really revealed my pay lately so there you go.