Pay

I see lots of people talking about not getting paid or not getting paid on time. Is this a normal issue in the trucking industry?

I don't know where you're seeing that, but it's not true. Maybe at a small unscrupulous company. Successful companies can't stay in business that way. Have you seen our starter package?

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road Training Program

If you read through that information, it will give you a great insight to this wonderful industry.

There are times certain things may not be paid back to you on time. Those things could be held up waiting for the customer to pay, or someone to approve. I would say 99.99999% of the time your miles are paid for in time, unless you submit your paperwork late.

Damon, there are people running small companies that sometimes get in a cash bind. Not just trucking companies. And if the owner chooses to hold off on paying employees, you get short paid or not at all. (Yes, that's more illegal than not paying a supplier.)

If a driver for a larger company complains about not being paid, or short paid, I bet there's a misunderstanding. For example, Many drivers look forward to getting "Suspension pay" when they must wait more than two hours before getting loaded/unloaded at a dock. Then then complain they didn't get the money. Problem is, they may not have seen the company rules for detention. Usually the driver must stay "On Duty Not Driving" to qualify. What? You think going Off Duty and getting paid for it is OK??

Finally, just as with most other complaints that a company is "evil", these come from PO'd drivers. The good ones, who get regular pay and know how they got it, are too busy making money, and are happy with their jobs.

Sometimes things get missed, and not just in trucking. I can call my FM and get my pay straight in a minute. As for detention, my company (Prime) pays detention to us when they get paid. Sometimes the customers won't pay it, and sometimes,drivers try to get more than they should, which screws us honest drivers.

As far as mileage pay, I have never not gotten paid for my miles.

I see lots of people talking about not getting paid or not getting paid on time. Is this a normal issue in the trucking industry?

Damon, you are at that point where you just got your CDL , and now you are doing the research for your first job.

Here's my advice for you.

Quit looking all over the internet in hopes that you will be able to discover who the scumbags are, so that you don't get stuck working for a lousy trucking company. You are going to understand just exactly what I mean when I say, if you depend on your internet research for finding just the right trucking companies to work for, you will probably end up going into another field altogether. The internet is a terrible place to find legitimate, accurate, dependable information on working in the trucking business. That is the very reason Brett started this web site, and and gave it such an appropriate name: Trucking Truth.

I have heard folks at the same company as me complaining about how the payroll department is constantly trying to cheat them out of their money, and I will usually enter into a conversation with them because I have never had that experience. Here is what I always discover in these conversations: The person who is complaining so vocally is continually persisting in doing their paperwork wrong. This is not rocket science, and I even had one guy tell me that we shouldn't be required to do all this paperwork! Really! This is your pay we are talking about, and to be honest with you it takes me about two, maybe three minutes to turn in my week's paper work with a smart phone app that is provided by the company.

Trucking is full of folks who are stubborn hard-headed know-it-all types. It is a career that attracts those types of folks because of the independent nature of the job, and some of them allow their own personalities to ruin any chance of success in their careers, while others of that type "A" personality are able to channel their energies into both freedom, and success. I remember showing one fellow who was complaining about being "cheated" on his pay how to properly process his paperwork, and he was adamant with me that what he was doing was sufficient, and "they should know that he delivered those loads without him having to jump through all the hoops of corporate policy just to get paid." I offered him a simple solution to his problem, and he just wanted to rant and rave about how the company was "cheating him." He wasn't the slightest bit interested in solving his issues, he almost seemed to enjoy having an issue that he could complain about, especially if it gave him the chance to make himself seem like a victim, and the company a bad villain. I honestly don't know what you can do for a person who is that dense and stubborn, and I can tell you that a lot of what you read in trucking forums and chat rooms comes from just that sort of person.

Don't stress yourself out over this first company to work for decision. Everybody just wears themselves out over this, and it is just adding useless stress to your situation. Forget all the negatives you've seen and focus on three priorities that you are interested in...

- What type of freight do you want to haul?

- What type of home time situation are you interested in?

- What is the pay/benefits package that appeals to you?

All of those things can be found on various companies by focusing your search right here in our Trucking Company Reviews. You will be able to narrow your search down considerably by using the criteria I gave you, and once you actually get started at this career, you will discover, like I did, that the trucking company name on the doors of your truck has little or no consequence in your ability to succeed at this stuff.

I started my career at Western Express, a company that has terrible reviews, and I built a good solid foundation for my career there. Just the other day my current dispatcher at Knight transportation asked me this question: "Dale, you are my top driver, I am curious how many years you have been doing this?" When I answered him with four years, he was shocked and wanted to know where I learned how to manage things so well. I told him, "at Western Express." That only brought forth more jaw dropping along with these words, "Man, I have never heard anything good about that place." I'm only telling you this to reinforce what I am saying about how you need to ignore all the chatter on the internet - in my opinion it is the biggest waste of your time and emotion, and will lead you nowhere but down a depressing rabbit hole to an imaginary world of trucking malcontents who have created their own little world of misery and despair.

Getting paid fairly should be the least of your worries at this point. Doing a really good job, and learning how to manage your time in a way that maximizes your income and efficiency should be your main focus as a newbie, but you can see where your research is leading you - into a world of fears and worries.

Get yourself a job with a major carrier by following those three simple guide lines above. Work your tail off and follow the instructions they give you for processing your paperwork. You should very seldom ever have a problem with your pay if you do that, and even if there is a glitch once in a while, a simple phone call with your manager should straighten it all out.

Sometimes things get missed, and not just in trucking. I can call my FM and get my pay straight in a minute. As for detention, my company (Prime) pays detention to us when they get paid. Sometimes the customers won't pay it, and sometimes,drivers try to get more than they should, which screws us honest drivers.

As far as mileage pay, I have never not gotten paid for my miles.

I concur. I always get paid for miles. This week I had an issue where my truck was charged for unexpected fees. I called my FM, he looked it over and gave me money on my fleet card so I could either cash a check or deposit it to my bank. Problem solved in two minutes. He then removed the fees. So it all works out on next weeks pay.

Since we scan in our trip sheets, if the images are not legible, payroll will message us to rescan....before the end of pay week. In 18mos this happened once. Again no big deal.