Cant believe it

[fkbmlb]

I have 5 months experience. I worked for CFI those 5 months making .27 cent a mile. Went to Transport America making .38 cent a mile. No other company will pay that much for a newbie.

Cant beat that

[Useless]

What is it that you can't believe???

If you could survive 5 mos. with C.R. England, you are probably better than most other new drivers!!!

[fkbmlb]

I didnt say CR England. I drove for CFI

[fkbmlb]

This is dry van not flatbed. I average about 3300 miles a week

[Useless]

I didnt say CR England. I drove for CFI

OOOOPPS!!! My Bad!!! In any event, your post underscores something that all noobies need to understand when they look for that first driving job; whoever they go drive for, just stay safe, keep your record clean, focus upon improving, and learning the ropes; after six or twelve months, there will be many new doors of opportunities opening up.

BTW, Congrat's to you!! 8)

[fkbmlb]

Pay comes first, then hometime, then safety. When someone calls a company the first questions are hometime, then pay

[Uturn2001]

Pay comes first, then hometime, then safety. When someone calls a company the first questions are hometime, then pay

Everybody's priorities are different.

IMHO though, the important thing is being happy in your job.

[Useless]

Pay comes first, then hometime, then safety. When someone calls a company the first questions are hometime, then pay

My piorities were exactly opposite. Safety and the quality of training was my first priority. Hometime was second, as I have a family. Pay?? That was my third priority. If I couldn't run safely and legally, then no matter how much the job paid, I ran the risk of closing doors of future opportinities before they were even open..

Also, where pay was a concern, I knew that after I had a year of safe driving under my belt, better paying jobs would become available to me. In any event, when that time did come, I opted to stay where I was. The company that I drove for didn't pay the best, although they were a long way from paying the lowest for drivers with 1 yr. under their belts.

This is a classic example of what new drivers should consider when they ask "What company should I start with??" There is no one correct answer; it is simply a matter of addressing and identifying personal priorities, and then finding a company where there is a compatable match.

[GoldiesPlating]

I have 5 months experience. I worked for CFI those 5 months making .27 cent a mile. Went to Transport America making .38 cent a mile. No other company will pay that much for a newbie.

Cant beat that

IMO, you CAN beat that. You SHOULD rephrase that statement to read "No other VAN company will pay that much for a newbie." Running flatbed here you would typically make high 40's to low 50's cpm if running on percentage pay.

[Splitter]

I agree with Uturn 100%. If you are not happy with your job? Get out!

[BoyNextDoor]

I agree with Uturn 100%. If you are not happy with your job? Get out!

And thats the reason i'm changing careers now... I used to be a Project Estimator for a constuction company, and used to work off of blueprints... It's "cool" but it gets old after a while... I'm not the type to sit at the desk. I'm a traveler... I'm willing to work my ass off, if it's necessery, OTR...

[Skywalker]

I have 5 months experience. I worked for CFI those 5 months making .27 cent a mile. Went to Transport America making .38 cent a mile. No other company will pay that much for a newbie.

I have a minor problem with that statement...about what you made at CFI.

Here is a cut and paste from CFI Drivers that I made:

http://www.cfidrivers.com/phbbs/viewtopic.php?t=454

Here's the pay in a nutshell:

Student driver: 26 cpm on finishers truck.

Finished Student on own truck: 28 cpm followed by incremental raises to 35cpm at one year.

Experienced Driver 35 cpm with 1 years experience. Graduated raises to 41 cpm.

Premium pay for Hazmat (if endorsed and load is placarded) 1 cpm

Premium pay for the 12 NE states 5 cpm.

Safety bonus paid at 1 cpm graduated to 4 cpm for all miles dispatched and paid quarterly.

Layover $60.00 (paid 24 hrs after 4Cool

Holiday pay $60.00 (on truck or home no matter)

Unload/load/driver assist $17.50 per hour minimum 2 hours.

Keep in mind that all miles are paid as Practical Route Miles, not HHG short miles. Its a 7% to 15% higher $$ than HHG.

Here's also why I have a problem with his statement: Whenever a student driver has been released from his or her finisher's truck and assigned their own, they immediately go to 28 cpm, then shortly thereafter get to 30 cpm, and at the end of a year are at 35 cpm. If he was there for 5 months he should have been at at least 30 cpm or possibly 32 cpm. What is very critical to remember is that CFI pays the mileage as PRACTICAL MILES, not HHG short miles. That amounts to a 7% to 15% difference in money.

So, 30 cpm with CFI is basically the same as 34.5 cpm paid where HHG short miles are paid. Conversely, the 38 cpm that he is now getting at Transport America could actually be only 32.3 cpm in reality....because he may not be getting paid for all the miles he is driving. But before you say he's "making more", read on:

He also failed to point out the 1 cpm safety bonus for every dispatched mile... and averaging 3300 miles perweek with CFI he would have been paid $396.00 at the end of 3 months for the safety bonus. Nor did he mention that if he had a hazmat endorsement he would have been paid another 1 cpm for each dispatched mile with a placarded load. Nor did he mention that for every miles he was dispatched in anyone of the 12 NE states he got a 5 cpm premium for every dispatched mile in those states.

I am not criticising Transport America, I am just pointing out the money factors, and those factors apply to all companies that do not pay Practical Miles, but do pay HHG short miles.

If he was averaging 3300 miles per week....even at 28 cpm, without any of the premiums, he was making $924.00 a week as a new driver, and at 30 cpm he would be making $990.00....

Its simply a matter of not comparing apples to oranges..... Please make the comparisons correctly.
8)

[fkbmlb]

I was making 28 a mile because i had not reached 60000 miles yet. Yes practical does make a difference.

[fkbmlb]

Im not putting CFI down. CFI spoiled me with the equipment, and the organization. It is possible that i may be coming back.

[hitman]

Im not putting CFI down. CFI spoiled me with the equipment, and the organization. It is possible that i may be coming back.

Why? Have you had a bad experiance with Transport America already? TA is one of the companies on my to-go-to list after cdl school.

[Skywalker]

Im not putting CFI down. CFI spoiled me with the equipment, and the organization. It is possible that i may be coming back.

If you go back...you'll be like alot of drivers there. CFI has a way of getting under your skin. Been there and done it myself. 8) 8)

[Cluggy619]

This is dry van not flatbed. I average about 3300 miles a week

Ok...roughly, that's about $924 per week. That's is very good when you compare with some of the others companies, for someone with only 5 months experience. There are alot of drivers that I have talked to who didn't make that, and still don't today.

I would suggest staying with that job. Higher cpm doesn't make any difference if you don't get miles.

For example:

I made .34 cpm with JB Hunt. I only got a average of 1700 - 2300 miles per week. (.34 * 2300 = $782.00) And I only got 2300 miles one week out of 2 months. To me, it wasn't worth it to stay on with them. I'm just using my experience with that company, however, alot of companies have about the same weekly average, around 2500 miles.

Keep this in mind before you quit. Just my opinion.