[repete]

Originally Posted by Orangetxguy

LOL.....Mine doesn't have a 0 in it...but it does have a 1, a 9, and a 5. You just have yours in a higher numerical order than I do I'm betting.


Went to the theater in Beaumont by choice...larger movie selection. The one down the street only has two.....and they weren't anything I was really interested in seeing. Went with friends and their kids.

While I'm not close to this range I'm happy with what I get, how about you Mike Hunt?

[catalinaflyer]

Originally Posted by steelhauler

If hometime is something you value, why not stay regional, with an option of long haul? Stay close when you want to get home, run farther away when freight is better.

Oh trust me I have looked and looked for a more local type assignment. The problem, where I liver there isn't much except fot the big LTL carriers and they have plenty of drivers on thier boards who are laid off so they're not even taking applications. Plus you have to have Haz-Mat to work for them and I don't have it.

On top of that I prefer to work in the heavy/specialized and thats almost impossible to find a local carrier in that line. There is a local company who always has an ad in the paper for a driver in thier prime-mover (250 ton+) and I went and applied to them. They offered me a job at $14.00 an hour on contract labor. No overtime, no benefits, no workmans comp insurance, no security. Now by the time I pay tax's out of that and buy my own work-com and health insurance that would be about a $4.00 an hour job. But I would be home in my own bed 9 out of 10 nights, or at least until the repo man cam to take the house away.

As for Mike Hunts comments about pay, my base is $.44 per mile + accessory charges. And LS doesn't start anyone at less than $.42. As I have stated over and over again, my issues with LS have absolutely nothing to do with the pay, my checks are great and I get paid for everything they tell me I will get paid for. I talk to drivers from other companies (TMC for one) who have to fight with payroll to get what the dispatcher told them they would get. If my DM tells me she'll pay me for layover, I turn in a BOL for layover time and it's on the next check. Tarp (although I have only had to use it once) and it's on the check. Running across town to swap trailers, paid for the miles plus an extra drop on the load. I don't know how else to say it, the money here is real good. A driver can and will make over $70k a year as long as they don't sit around the termial and refuse everything thrown at them till the "perfect" load comes through.

It could be worse for me, I'm sitting at the pilot just east of Baton Rouge right next door to Bass Pro. I spent 4 hours there yesterday (and a couple hundred dollars) then went back last night to the gun range and blew through 200 rounds of .357 lead.

[Snowman7]

Originally Posted by Orangetxguy

LOL.....Mine doesn't have a 0 in it...but it does have a 1, a 9, and a 5. You just have yours in a higher numerical order than I do I'm betting.


Went to the theater in Beaumont by choice...larger movie selection. The one down the street only has two.....and they weren't anything I was really interested in seeing. Went with friends and their kids.

Are ya'll referring to cpm here?

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by Snowman7

Are ya'll referring to cpm here?

Naaaaaaaa Snowman....we are talking gross revenue for the year.

$1xx,xxx.xx

It's where the other numbers fall that matter.

$190,xxx.xx is better than $109,xxx.xx. Given that Mike's numbers were running about 28 grand ahead of mine in September, I'm thinking he grossed some where in the upper 180's to mid 190 grand range.

I grossed a smidgeon under 160 grand.

[carterbeauford]

Originally Posted by catalinaflyer

To me in a business where your contact with fellow employees is limited to a telephone the ultimate insult is to hang up on someone. These spineless people are the ones that get into this line of work because they couldn't handle being in a situation where they are face to face with another employee. They don't have the ability to stand in front of someone when they are called out; they have to have the protection of the telephone. Look at trucking terminals today, jersey barriers surround them and all the doors are security controlled. That’s no to protect the gold and diamonds in the display cases, it's to protect the people inside from the pissed off drivers outside.

TMC is not like that at all.

Originally Posted by catalinaflyer

I talk to drivers from other companies (TMC for one) who have to fight with payroll to get what the dispatcher told them they would get.

I have only ever had to talk to payroll once, and the issue was taken care of, and it was my own fault I was talking to them. forgot to turn in a receipt for a comchek.

sounds like Lonestar would not be a good fit for me... if you're sticking with the specialized thing, I hope your next carrier treats you better. I am new to hauling OD loads but it doesn't sound like there is much advantage to going to a specialized carrier other than the money. I like my hometime.

sucks you didn't get home for christmas, I feel for ya man, not gloating but they sent me home Tuesday, I stayed out 3 1/2 weeks and got 11 days off. probably going to have to donate plasma and collect aluminum cans for that 11 days, but the hometime is nice, I really needed this. I can only assume they will offer this option next christmas.

[catalinaflyer]

Carterbueauford - My only experience with TMC was I was talking to two drivers one day who were asking me about LS and they both said that they never get paid for detention or layover. As for personal experience, I was going to go to work for TMC till they told me I would have to spend 2 weeks in orientation and 4 weeks with a trainer. I have 19 years (20 next month) with many of those in flatbed/specialized and a spotless driving record, spotless DAC record and I had, at that point, never had an accident my fault or otherwise. I now have a DOT non-preventable accident after my very first day on the job with LS. I just couldn't wrap myself around the idea of spending 6 weeks in training. I will admit that the previous 2 years I was driving a show truck for a motorcycle manufacturer and didn't do any flatbed work but securing 24 custom choppers inside a double deck NASCAR trailer as well as all the work involved with setting up and tearing down the display should count towards something. It's not hauling a coil or tarping a load of sheetrock but I figure all the coils and sheetrock I've hauled in the years before haven't changed that much but maybe I'm missing something. Besides 24 bikes requires 96 straps and that's a hell of a lot more load securement than 99% of the flatbed loads ever use.

Anyhow the biggest reason I didn't go to TMC was the whole orientation/training thing. I can see a week to train an experienced driver the way they want things done but 6 weeks. Hell I could have gone to driving school having never seen the inside of a truck before and been on the road in less time.

As for getting into specialized, the money is part of it but the biggest reason most get into it is for the adventure. There's never two loads alike and every one has a different set of challenges with loading, securing, routing etc. 99% of the tarping is done with a roll of duct tape and most of the time the shippers will help with securing and the receivers will help with getting everything off. Hell on my second load here I had to chain up but when I got to the other end all I had to do was hang my chains and binder back on the rack. My third load they told me what they would need for securement and I sat in the truck till it came time to put the bungies on the tarp then when I got to the other end all I had to do was hang the chains and show them how I wanted the tarp rolled. On my load before this one I had to put the chains on but when I got to the receiver all I had to do was take the neck off the trailer then hang the chains back on the rack and put the trailer back together.

Home time - Well as you can tell by my post's leading up to this and posts from other in the line it's somewhat non-existent. I love my home time as well but making $1300+ a week is hard to give up. There are a couple of specialized carriers out there who promise home time every couple weeks but I haven't talked to any of their drivers to find out the truth. I don't know how they do it unless they have one or two major customers and they drivers live right next door.

[PonceDeLeon]

Greetings from a former Sharonite!

[PonceDeLeon]

Wish all detective work was that easy. I think CFM is a Teamster, works for UPS, or both.

[Jimbpard]

Did somebody say something about New England Motor Freight???


I'm just sayin................................

[carterbeauford]

Originally Posted by catalinaflyer

Carterbueauford - My only experience with TMC was I was talking to two drivers one day who were asking me about LS and they both said that they never get paid for detention or layover. As for personal experience, I was going to go to work for TMC till they told me I would have to spend 2 weeks in orientation and 4 weeks with a trainer. I have 19 years (20 next month) with many of those in flatbed/specialized and a spotless driving record, spotless DAC record and I had, at that point, never had an accident my fault or otherwise.

Anyhow the biggest reason I didn't go to TMC was the whole orientation/training thing. I can see a week to train an experienced driver the way they want things done but 6 weeks. Hell I could have gone to driving school having never seen the inside of a truck before and been on the road in less time.

I have never seen a dime for detention time, that part is true. never had a problem with getting paid for layovers. the key is to develop a good relationship with your fleetmanager and hold him or her accountable.

that's odd about orientation, I came in with very limited experience and I only had a week in orientation. with your experience you should not have to spend 4 weeks with a trainer.