Comments By 6 string rhythm

Last I checked Shaffer / Crete has 6-8 weeks training. Also pay well for the truckload sector - better than Prime and without having to take a "lightweight" truck.

Thing is, a lot of people are apnic to some degree, to the extent that breathing becomes even minorly interrupted or paused. My wife learned this during her career in the medical field while monitoring patients on intensive care floors. When most people refer to sleep apnea, it's common apnea exaggerated to an unhealthy degree. The issue is that people who aren't apnic to the degree that might require a CPAP are still at risk to fail these sleep studies because a lot of healthy people are apnic when asked to sleep on their backs. You don't have to be overweight to demonstrate some form of apnea while sleeping on your back.

Blue knight.

New linehaul raise brings top rate up to .6568 cpm.

Aside from the links Brett offered, I'd drop the "TnT" phrase from your questioning. That's like going to Wendy's and ordering Chicken McNuggets. TNT is a phrase used by Prime Inc. You ask about the TnT phase of training to another company and they probably won't know what you're talking about.

No, not bi-weekly, im OTR with a year under my belt now.

Shadow, are you on a bi-weekly fleet? I thought your cpm was a bit low for Shaffer. I do know they pay less for other options besides the national fleet.

Shadow, you might want to contact somebody then. Shaffer is supposed to be paying more than that for the national fleet. I'd imagine this would especially hold true since you already have experience.

This is straight from their website:

"If you have one or more years of verifiable experience, you may qualify to start in our National Fleet at our experienced truck driver pay rate. Drivers will be paid $.49 to $.52 per practical mile depending on their experience and work history over the last five years. The top 25 percent of our fleet will now average over $72,000."

It seems to me that you should at least be getting paid .49 cpm.

Well, all things considered, it's not advised to changes companies (or the type of freight you pull) because of a lack of miles. Lack of miles can be due to the driver, a particular dispatcher, or random freight levels. All of those can be fixed - except for freight. Freight levels will ebb and flow.

Don't pull reefer unless you wanna pull reefer.

$200 a week, to me, is expensive. I pay just around $400 a month for benefits for my entire family, and that includes everything like dental and vision.

Earning potential is up to the driver. And it's preached here that a driver can do well at any company, because it's all about the driver's ability to produce and therefore earn. However, all things remaining equal, a driver performing well at a company that pays more cpm than another will obviously make more money. Is it worth it to switch companies for a few cents per mile? Well, a difference of 5 cents is a difference of about $500 gross a month, using an average of 2500 miles a week to calculate. But a simple math exercise is different than real world miles. Miles will vary. However, you should be able to run 2500 weekly, if not more, based on how hard you run.

Make sure the problem isn't you first (e.g. clock management). Then, speak with your dispatcher. That's a good starting point. Using the two companies you listed, to me it doesn't make sense to jump ship for a company that's less for insurance but 5 cents less on pay. That difference in cpm and insurance cost somewhat evens out, comparing your two companies listed.

Focus on doing your part to increase your mileage, and accept the fact that freight levels do vary. If you wanna switch to reefer because you wanna pull a reefer - then that's a different story. Keep in mind when you switch companies you're starting all over again - new dispatcher, new policies, etc...

Shadow, are you on a bi-weekly fleet? I thought your cpm was a bit low for Shaffer. I do know they pay less for other options besides the national fleet.

I can appreciate your response. Monotony is certainly a major part of linehaul. Some embrace it. Others not so much.

A senior linehaul driver at my terminal complained to me about having to back his lead pup to a door at the destination terminal on his run. He couldn't just drop the whole set instead. They wanted him to break his set and back the freak'n lead trailer to a door!!!! The tyranny! And this senior driver was getting over 100k a year on that particular run. Yet ... couldn't ... be bothered with .... backing a freak'n trailer .... to a door. So, he jumped off the run.