Comments By Jhon C.

best longevitity and profitability. One of the reasons that i was talking about wanting to be an o/o is because after i have gained experience i dont want to stay making 30-45k a year i want to be around 80-100k+ and the only thing that i have seen that was anywhere close to that is in hauling crude oil. Joe

thats true you can 'make' 80-100K as an owner op, but that is gross income meaning its before expenses. Your expenses as an owner op will be so much higher. If you are grossing 100K but your expenses are 120K, guess what you are losing 20K a year. What if your truck has engine failure? Guess who pays for that? you do. Not to mention lost driving time

Central has on the front page of their site make 75K after 6 months. That is very very deceiving- I would proceed with caution. They want to get you in and sign the paperwork, then after that like some others have said its nothing but headaches and lawyers.

I think you are right with the plausible deniablity thing. I understand pay rates change in trucking very often. But any prospective hire would understand that. If recruiter do not want to give something in writing, that to me means they have something to hide.

And I am sure I intimidated a lot of recruiters with my huge list. But honestly... we are making a career decision, and a LIFESTYLE decision, these questions need to be answered. If the recruiter does not want to help me choose the right company... then again that is NOT a company I want to work with.

Just remember, don't be inconsiderate or anything when asking questions. Be professional and courteous and tell the recruiter that you want to make an INFORMED decision, that you want to find a good match for yourself and for the company.

thats very correct. Some people make enormous sacrifices to start out like quitting a job, putting stuff into storage, selling their car etc......

then if somebody goes through all that to go out to Springfield MO or Iowa from NY and they find out the pay isnt what is promised or they require you to drive in teams- its going to be a huge disappointment. Then your stuck out there and if you leave on your own you have no return ticket.....not exactly a good situation.

In my opinion the more questions asked the better and also, recruiters to a certain extent should not be made to feel they can push new recruits around by telling lies, misleading or deceiving.

When I have time I will find them and tell you.

I do remember one off the top of my head and it was a 2 day example...then the question was 'what violations occur in the below example'? There was an 11 hour 14 hour and 30 min break violation. So 3 violations altogther.

then in the list of anwers one was 11 and 14 hour violations and the other was 11 hour and 30 min break violation.

so which do you choose? both are correct. I simply memorised the system wanted the 11 and 14 hour answer even though both were correct.

like I said when I have time I will go back and find the ones with mistakes.

Ive gone through the High Road Program 100% and the log book thing was frustrating me too. I couldnt understand why then I noticed 3 or 4 of the questions have WRONG answers.

I meant to bring this up in case anyone was having problems. That was the only section in the whole Program that gave me any trouble.

What I did was I memorized the incorrect answers for those 3 or 4 questions, then deliberately answered incorrectly- otherwise you go into a halt over and over again.

I think what the original poster is looking for is how much he can save the first year or have left over for his expenses.

Im no expert and some guys like Brett will chime in but...

1)how much you make or earn gross is a lot different than what you earn or make net. Gross (without deductions) if you are making lets say $3000/month but spending $3500 month you are digging yourself into a whole everyday

2)some companies will tease you and advertise 'well you will make $100000 after 1 year'- yeah you will gross $100000, but if your expenses as a lease owner op are more, you are losing money every month

3)as the other guys said, about $30000 is a good estimate for 1st year earnings as a company driver. How much of that you keep and send to your family is another question- and it depends on the individual.

That is a great list of questions, thanks for sharing

as far as communicating by email so as to have it in writing, that is a great idea. Now I know why a recruiter from CRST never responded to my emails but was very keen on calling me several times a day.

Ok, Im going to do my best to avoid an arguement.

first off tel me what company would take him? I know of no company, and I mean NO COMPANY that would take him on right now. Maybe Brett can chime in and support what Im saying.

as far as his driving record, 'taking out a utility pole' isnt exactly a minor accident.

alcoholism- once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. You can stop drinking for 20+ years. Your still an alcoholic. People dont change, the inner personality of a person always stays the same- and the inner persona will always manifest sooner or later. That means they will start drinking again.

So all things being equal between 2 potential hires, why choose someone with alcholsim in his/her past vs someone who is and has been clean?

The original poster was honest in his post I am going to be honest too.....

no company is going to take a chance with you right now. as you have stated, you have no verifiable work history (no W2s). You have a crappy driving record and on top of everything you mentioned alcoholism.

driving a truck is dangerous- dangerous to yourself and other people traveling around you. There is no company out there right now that will take a chance with you based on liability issues alone. Ask yourself why would a company choose you when they can choose from hundreds of others with a clean driving record, verifiable employment, and no alcoholism?

if you even want a chance at professional driving:

1)establish a verifiable work history of 3+ years 2)no alcohol or drugs allowed PERIOD 3)get yourself in physical shape 4)establish a clean driving record

It amazes me how many people with alcohol/drug issues and bad driving records want to break into professional driving.