Comments By Steve Marshall

Yep they asked and I did,I'm sitting just outside of Reno,Nov for a delivery tomorrow then off to Ontario,CA

I don't normally run chain states when the law is in effect but hey its cash and scenery right lol.

I'll be in Ontario, Ca tomorrow too.

I had this question, and I believe it was Steve in here told me about some Verizon apps, on the droid phone, that work as well as the Verizon service, but are free. I am completing my first week on the road, and so far, I have yet to break the laptop out in the truck, but I am with a team company, so we keep moving a lot. I also have my Nook Tablet though, and I have been using that with my phone as a wifi hotspot to spend a little time on line. The phone wifi works great!

Free is always.awesome;) What are the names of the apps?

I have Verizon service on my droid phone and fortunately for me I am grandfathered into unlimited data usage. I use an app called FoxFi which recently partenered with another app called PdaNet+, it allows your phone to serve as a hot spot for free...And I Love free. It works either tethered with usb, Blue tooth or WiFi. I use the WiFi and find it works fantastic. I download movies and TV shows all the time and it is very quick, especially if you have a 4G connection. There is also an app called I Heart Radio, I use that alot so I can listen to stations from my home town. I just plug an cord into the head phone jack to the radio in the truck and waalaa, a steady stream of music without having to pay for satellite radio...another free perk.

I wanted to share with some of the new people what My last week was like. I know Steve had shared what he made on his first good check, This is just where I went too/from. Figured I'd share..

Thats a nice trip for sure. I know my miles probably arnt typical for all drivers but I have been getting some nice runs to get started. 2900 miles for one week, then 2400 miles the next, and Tomorrow morning I leave from sunny San Feancisco to Georgia. That trip alone will be 2500 miles. I'm not complaining at all

What kind of Camera did you get and does it have enough memory to record a complete day of driving. I suppose if nothing eventful happened you could record over top of what you did but how would that protect you if someone complained a few daays later, or your company didnt tell you about it for a few days. I was thinking of getting one too, but want to get one that can record a long time. Any thoughts.

Wow steve, Im slightly jellous. .33CPM.. :( Im at 29. lol

Thats some good running though.. Congrats man. Glad your doing well after your first month.. Hope to see you out there sometime..

David. I hate to add salt to your wound but actually I get 41 cents per mile 8 cents of which is paid at per diem so it's not taxed.

I don't mind being referred to as a newbie.

2.903 miles in one week as a newbie - sounds like you're running pretty hard and are figuring out the tempo to keep the miles flowing with driving hours and on duty time.

Advice for those of us just getting started to make that happen?

I have a good fleet manager that keeps me busy but that particular week I had only 2 runs 1 from Maine to Atlanta and then back to new york

That's for one week?

That's higher than I expected nice job.

yes that was for 1 week I'm sure they won't all be as good but it was really nice

Let me give my disclaimer first. I drive for Prime, and they tend to pay the highest in the industry for a rookie driver. With that being said, My numbers will be actual dollars that I made and your results may differ depending on miles driven, and how much you earn per mile.

I began the first of October for training. During the first phase of training ( approximately 3 weeks) you wont earn a penny, however they do advance you 200.00 per week while your out on the road with your trainer. Once you get your CDL, you begin to earn a pay check. you get 600.00 per week or .12 cents per mile, which ever is higher. This is for the period that you are with your 2nd trainer. This is for a period of 30K miles or more, depending on your ability's.(approximately 2-1/2 months) Once you complete that then you become a full paid company driver. I have now been a full company driver for just over a month, however, during that time, I had to wit around for a bit to get my truck, I also spent some time at home , and also got stuck up in Massachusetts during the blizzard, so I didn't see a real full paycheck for the first 3 weeks, so what I am reporting is my 4th week paycheck and here is how it breaks down.

Miles- 2.903

Base rate .33 per mile ----------957.99 Per Diem .08 per mile ----------232.24 Fuel bonus @.016 per mile ---------- 46.45 Total -------------------1236.68

TAX MAN --------------------------- 371.15

NET TO ME --------------------------865.53

Now another disclaimer. There was an additional 150.00 on my check that I didn't include in the figures because it was for the week before when I was stuck in the snow storm, but I was still taxed on it, so realistically, the taxes would be less. The fuel bonus is based on a sliding scale depending on your actual fuel mileage for the week. Mine was 7.38 mpg so I got .016 extra per mile. You can earn as much as .05 per mile if you get 9.00 mpg.

Who says you cant make any money as a company driver. No, your not gonna get rich, but its a decent wage.

ah.....for those of us that have to look at the keyboard when we type...or have temporary alzheimers.................would a spell check be to hard to do ??

I totally agree. But if you use Google Chrome it has a spell checker built in.