Comments By Just Mitch

I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion. Let’s just do some actual thinking.

How can I possibly make “awesome money” with a pay of 29cpm? It has nothing to do with my performance. It’s simply **** pay.

10 hours driving = maximum of 650 miles. 650*.29=188.50 That means in the best possible scenario I make 18.50 an hour for the time that I’m on the highway. Factor in the fact that you have to spend time at drop/pickup doing papers finding,empty trailers, cleaning trailers, coupling,driving up and down grades, traffic, weather, stoplights, low speed limits, weighing and reweighing loads(because they don’t give a **** about your time and will overload you),finding empty parking spots, fueling, pre/post trips you would have to be an idiot to call it good pay let alone great. 18.50 is hardly even decent pay in itself.

My last 4000 miles I averaged 50 mph. And I drive with max speeds possible. So it’s not like I’m making 18.50 before factoring in all other factors. It comes out to 14.50 an hour for just the time that I am driving. And the last 4000 miles I did were on ideal highways with hardly any traffic. My mph still averaged out to only 50 even though I drive at 65 the majority of time on highway.

Previous to the last 4000 miles my average was only 43 mph because of traffic and weather and I was in California.

You aren’t going to convince me that I need to improve my performance because the majority of time I am waiting for loads. Dealing with other people’s bull**** and I don’t get paid for any of it. I’m basically waiting to get onto the road so I can finally start earning some **** pay.

Work hard on increasing your reliability, productivity, and establishing a great working relationship with your dispatcher. One full year of that and you'll realize how misguided your concerns about CPM rates are now.

I can't stress how critical it is to understand this. You want to make big money because you have big goals. That's awesome. That's how it should be. Now to achieve those goals, focus on what you must do to become the best truck driver possible.

Over time, your pay will be equal to your awesomeness. Becoming awesome takes time. It won't happen in your first year. You can become very good by the end of your first year. You can become excellent by the end of your second year. It will take 3 - 5 years before you gain the experience and knowledge it takes to consistently perform at an awesome level.

You'll get there if you keep your focus on becoming the best you can be. Don't lose sight of the fact that you must consistently reach the highest performance level in order to reach the highest pay level.

Should’ve done your research here. These guys/girls are always truthful about the fact that you don’t become a trucker to get rich. Btw, stop comparing yourself to McDonalds worker or whatever. It doesn’t help the situation at all.

Will a cdl learners permit transfer from one state to another?

It’s a roll of the dice. Every state has a list of states they’ll transfer or not. Just like college credits

Sorry, I did forget to tell you the nature of the accident. It was a rollover and I was cited for it. I was on a narrow 2 lane state highway that didn't allow you for much error if you made a mistake. Well I made a mistake and drifted off the road slightly and it was enough that it just sucked me into the revine and the truck rolled. It could happen to anyone really. Unfortunately it happened to me. Everyone is bound to make a mistake that can hurt their career.

Tip 1: Don’t casually downplay a rollover accident.

Would you guys consider a load that you rejected but that was dispatched to you anyway a forced dispatch? Dispatch has been trying to get someone to take this load for at least one day. Apparently no one wants it. It will be going through So. Cali. Where winds will be 25-35 with gust of 50-60. What would you guys do?

Rookie driver here. I’ve been through Wyoming with winds so strong I feared I’d flip the truck. The company can force the load on you but can’t force you to risk your life. Winds come and go. I promise you the winds won’t be 50-60 for 24 straight hours. Drive while your safe. Park when the winds pick up. Use your 11 hours how you see fit. You’ll be fine

I have a dilemma because I’ve graduated cd school this pass October. I’ve started with prime but the training process has Been tough especially being a woman . The 1st trainer I had was so rude to me and I dealt with him for 2 weeks and then had to wait at a terminal for 2 weeks for another trainer and my 2nd trainer quit because we got stuck in California for a few days due to a snow storm. So I’ve been home contemplating on if I should quit because I really hate otr all over the states and I would like to find something where I can go home every week. I know that it’ll be harder to get but I want to be happy and I’ve been miserable dealing with this training process especially dealing with trainers who are so tactless and mean. I don’t want to hate what I do just for the money and experience. I also don’t know what the next trainer will be like and I will take another chance going out with another person knowing I already have a bad experience with the trainers so I’m kind of over it. I know that I haven’t learned everything I need to know in just a few weeks of training so my only reason for going back would be cause of the money and experience. However I’ll be uncomfortable, and unhappy doing so. I don’t know if it’s worth it. Please give me some advice on what you think the beat option will be. Thanks

Define rude. I actually liked my trainer. But it is pretty difficult putting two adults together for weeks at a time inside a sneaker box. At times things got intense. Sometimes you have to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and not that you’re in the dark

No worries here. I don’t do drugs

Speaking of numbers. I'd be curious to see some total dispatched miles from some of you that are OTR drivers.

I ran 130,000 miles this year. Honestly, I didn't push as hard as I have in some years. I made good money, and I never felt like I was pushing too hard. I'm curious how that compares with others. Any feedback is appreciated.

I’m currently 202 days into driving with swift. 80,000 miles

Don, it's fine.

The lab told me all the medication that I take wouldn't cause me to test positive. The lab is willing to send sample to another lab for testing, and I'm willing to pay for it, because unless somebody has been shoving it up my backside while I sleep, there's no way it should be positive. I don't even know what the stuff looks like.

The company has to give them permission to send it to another lab, even if I will pay for it, and unfortunately they won't okay it. So, that's where I'm at now, with no way to contest the result.

I don't know what else to do at this point. Find an attorney, or if I need to do SAP and hope for the best or just move on to another industry or what.

As it stands now, just looks like I will have a failed drug test on my record no matter what, and that is that.

Sorry Jeremy , I did not mean to imply that a company would give you the option to retest. I was stating that you had mentioned your were going to test yourself, thus the use of the word "retest." Adipex can trigger a false positive for amphetamine. You mentioned You stayed that "you told them about it", but do you have a prescription by a MD? I do not believe a prescription is required for buying it online, so if you did so (without a prescription), then that may very well be an issue.

Didn't give me the option to retest it, whether I paid for it or not. But yeah was told I tested positive for meth. Was a hair test, and supposedly that stays in your system for 2 months - told them what medications I was taking: Phentermine, Lisinopril, Pravastatin and Metoprolol - said the phentermine could give a false positive for amphetamine, but the rest shouldnt do anything.

Don't really know, I'd pay to retest if they gave me the option, though. I'll call and ask. But I was going to do my own hair test to see if i tested positive for sure - if there was a chance I could still apply elsewhere for school.

Didn't give me the option to retest it, whether I paid for it or not. But yeah was told I tested positive for meth. Was a hair test, and supposedly that stays in your system for 2 months - told them what medications I was taking: Phentermine, Lisinopril, Pravastatin and Metoprolol - said the phentermine could give a false positive for amphetamine, but the rest shouldnt do anything.

Don't really know, I'd pay to retest if they gave me the option, though. I'll call and ask. But I was going to do my own hair test to see if i tested positive for sure - if there was a chance I could still apply elsewhere for school.

1. Be honest with yourself. If you did meth then go get some help. 2. I’m not implying that you’re lying. However, having dealt with these issues from a corporate standpoint, I can tell you two things. A. False positives do happen unfortunately. B. People who know that they’ll test positive will still get tested and act shocked that they tested positive. I only mention this because you mention getting an attorney. In court the dishonest guy and honest guy both say the same thing.

That’s where I hit

Wait! I want to know how he hit a mountain? Was it a sharp turn, or curve? Did the tail swing hit it? I’m trying to learn something here; because I dang sure don’t want to hit no mountain.

I tried to word it so it didn’t seem like I drove head first into a mountain. West Virginia+narrow road+almost U turn+me not borrowing other lane to cover it. Yes, tail end of trailer hit