[Longsnowsm]

I am like many other newbies evaluating companies. After hanging around here for a while you start to see the same questions time and again, and sadly some of the same mistakes time after time keep coming up. It occured to me that some folks may just not know what to look for in a company and how to seperate better companies from the warts on the face of trucking. So lets outline some of the things that newbies should be aware of:

Training trucking company vs provide your own training
1. this seems to be a common source of issues and problems that only seem to get compounded that make the transition to trucking harder, training companies tend to exploit drivers with low pay and lock you into a contract for at least a year in return for the training
2. the recommenations by the pros here on this site is get the training on your own so your not enslaved to a training company
3. Many of the training schools will finance your training and many companies will reimburse you for your training so it is a net win win for you if you take the time to find the better paying/better reputation companies

What is 1 cpm between friends????
When your looking at a company and the pay they offer most of the time the pay is represented in cents per mile or CPM. What is the difference between a company that pay you 25 cpm vs a compay that pays 26 cpm?

Let's assume an average of 2500 miles a week:
.25 cpm x 2500 = $625
.26 cpm x 2500 = $650

Not much right?

How about a month(based on 10000 miles):
.25 cpm x 10000 miles = $2500
.26 cpm x 10000 miles = $2600

Still not too excited?

How about the end of the year(based on 120,000 miles):
.25 cpm x 120000 miles = $30,000
.26 cpm x 120000 miles = $31,200

So that 1 cpm turns out to be $1200 that you could have been making. Now visualize a 3, 4, or even a 5 cpm spread? You see many times that is the difference in pay between a training company and a company that you obtained your own training and went to work for them. So that 1 penny per mile adds up fast, and why would you want to drive for a company making $5000 less for driving the same number of miles? It pays to do your homework and get the best CPM pay you can when shopping for a company.

HHG miles paid vs practical miles
Many of the companies out there still pay by household goods mover miles or HHG. This in a nutshell is paid from zip code to zip code and the estimates range from 10% or more miles that the driver will drive and not get paid.
- Look for honest companies that pay practical miles or hub miles to get you closer to being paid for the miles your actually driving. Driving is hard long work, so why not get paid for them?

Using the above example of 120,000 miles this year at a fiction rate of .25 cpm your annual pay if your paid for the 120,000 miles you drove is $30,000. But what if they shorted you 10% or 12,000 miles of those that you drove? That is 108,000 paid miles, at .25 cpm you pay now for the year is $27,000. A $3000 difference! So when looking for companies to drive for consider the differences in HHG and practical miles... It really is worth it to insist on an employer that will pay you for the work your performing!

When you add up the differences between HHG pay and practical, and then figure the differences in the pay rates between training companies and non-training companies your literally giving away thousands of dollars if you choose poorly. Do youself a favor and do the math and then decide once you have all your numbers. You will be surprised what you may or may not be getting.

Well that about does it for the first installment on some of the things to think about when looking for a trucking company. Why not give yourself the best deal possible? Drivers are in the drivers seat when it comes to pay and jobs due to the drivers shortages that everyone says they are experiencing. So why not do yourself a favor and bargain for the best deal possible? BOL in your job search!

Longsnowsm

[One]

Nice, this can really be elaborated upon! (im tired now) Good work

[bosshog53]

To help evaluate Carriers if your going to go as a company driver or to lease on as an Owner Operator there's a list of questions that's should be asked of them on OOIDA website. They are under "Swimming with Sharks"

[Longsnowsm]

Now how to decide if a company is a good fit for you:
1. Does the company offer the kind of home time you need? Be honest with yourself when you think about home time otherwise 3-6 mths down the road you may be wishing you had chosen your company better. Confirm with other drivers that work for the company that they actually do honor their hometime.
2. Does the company pay for lumpers? Some companies do not pay lumpers so your fingerprinting loads. Are you OK with that?
3. What is the companies fueling policy? Do they force the driver to use company terminals for fueling? Do they force drivers out of route for fueling solutions?
4. Is the company forced dispatch or does the driver have the option to choose another load that maybe a better fit? Examples where this might be important is when trying to get home for your hometime, doctors appointments etc. Trying to say in the freight lanes so that your setup for a good follow-on load. With forced dispatch companies refusing a load is grounds for firing. So this is something to think about.
5. Does the company do a lot of runs in the Northeast? Into NYC? Are you comfortable with that? Have you talked to other drivers that run the Northeast with this company and the pros and cons?
6. Does the company pay tolls? Does it have EZ Pass or other automated toll systems for the various places your likely to run? Or are you forced to run two lane side roads cluttered with local traffic, traffic lights, signs, and other obstacles that impede you from getting miles?
7. Does the company have idling rules? Do they have opti-idle? Do they have heaters in the truck to stay warm or allow you to run the truck to stay cool? Are you going to be sleeping in a hot truck in the summer or a cold truck in the winter? Ask around about the companies your interested in driving for to get the answers to these questions.
8. Pay issues! Are there problems with getting paid when you drop off a trip pack? How long does it take for you to get reimbursed for detention, multi drop loads, or fingerprinting loads? Ask to see if anyone has issues alone these lines. A lot of drivers seem to mention issues getting paid for the extra pay items like detention so ask around to see what the scoop is.


Do you want to pay for you training?
1. I have bad news for you if the answer is no! Many of the training companies once you complete your training they begin taking out payments for the schooling you recieved. So one way or the other your going to end up paying for that training with many of these companies.
2. Not only do many of these companies make you pay for it out of your checks, but they are also generally the lower paying companies in the industry so your really paying for that training in two ways... Payroll deductions, and lower pay that your committed to for at least a year with most companies offering the training.
3. The quality of the training you will recieve at most of these training companies is push push push... They treat you worse than we treat cattle. You end up being rushed through school, little driving time, sharing lodging with other drivers named Bubba that like to sit around naked eating Cheetos and farting the national anthem. All the while your not sure your able to keep up with the fire hose schooling your getting.
4. Many real driver training schools do offer financing options. If you shop around you can find a good school. Many companies will reimburse you for your training, and pay the driver better right from the start. So why subject yourself to the abuse of a training company and still end up paying for it? Wouldn't a quality drivers program make more sense? Only you can decide this one...

There are a lot more things to touch upon, but these are some of the more common things that come to mind. The next topic which is too lengthy to go into here is the leased carriers... You know the companies that want you to lease a truck from them. Let's just summarize this and say that none of the lease truck options where a carrier leases the truck to the driver are a good deal. Most in fact will result in very bad things happening to you as the newbie. Just don't do it! Stay away from companies that are known for pushing their leasing operation. These companies are masters at selling the lease and will have most newbies wandering around spouting the virtues of the lease without a clue. Just avoid them. We may have to do a detailed breakout of the non-virtues of the leased operations in another post so we can get into the nitty gritty analysis of why leases don't work. Maybe we can get a moderator to turn these posts into stickies so that they are easy for newbies to find. BOL

Longsnowsm

[Skywalker]

Longsnowsm....all I can say is:

What you have posted is excellent material, and should be read by all newbies and experienced alike. In fact it should be mandatory reading with an essay test to follow!!

Maybe a moderator could make it a "sticky"??

[dollarshort]

Excellent post! Good information! But I like to take the shorter version....Basically I take all the information on each company and put it into seperate piles. Whichever :dung: pile is the smallest is the best choice. :mrgreen:

[EcoTruckin1977]

lol Dollashort.


As a newbie myself (not yet trained) I am taking this post and putting it to good use already as I prepare start my training (this month if all goes well)


a BIG BIG thank you Longsnowsm, while alot of what I've read is indeed what I've got in my thought process, most is valuable and has convinced me to take certain steps (in a better direction).