Best Pay For Contract (O/O) Drivers

I finished driving school 12/15/17 and am considering which company to drive for. I want to eventually own my rig and was wondering what CPM is considered good. I'm considering going with TransAm Trucking due to their great lease program but they state on the website that their contract CPM is 84. That seems low compared to others I've seen which advertise 1.25 and even up to 2.00. Your comments and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome John!

We really don't discuss leasing or owning trucks here much anymore. We're focused on helping new drivers get started in this career and in our opinion a new driver really shouldn't be worrying about that kind of stuff. That's kind of like worrying about what flavor coffee they're going to serve on the summit of Everest. You have a hell of a long way to go and a lot of work to do before you're in a position to worry about things like that.

Only a small percentage of people even make it to the one year mark in this career. You should consider that the bare minimum amount of experience you need before you even consider leasing or owning a truck. There's just entirely too much for you to learn before you're ready for something like that.

Here's some awesome information that you'll need right now to get through this first stage of your career. Take it one step at a time and focus on right now. This is the toughest and most dangerous part of your career right here. Make sure you get one solid year of safe driving under your belt, then worry about the next step:

Surviving Your First Year On The Road As A Solo Driver

Hey John, just some real quick, rough numbers for you to think about and I won't say anymore because this topic has been covered in some great threads on here.

$.84 cpm. If you ran 4k miles per week, you'll make $3660. $1200 right off the top for the truck payment and other fixed expenses like plates, insurance etc and then at least $1500 for fuel is going to leave you with $610 before taxes.

That truck Will Not turn a profit for anything under $1.50 a mile.

In a nutshell, don't do it.

Here is my gross pay for 2017. This is training and solo pay. I started driving with a trainer in May 2017 and got my truck at the end of June 2017. I am a solo company driver. You cannot expect to make much more as a company driver. Also, it is best to make sure you love this lifestyle before making the commitment of owning or leasing a truck. Good luck in your trucking career.

it is best to make sure you love this lifestyle before making the commitment of owning or leasing a truck

That is an excellent point. One of many, many reasons to wait a minimum of one year to make that type of commitment.

Here is my gross pay for 2017. This is training and solo pay. I started driving with a trainer in May 2017 and got my truck at the end of June 2017. I am a solo company driver. You cannot expect to make much more as a company driver. Also, it is best to make sure you love this lifestyle before making the commitment of owning or leasing a truck. Good luck in your trucking career.

Did I read $17,000 in showers?!

Squeaky clean....

Did I read $17,000 in showers?!

The same thing jumped out at me too. I figured he was showering at Mar-A-lago! Hehehe

Did I read $17,000 in showers?!

The same thing jumped out at me too. I figured he was showering at Mar-A-lago! Hehehe

Right! I've only paid for 1 shower and that's cause no TA/Petro's could be found within 350 miles. 50 Gallons gets me a shower, and if I decide to go shower crazy I'll just fill 1 tank at a time! hahaha