Comments By AJ D.

You're not hurting my feelings, Guy.

I'm here to find all the facts I can so I can make an informed decision. I appreciate your help, buddy. :)

Come the data coming, as long as you have time, I'm listening.

Have you ever ran a commodities based business where you are competing against 4 million other companies?

Do you have an extra $20000 you never plan to use and could very well never seen again?

Do you know the freight lanes in trucking and and what the price in each market demands?

Do you know the slow times and good freight times in trucking?

Do you know what areas of the country to avoid cause of slow freight?

Well do you? I do. I can answer yes to all these questions.And I used to have my own truck. And I got tried of making only slightly better money than a company driver and now I am a company driver. My net income(take home)was about $68000 a year for the three years I had my own truck. Now I make $50000 a year. I know that's a difference of 18k but that's the cost of one blown transmission or half the cost of a new engine.

If the answer to ANY of these questions is no then it makes no sense to get your own truck.

I did not ask these to make you look like you knew nothing. I was asking them in all seriousness.

Sorry, I can't give you any info.

Just wishing you look get back into the field .

AJ

I'm counting myself in on following your journey. :)

...subscribed

I'm looking forward to keeping up with your progress. :)

Yes, I suppose this Easter is for Moon observance Christians :)

Orthodox Christians have to wait another month for Easter (or Pascha)

Dave

If you don't mind saying, what outfit was this and at what cpm did they start you out at?

I'll PM you the same question if you don't want to state it publicly :)

I am working for one of the more bashed companies that is out there, and if you listened to some of the other forums, you would think they were run by Darth Vadar and working to build the death Star to the trucking industry.

When we were in school, we would get together in the evenings at the lobby of our motel and have their free coffee and shoot the breeze. One of the things that struck me, was about how misinformed some of my fellow students were about our company, and many of them were shocked at the base pay we were starting out with. Yet every student is sent an information packet before they leave, that spells out everything, and to date, I have seen nothing working here, that was not spelled out in that information. They just do not bother to read it. And of course, those people always said that the company was a crook and cheating them. The sad thing is, this was a majority of the people there. My room mate and I had both read the material so our expectations were a lot more realistic.

One of the other litanies I hear is "My recruiter said..........." and then again, "they are big crooks and ripping me off". My recruiter told me that to start, the pay was low, the hours long, and I would not be home for weeks. He also told me if I stick it out, it gets better fast, and you know what, we get our first raise in 3 months. At 6 months we get a big raise if we are still around. That second raise will put us within 2 cents a mile of what they pay drivers with experience to start, and there are experienced drivers lining up to get jobs here, because in a well run team truck, we can out a lot of miles in.

Another reason I came in with very real expectations is I found this site first. I have not seen anything in the info from here, that was not true. Expectations play a big part in what is posted in those other forums. That and the idea of instant gratification kind of pervades peoples belief set these days. I came from a profession where I started at the bottom, and after 25 years with only a high school education, I was making 50 grand a year. I now find a career where I can start at the bottom and after only 2 or 3 years experience, get back to where I was after 25 years, I am actually kind of amazed.

Is there any time when leasing is a good option for a Rookie?

Seems like too much of a commitment for someone who hasn't even sat in seat yet.

It looks like there are basically four load types.

Reefer Flatbed Tanker Dry Van

Would it be advised for a rookie to stay away from any of these?

This place looks really good, guys.

http://www.driveforprime.com/

Ernie S. pointed me to Prime.

Seems like a good operation with Refrigerated, flat-bed and tanker divisions.

Would dry van freight be a better start for rookie? ... or does it not matter much skill wise...

Thanks Ernie :)

What is the general CPM range for a rookie driver?

I guess it's good that they immediately put you OTR, as I would assume that would mostly be interstate miles and would accrue quickly.

So I'm looking at things like this.

Rolling 600 miles a day / 3000 a week ( wide open interstate travel) best case? w /o traffic etc. each .10cpm = $300 @ .30cpm = $900 @ .40cpm = $1200 @ .50cpm = $1500

It would be tough for me to go for this for anything under .30cpm . ...and that would mean the wheels would have to be moving for every drivable hour. And that would be unreasonable to expect.

So how quickly would a guy get to .40cpm? That would leave leeway for the inevitable headaches that are bound to happen.

..expecting too much?

You guys are the best, seriously. a divine hand brought me to this place. I will know exactly what I'm getting into and whether it's for me very quickly. :)

Thanks for the help, LC :)

This place sounds good (Sage)

I had heard of them before my research and then it dawned on me that I had a few good friends back home who went there, so I got on the phone and I found out that not only did they get help paying for the class and other things, but the class gave them the best instruction they could possibly ask for and help with the job search process. That is where I was sold.. You live in Tennessee? I would check to see if your state has WIA (Worker's Investment Act) and I am pretty sure they do.. Get in that program through them they will help with so much its unreal!

Subscribe?

just posting something so I can hit the "Notify me of New Comments" button so I can follow along with email notifications.

...better than a blank screen... maybe ;)

Happy Easter !!

Yes, Verizon, by far has the best coverage and are priced accordingly. You pay for what you get.

Oh, I like that .... lol !!

Heck, I would just hurt myself with that L:) ha

What about a machete? I bought one for less than $10 at wal mart because I can't afford a gun. Now I've grown to like it. Makws me feel like a bad***.

This place sounds good (Sage)

Damn ... I do look like a horse

Well, that certainly settles that one... :)

Almost all companies forbid firearms of any kind in the trucks. I have been out here 15 years and never felt a need to carry a firearm. Besides by the time you knew you needed one it would be to late and someone else would have the drop on your first then you would have to run to the truck to get said gun. So why carry it if it would do you no good when ya needed it?

Besides almost all customers have signs saying no weapons of any kind on their property so you would not be able to have one in the truck for that reason alone not to mention all the trucking companies policies against it.

I forget to hit the "Notify Me of New Comments" button.

I like getting email notes.

... and I'm a dumb-ass :)

Damn, your right, I do look like a horse!!

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What's up with all the post that says "Subscribe"?