Are truckers really make enough money?

[pepe4158]

Pepe, If you want to primarily stay in the West, there are some regional carriers who stay in that area. You can make a good living running up and down I-5. Of course, if this fuel situation doesn't change that may not continue to be the case. Right now rates seem to be somewhat lower in the Western states.

Ummm yeah...probably dont matter where

Keep in mind that all of the carriers I mentioned pay percentage. All of them have cheap as well as good paying loads. Other than the paperwork, it is much like running your own authority. It takes time to find the better paying brokers or agents. This is true whether you run your own authority or lease to a carrier. Another thing to keep in mind is that when you lease to a carrier you will likely give up about 25% of the rate. If you are running cheap freight right now, then it may not make much difference to you.

Bingo....yeah not a drop :-p maybe an increase lol

You can also broker loads through most of those I mentioned. Schneider, JB Hunt and a number of other large carriers broker freight. Some pay fairly well.

Yeah my 2nd load ever was a Schneider....im already set with those two

[pepe4158]

I've been to just about every state so far and Verizon is the way to go.

Yeah been too busy to worry about it now.....have cable at my godparents where i park now....n just get close to a big motel on the road or buy the pilot for a week at $10 rate......usually only once per month all i need.

[merrick4]

Cingular has gotten much much better. I remember first time in Montana and North Dakota I couldn't make a call, now I barely was getting dropped and the Aircard is getting better too. Much better connections now.

Pepe you know I am newer than you, but I agree with the advice given here. Person is right, a lot of hand holding (mostly mine ). Also I don't know what paperwork you are having trouble with, but I pay $38 a month and these people take care of my fuel tax and all license and permit issues. They give me prepaid selfaddressed envelopes and when the stuff goes to the house I just have the wife drop it in an envelope and off to them. Also they have my credit card info on file so they do everything and then just charge my card and then send a statement to the house for me to review. I realize you don't live here in the states but maybe you can get your mail forwarded.

Also as far as getting ripped off, I signed up with D&S Factors (in spite of what I read by Joymax) and before I take a load (only been doing this a couple weeks on my own) I just call them and ask if they are factorable, if not then I won't use them.

Anyway, I don't know you but you went and got your own authority for a reason so it might be worth hanging in their for a bit. Whatever you decide good luck.

[pepe4158]

Cingular has gotten much much better. I remember first time in Montana and North Dakota I couldn't make a call, now I barely was getting dropped and the Aircard is getting better too. Much better connections now.

Pepe you know I am newer than you, but I agree with the advice given here. Person is right, a lot of hand holding (mostly mine ). Also I don't know what paperwork you are having trouble with, but I pay $38 a month and these people take care of my fuel tax and all license and permit issues. They give me prepaid selfaddressed envelopes and when the stuff goes to the house I just have the wife drop it in an envelope and off to them. Also they have my credit card info on file so they do everything and then just charge my card and then send a statement to the house for me to review. I realize you don't live here in the states but maybe you can get your mail forwarded.

Also as far as getting ripped off, I signed up with D&S Factors (in spite of what I read by Joymax) and before I take a load (only been doing this a couple weeks on my own) I just call them and ask if they are factorable, if not then I won't use them.

Anyway, I don't know you but you went and got your own authority for a reason so it might be worth hanging in their for a bit. Whatever you decide good luck.

Hmmm I quess im not explaining myself well:
1. Never actually left the board...just inactive lomg periods cuz im busy...not to be sarcastic, but theres a real world out there...n m in it most of the time n just get too busy to post here untill times like now where im bored as hell.

2. Its not just the paper-work....all the million details I manage versus the lease company handeling them for me. I cant help but looking at my rates n saying why bother?.......true I have my freedom n independence, but doing some wondering now if it was worth it that im just so stubborn. So may just lease cuz its not really been worth it in the long run.....just a judgement call im mulling over.

[LOAD IT]

Merrick- Rank makes an excellent point here. Since you are from Florida you could do this with produce, nursery steel or other products drayed from containers in the ports. Shorthaul/regional is really where the money is. You may touch 6-9 loads and make $4500 on 2200 miles versus running OTR to make $4500 on 3000 miles in a week. Dust off your old company driver notebook and call some of those Florida shippers. What made you cut ties with the other guy?

That made for interesting reading. Would you, by any chance, have any idea of something along those lines that one can look for in the Pittsburgh PA area ?

What type trailer do you pull? If flats, I would contact Pittsbg. Logistics Sys, I am thinking about dedicating a couple of trucks over there. If van or reefer let me know. Anything else, I'm no help.

I pull for Pittsburgh Logistics when I'm in the area. I like the way they do things with there load board if your setup with them. You can see the loads and bid on them then either get rejected or accepted. It's also nice to see the check come in more than what you bid because they add on the fuel surcharge to your settlement.

[heavyhaulerss]

chuck at pls is cool to deal with.

[Graymist]

Merrick- Rank makes an excellent point here. Since you are from Florida you could do this with produce, nursery steel or other products drayed from containers in the ports. Shorthaul/regional is really where the money is. You may touch 6-9 loads and make $4500 on 2200 miles versus running OTR to make $4500 on 3000 miles in a week. Dust off your old company driver notebook and call some of those Florida shippers. What made you cut ties with the other guy?

That made for interesting reading. Would you, by any chance, have any idea of something along those lines that one can look for in the Pittsburgh PA area ?

What type trailer do you pull? If flats, I would contact Pittsbg. Logistics Sys, I am thinking about dedicating a couple of trucks over there. If van or reefer let me know. Anything else, I'm no help.

At present, I haul dry bulk....cement, sand & fy ash. I plan to move to New Castle, near Pittsburgh, by around Sept-Oct of next year, 'cos my fiancee lives there, and we plan to get married. Ideally, I'd like to do exactly what I'm doing right now, which is hauling tanks, but I'd like to keep my options open.

If I'm unable to find anything with tankers, my second preference would be van, if only to gain US driving experience for a year or 2 ( incase my Canadian truck driving experience doesn't count, which is most likely going to be the case ), before trying for tanker jobs again.