[KrisWald]

Well this is my first post on the website so a little about me....

I was living in northeast ohio and working 2-3 jobs and barely paying the bills when i had a fight with my wife and thought i need a change in my life... i need to get in a job that will get me away from her :P (because at the time she kept starting all the fights and then coming back when i wanted out and saying sorry and stuff... u know women?)

So looking in the paper there it was... TRUCK Driving... OTR ... only one company had paid training in there... and im from an area that well... you dont see many semi's and i didnt drive past any truckstops... .i didnt know there were thousands of companies to choose from... So I went to C1 in indianpolis for training... was a joke but after three week or four i had my CDL and was assigned to P.A.M.

Made up with my wife... she didnt like the idea i signed up for trucking and would be gone... it was very very hard... but it worked out in the end cos we both love each other. I didnt get picked up by P.A.M. I got picked up by A.F.S. a division of pam located out of florida so i moved to nashville TN because after being with the trainer i thought id get home much more often by being in the middle of all the routes. 8) I was right. Lived there... it was expensive for 1 year then moved her back to her family because my absence at home was killing her, she wasnt making any friends.

Still in debt i was making 27 cents per mile... and for 8 to 9 months i had a total average during that time of 2400 miles... almost exact. but i had no complaints about miles because they were running me nonstop... it was the loading/unloading that was killing me. Then i became a trainer... I was training for 6-8 months.

Ahh... Training... what to say about that... being 23 many guys dont want to take my advice... I only had an accident my first week of training.. pulled into a 23' truck shipping/ rec area at a nursery in poughkeepsie NY and didnt know they wanted me in the parking lot instead.... took an hour trying to turn around before i hit anything :P with 5 guys helping me. anyways... i am a pro at backing up now and i drive legal and safe at 65 mph. Training was alright... i found it more calming when i wasnt sitting up front :P i made Less miles at the start... teaching them to do stuff slows you down... taking them half an hour to do a log book in the morning and resisting the urge to tell them to HURRY IT UP!!! TIME IS MONEY!!!!! was a pain... knowing i do that stuff in 60 seconds or less.

average mile training was around 3500. I had 4500 solo once... surrounded by 3000 mile weeks... it was actually good.. and no long runs... it was just a bunch of 700 or 800 mile runs every day... nonstop.
last week i made 1824.24 For one week of training... 5900+ miles or so...

Now most trainers i hear turn 6k miles.... some even 7 or 8k miles per week with students... i dunno how they do this... even fudging the logs wont get me those miles... cos once again it was the appointments and loading/unloading that slowed me down usually.

Anyways they just informed me that during my free time... after i drive 11 hours... and i am comfortable enough to have the student drive while i sleep?... that free time of oh... say... 10 hours? where i only need 4 to 5 hours of sleep anyways like most of you probably? that free time... i was on my computer too often... and now they are not going to let me train anymore... so my 1800 pay check will be the last ill see for a long time... and go back down to 1100 if i bust my butt AND THEY GET ME GOOD LOADS... and i mean loads.. loading/unloading

Now then If i had spent 4-5 hours a day readinng the bible.. they wouldnt tell me im not gonna train anymore because i spent too much time reading the bible... im 23... yes i like computers... i do bills... watch movies... listen to music.. play games... look for jobs everything... on my computer... some trainers have xbox.. nintendo... dvd players... tv... i have a computer... and i even offered it to my students... ive only had it last 2 months and i think its a load of B.S. So.... I dont care if they were to let me train anymore... Im through with this company. A.F.S. is the best division of P.A.M. in my mind from what ive heard... but its a training company at that... and my year was up long ago.. They have told me to not type so much in qualcomm... precious cents being wasted... told me not to call in... and to use qualccomm... told me not to suggest places to pick up because "they have been doing their job a long time and not to think... leave that to them..." Well this comment pissed me off royally... I mean sure... i dont bug them that often... but when im sitting for 10 hours to get a load... and they aint got one... im gonna start poking around... why do i not have a load? we are never predispatched... only 10-20% are drop and hook... Theykeep taking me out of brand new trucks when they break down... yet if i have an old truck and its in shop every few days... i am stuck with it for a few months...Ill make new post for what i really want addressed...

[KrisWald]

Im no longer allowed to train... back to solo... and i dont want to deal with the load/unload times... (training had more drop/hook and longer miles)

I need a new company.. i dont really want to jump much... in fact i was planning on training with A.F.S. til i decided to be full owner/operator... (few years down the road) but its a lil early for that... So.

Please tell me the companies you think i should consider... i know that hometime means downtime... = no money. i dont mind being out there til the cows come home to make good money. I no that load/unload times means downtime = no money so i prefer drop and hook runs... Id prefer higher pay cents per mile... though i read on another post that tmc and some other company was paying % ? like 28% or something? and it came out to 42 per mile? its very confusing out there... maverick had a job listing... 850 a week guaranteed... and 28 per mile after 2000 ... well most weeks im sure ill get more than 2k miles... prolly 2000-2400 if its like afs... so the first 2000 is 42 cents a mile but the rest is ... well.. not much :P I have 1-2 years exp with dryvan... i dont mind doing tanker or flatbed or carhauler... but living in Ohio... those could be bad in winter... i dont really want to deal with lumpers... so i think that means reefers are out right? if hazmat is needed i can get one... never really needed it for a.f.s. and i know hazmat doenst mean radioactive all the time... most of the time with afs it was flammable foam material... or paint... quite often paint... but i carreied the nonhaz while others loaded up wiht haz....

i have gone to canada... laredo...brownsville....los angeles.... miami... massachusettes.... all over different areas... i like doing all 48 states... i dont mind paying tolls upfront and getting reimbursed if im making money. If u have more links for me to read and research plz let me know...

as of right now im considering
TMC
Roehl

id like to know much more about owner/operating... the main reason im not going that route right now is because i have a son and wife that doesnt work... they rely on me and i cant put them in a risky situation... i wouldnt do the whole lease though if i was owner/operator... id want the full ensemble... i do everything.. get the load... talk to the ccustomer... negotiate... pu/del and settle... everything... and i dont know what all i need to do that yet... plan for it yet... etc... that would be my next step after i get things back in a favorable position... Also i could probably train a student as owner operator and have them drive for me... making me even more money? and if i feel they are comfortable enough buy a 2nd truck and have them drive for me and such... thats how truck companies start isnt it? :P thats the goal.... im young... and i would love to be in full control and start a good business...

Sometimes i wonder if i just wasted the whole last year or two with A.F.S. (division of P.A.M.) but it gave me time to learn how to use the truck... see the world... and listen to hundreds of drivers complain about their jobs. i did enjoy working for the company and if anyone is out there brand new.... looking for a company and possibly training... A.F.S. or P.A.M. is a great company... but after that first year... i dunno... i think i stayed in it cos i knew most of my routes and it just seemed easier... plus training was making me more money

When u make more money than you eve have in your life... you seem pretty happy... but then when things like this happen and you are forced to look for new jobs you realize... you werent really making as much as you could have been... and thats what i want... to maximize my potential. I love driving... all driving... night/day. long as its long miles and lots of driving i like it... and traffic doesnt even bother me much. it doesnt happen every day afterall... once a week i might have to sit in traffic for an hour... sometimes in atlanta it might be 3 hours... but thats beside the point..

Sorry for the long post... but its my first 2 on the site and i wanted to be thorough... ill check back every few days...

P.S. i was at home for 5 days after last student... then i came back and truck wasnt fixed... wouldnt even start... so had to go home for 6th day... thats when they said i wouldnt be training... and its like why not tell me that earlier so im not home for 5 days :P it had taken 3-4 days before my home time to get me home... only 1000 miles away if that... and then i drive the truck down to nashville right? truck breaks down again... they never fixed it supposedly... so i spent all night in the fuel aisle... i get to the dealership and they give me another truck... not a new new just another truck... and now after waiting all day i have a load in this other truck... 600 miles... pu friday and del monday... Plz... help me get out of this low paying/low mile/long (un)loading/weak hometime job. Thanks!

[Driveline]

http://www.shaffertrucking.com/ try here, I have a friend that runs for them, he makes good money, I believe they start out at .39cpm, but you need to have at least 1 year experience. He doesn't load/unload either. They also give you reasonable time to make your delivery.

[marcel27208]

Just dont be in a hurry to jump to the next trucking job. Take your time and do your homework and believe me, you will find one that suits your needs and hometime.

[msj1]

Maybe look at www.tranportamerica.com, I just started w/them and they seem to be a decent company. If you are in n.e. Ohio they have a terminal in North Jackson....near Warren. They would be able to get you home almost every weekend if you want w/ good miles from what I can tell.

[Ian Williams]

It sounds like you don't mind sharing the truck with someone else.

Have you considered team driving?

As a general rule you will get longer runs and less shipper & receiver BS as a team truck.

[knightwolf71477]

My first question here is. Why after less than a year of driving would you even think of training someone else how to drive a 80,000 lbs truck??? Plus what company would think that anyone with less than a year can train? This is why this industry is going down hill. I am not trying to put you down and say that you can not drive and that you are a bad driver. But I did not start training anyone til I had almost 5 years of drive time, and even then I still felt like that my students got the most out of my training. But on too your question about companies, all I can say is do your homework, there is no perfect company out there. Just chose carefully.

[Templedawg]

When I had my first driving job after 5 months they asked me if I wanted to train. Didn't make much since to me with very little experience how was i going to teach somebody what I didn't know, much less sleep behind them while they were driving. Buddy of mine did take the training option though, he got all the miles the truck did 7000+ a week, and the trainee got $450/week flat pay. They were running them like a team, alot of va-ca or fl-ca, ny-ca/co, guess they figure you will take the $$$ of safety. Might want to lookin LTL companies in your area, pay is really good and better quality of life than being gone all the time.

[Cyanide]

I feel your pain. Reading your first two posts reminds me of just a few of the reasons why I will never pull a freight box again! Too much b.s.

http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/...pic.php?t=7031
This is my thread concerning tanker advantages/disadvantages. It's a lot of info but if you take the time to read it, you may like to give chemical tanking a shot. You happen to live in a very good area also.

www.superior-carriers.com
Here's the link to my present company. My figures/stats with them are on page eight of the above mentioned link. I run 100% legal, and as you can see, am doing quite well with them. To be blunt, I'm paid for almost everything I do, with the exception of fueling, pre-trip, and post-trip inspections. I give up no free time for anything. I'll answer any questions you may have if interested.

I recomend looking at CFI i have done my research on all of the companies out there and they seem to fit me the best i start with thim oct 2.