Comments By Jason

That makes sense, thank you very much, I thank everyone’s input.

Keep in mind location makes a huge difference too. i ran a family business in philly 20 years ago. human resources was one of my many hats. Back then BCBS Personal Choice PPO was $2500 per month for a family!!! partly because we only had 90 employees. my dad paid the whole thing as the employer, but when the economy tanked. he couldnt afford that and asked for contributions. employees got ****ed.

Totally agree, as we all know people promise things they cannot deliver. All the promises have come to fruition. Thank you guys for the advice. I was looking for another perspective and received it. Sometimes I have short sightedness.

I get that. but ask drivers at the companies you are looking into. ask at truck stops. cause you might not get 3000 miles a week elsewhere without really working hard for it. or whatever bonuses etc. hopping to one next company is a lot different than jumping to 3 or 4 within a year.

The phenomenal parts I may never use, its not a bad company at all. The insurance for the month would be working about a week and a day for just the insurance. Yes it is more than my mortgage with insurance and taxes every month as well. We can afford it however the money will be well spent elsewhere. You may be right that they may be passing the entire buck off onto the driver. With that said, the company from what I have seen and heard, looks as though they are going through a transition process to make it more driver friendly, new equipment and maintenance program and driver wages are somewhat competitive along with performance bonus, also very small company a little less than 100 trucks total.

$1,400/month does sound high. Heck, that’s higher than our mortgage and we have a pretty nice house. It actually sounds like the company is passing on the entire premium to you instead of “sharing” part of that cost like many employers. However, your company might be paying you better than companies who “share” the premium.

With three little ones, can you survive until they’re all in school and your wife can return to work? You mentioned the coverage is phenomenal. Are the phenomenal parts benefits you actually will USE?

If the company, and future opportunity, is good, I’d seriously look at insurance on the open market. Or, getting yours through the company and the dependents on the open market. But, the devil is always in the details.

You might wanna talk to your benefits person and see if there are any changes on the horizon.

Good luck with this. I hope this is helpful.

I am not complaining just looking for advice because of potential for the job hopping outlook at potential carriers to change to, if thats the route I have to go.

The math is quite simple and comparing policies is not that difficult. My wife used to work in health care for 16yrs, she can read and make sense of it better than me

The going rate for family at my current company is around 1400.00 a month give or take. However there coverage is phenomenal. They told us in orientation that it’s cheaper on the open market for dependants. That is why I am asking for advice as to not look like a job hopper.

Also my company does not have a drop in premiums due to longevity.

Everyone is complaining about insurance these days and a big part is obamacare. what you think is high mighy not be. it might be the going rate, welcome to government controlled healthcare. even the federal employees healthcare my brother and mom have increased ridiculously. so in additional to what the others said, keep in mind that many companies give a retention perk with cheaper insurance. For example, my insurance went down significantly...like less than half...once i stayed a year. if you hold out a little longer, do you get a discount?

and, in order to get some of those marketplace prices you have to give up coverage. the best price for.me that i saw wanted to remove all maternity and infant care as well as substance abuse. but that was all in the fine print.

whats the point in moving to nother company that may pay more for the insurance but pays you less in cpm and miles?

I am currently employed, the company I work for treats me great, the equipment is great, the miles are 3k a week give or take 200 miles. The health insurance is my issue. I have 4 children and a wife to insure on top of myself. We have 3 children 5 and under, that is why my wife can’t cover the insurance because we couldn’t afford daycare, so she is a homemaker.

I will not put the name of the company I work for on here, however insurance on the open market is cheaper than the family insurance plan here.

Question after the quick rundown is do I stay here and pay out of pocket for insurance on the open market or do I move to a company that has a very affordable plan for the family and works for my family?

Indeed, and well said

JRod, I am glad too see this on here, if it were not for this site and everyone on here, I wouldn’t be the driver I am today. Its good to see the other side of the spectrum from the personnel side of things. Gives insight into the selection process, seems like the same old excuse.

I am not one to judge, I am the person who understands the most. I had a rocky first few years partly because of my wife having cancer x2 and beating it, and because I was a knucklehead and kept trying to improve my paycheck status and home time, however if it were not for learning and applying what I have learned on here, I wouldn’t be what people call a top tier trucker.

Glad to see you saw it, and found a way to fix it!

That's the thing - it's not an overly complicated fix for someone with a work history like my original post. It's not always pleasant or easy, but its not complicated.

Pretend you're starting over. Treat your current company like its your first company, and stick with them for 18-24 months. Focus on keeping your CDL clean. And in 18-24 months if you absolutely hate your company, have given them every opportunity to fix what you think doesn't work for you, and have physically sat down with them and they STILL can't make it work... Then you can start looking around. Don't quit a place until you have a Plan B. I also see so many "quit because not making enough money" and then a 1-2-3 or more month gap before their next job. I bet they were making more money working than not working!

Honestly, no one in the office will call someone a "Job hopper" who is giving companies 12-24 months at each stop. It's not perfect, but it definitely won't tarnish your reputation. Companies don't like losing drivers like that AT ALL, and you will usually find they are much easier to negotiate with once your service can be measured in "years" vs "months".

Most freight is no touch, I would recommend staying away from tanker because there is lifting and climbing in some of those positions. I would suggest van/Reefer because 99% of the companies are no touch due to the work comp liability.

JRod, I am glad too see this on here, if it were not for this site and everyone on here, I wouldn’t be the driver I am today. Its good to see the other side of the spectrum from the personnel side of things. Gives insight into the selection process, seems like the same old excuse.

I am not one to judge, I am the person who understands the most. I had a rocky first few years partly because of my wife having cancer x2 and beating it, and because I was a knucklehead and kept trying to improve my paycheck status and home time, however if it were not for learning and applying what I have learned on here, I wouldn’t be what people call a top tier trucker.

How much is the buy-out? Just curious. I don’t know much about that company besides some of the same lanes and customers as us. However this is just another curveball in this industry thats filled with them. There are going to be things that are totally out of your control or comfort level,. Are you able to look into compensation/layover pay?

The first year is always the make or break time. If you stick it out for the duration of the contract it will look better on you when you go to another employer. However I have a family and understand totally about people having to survive and the need for money.