Comments By Solo

Solo, when you do something you do it all the way. I like your style!

To a fault even, I don't 1/2 ass anything.

All or nothing.

They also added their "Gold Membership" for truck-specific routing stating in the forum (within their app) that Silver Members only receive car specific navigation to which I asked why on earth would people PAY to use an app called TRUCKER Path for car specific directions when google maps work JUST fine for free.

I'm still waiting for their reply.

I donated all of my belongings to Goodwill and Salvation Army, and have been living out of my truck full time for nearly 4 months.

I have $917/month in recurring bills and currently avg gross $1800/wk.

The truck has satellite Radio as well as Satellite TV.

I have unlimited 4g internet for my laptop and tablet.

Purchased a dometic fridge to hold heavy whipping cream for my coffee and almond milk for my cereal.

Bought a sleep number mattress and pillow and literally look forward to sleeping in this thing every night and sleep very comfortably. I literally can't even fathom going out and buying a house or renting another apartment and pay for all that unused and wasted space.

The best financial decision I've made.

Another thing to keep in mind when sitting for long periods of time is the risk of blood clots. Blood that pools, as in the feet, has a tendency to clot. It's a good idea to do leg exercises while you are driving every once in awhile.

This is crazy. I already do each and every one of these subconsciously, and pretty much in the order, she showed. As I was watching this video I was like..wait, I do that...ok, cool. Then the next exercise and so forth...too funny.

I also kick my legs straight out under the dash and flex/stretch them and also stand up off the seat.

As for the butt issue, I'm in the same boat. I'm about 155-160lbs, and my butt has 2 pressure points w/ this Peterbilt seat. I purchased a seat cushion from Costco hoping it would alleviate the issue, but in fact, all it did was put pressure on my hamstrings, so I tried lowering the seat as mentioned a few times above, but to no avail.

I then purchased a double-sided purple seat cushion and it actually made things worse as it wasn't big enough to fit the dimensions of these large truck seats and rolled my legs inward and caused groin discomfort.

So THEN I purchased the super-duper-deluxe purple seat cushion as it was large enough to cover the entire truck seat....only to not provide any relief of 2 pressure points I get when just sitting in the seat w/ no cushion at all. All I can deduce as it pertains to the purple seat cushions is if you're a bigger person, then you might have enough weight to get proper support cushion...and that aside, it's so dang slippery that it slides all around the seat, especially as you exit the truck.

So $300 in seat cushions and I'm no closer to being comfortable than I was day one.

Back to the drawing board.

I have a mail forwarding service set-up out of South Dakota, and have both my moms and dads homes addresses set-up, so should I plan to take a 34 at either of their places, I have have the mail fwd'ing service send my mail there. If I know I'm going to either address and order something from amazon or the like, then I'll just have it shipped to my moms or dads.

I also set-up a PO Box right down the street from my main Termainl in Iowa. So for instance, I'm here now for service, and swung by my PO Box this morning and collected my Amazon (UPS), and FedEx pacakages, as well as regular first class mail.

Cost of course to have both a PO Box and Mail forwarding service, but well worth my time in exchange of the cost incurred.

My results for both my TWIC and HM took ~2 hours.

I opted to call the 800#, instead of waiting ~1-2 weeks for the paper notification, and the lady was really nice and informed me that both had been reviewed and granted and that the following day my DMV would have the results transmitted.

Years past you would have to wait for the letter to arrive in the mail and then deliver that letter in person to your DMV to obtain the HM endorsement on your CDL.

This is about the ONLY thing I like about my auto-shift...it's smooth backing.

It backs just fine in normal operation, but there are times that I will turn the Hill Assist feature off, and I can feather the truck back as needed.

But lurching (in rev) is something it has never done loaded, empty, or bobtail.

Another 3 loads, another $2k.

Wanted to give an update w/ regards to pay. Everyone ultimately isn't trying to work for free/peanuts.

This week's gross is $1812.45 and that was only 3 loads.

This current week (paid next Friday) will be over $2k gross and again only 3 loads.

These are based on 32% pay, and I should be going up to 33% for May, so a 1% raise.

26% my 1st month

32% my 2nd month

33% my 3rd month (we'll see)

Between March and April, I've driven 21,447 miles @ combined $.57cpm (not including tarp or bounce/deadhead pay)

I went from paying $23k/yr in rent + utilities to $0/yr moving into my tractor. My insurance on my car dropped by 50% since I never drive it and placed it into "storage" for insurance purposes (It just stays parked at the terminal)

I'm avg 3300mi/week w/ TMC Transportation thus far and we're planned off a 58mph avg with trucks governed at 62mph, which means you had better get efficient at your securement/tear down really quick and hope you're not stuck at sucksville, Silver Grove, or Wire Mesh (or the like) for 8 hours+.

That being said, TMC's policy is not assigned time-sensitive loads to rookie drivers for at least their first 6 months.

There have been loads where the miles and truck avg of 62mph + Atlanta Traffic simply equaled not making an appointment. I've macro'd my FM and has not been a problem changing the appt time.

Where it DOES become a problem is when you running off and doing you're own thing (take 12 hour reset instead of 10, or whatever the case may be) and show-up late and not involving your FM and creating a chargeable ETA change.

Point being, involve your FM sooner, rather than later.

I have to be in Grand Rapids and drove through that mess as well, but I pushed through at 55mph. I told my trainer yesterday that I've not seen wind or rain like that in quite some time, and I'm born/raised in Florida. It was pretty gnarly stuff.

Thankfully I made it to Charleston, MV and SHOULD make my con Sunday night.

I'm paid off percentage, so I don't really worry about my length of haul with regards to pay, but clock mgmt (will I be able to make it to my consignee at night, so I can start my clock AFTER I've been unloaded).

BUT, in the spirit of answering the question, my avg run currently: 814mi.

You would not want to choose CPM over %, and I have the numbers to back that up, as I'm tracking every mile, every %, and every CPM, etc.

Solo, you are brand new at this, and you started during a time when flat bed rates were pretty decent. You have one month of number crunching - that's not very credible evidence to base a decision on. Freight rates are extremely volatile at times, and there are market forces that move them up and down in very cyclical patterns. Be careful giving out advice like this. Even regions of the country vary considerably. After a couple of years of doing this, I'm fairly certain you'll find your numbers to indicate that there's very little difference in percentage pay and mileage pay. We had another TMC driver go through this same comparison and he found his pay would have been very similar no matter which way he went.

Ask yourself this question... Why would TMC offer you a choice of how you get paid, knowing full well that they are going to have to pay you a lot more if you choose the one they actively promote to their drivers? Percentage pay is actually designed to protect the company from the volatility of the rates. That's something you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing just yet.

Well, when I do my 1-year review via my CDL diary, we'll find out what the numbers are % vs CPM.

26% vs 27%, 26% vs 32%, etc.

With and without deadhead/bounce mileage (the only thing I'm not tracking is tarp pay).

My money is on % winning out by a significant spread.

I quit a 90k/yr job to become an OTR driver.

I'm on track to make just shy of that my first year.

So would I quit a 58k/yr job to do what I'm doing? Without hesitation.

Crashville at it again I see.

My 2020 TMC provided Peterbilt doesn't come w/ an APU, nor does any truck in our fleet.

That being said, I'm starting to form sweat on my brow here in N. Texas, and turning the truck on until it cools down outside...if that ever happens around here.

I have 0 regrets having decided to go w/ TMC, other than their no pet policy, and that will ultimately be the reason why I will depart after my year commitment is up, if not sooner. I will just have to find another flatbed company w/ a dog-friendly policy but will know TMC has set me up to be successful regardless of which company that may be.

The money you owe for the contract goes down every 3 months, so after 6 months, you only owe 2k (1k after 9 months), I'm not sure about Mavs.

I have talked to some Mav drivers that haul glass, and all appear to be happy w/ their day-to-day.

All-in-all, I'm sure either are fine choices, it will just come down to 1-2 things YOUR looking to get out of the industry and can either give you them or at least get you going in the right direction to help you obtain them.

Tyler, it looks like you have a well thought out general plan and paid CDL company training is definitely the way to go.

I thought TMC trucks had APU’s ??? Maybe I’m mistaken, but in my opinion its a big advantage when you start driving.

Good luck and thank you for your service.

None of our trucks have APU's, and while they don't care if you idle, the lower MPG's will impact your snapshot and possibly cost you money.

Higher MPG's = higher points = (potenially) higher %pay

Some drivers run their trucks 24/7/365 and still get 32% pay.

I've been OTR w/ them for nearly 2 months now I guess, and have only idled my truck once...and while sitting here in Texas, I'm thinking tonight COULD be night #2.

I wanted to correct you on the minimum pay as a %, unless I read the above incorrectly.

You will be paid at a minimum of 26% of the revenue generated to the truck, no less, for your first month.

Month 2 and beyond you could go up to 33%

To get 34%, you will have to put some years in w/ TMC to get enough snapshot points to get 34%.

You would not want to choose CPM over %, and I have the numbers to back that up, as I'm tracking every mile, every %, and every CPM, etc.

I'm in my 2nd month of Solo OTR w/ TMC, and you can read about my journey via the CDL School diaries for some additional info of what it's like get started out w/ them.