Pay Cut?


that's the thing with my route as well.. i got to "know it" in good time, so i finish early. another driver many times has to come back, and go out with some pallets for the electric company. it pays a flat fee of $100, and it takes under 2 hours total...

i did it a couple of times, when he got tied up on his route, as the electric company needs that freight now....

i might do a weeked route of mine, if our customer needs the freight for a special order, but a driver living close by will do it if i wish not to.

i'd have to say, when i do the math, i am at $45 per hour, for my regular route. of course, the longer i have to stay out, the less i am earning, so i really push to be back each night for at or just below a 45 hour work week. and say "hello", to downtown Boston's Chinatown and Southie, on ANY sports night, or in heavy rains or snows......BUT, this is good for me, i am still under what you earn weekly. but i care not what others earn, as each job has it's ups and downs, messing with our pay structures.
Your $45/hr is owner operator, correct? Is that what you pay yourself or is it company gross or what?
 
My old base pay was more like $16 if you're gonna look at it that way.
here in New England, sadly, way too many trucking jobs, unless union, pay about that at first, then go up to (maybe) $21 per hour, if one is lucky...(i think an average hourly pay comes to about $19 per hour)
 
here in New England, sadly, way too many trucking jobs, unless union, pay about that at first, then go up to (maybe) $21 per hour, if one is lucky...(i think an average hourly pay comes to about $19 per hour)
Yeah I look at the weekly check and as a company man, I'm cool with this. I never made that much and still had every weekend off before.

I also still have bonuses and load pay increases to earn over time. I'm basically dead middle. Mileage itself won't change but I'm about $12 per load down from the top. Which adds up when you're talking 5-6 loads a day. I ran 5 loads and an empty recovery today with about 280 miles.
 
Yeah I look at the weekly check and as a company man, I'm cool with this. I never made that much and still had every weekend off before.
neither did i, until i went union at one job, then after that, kept looking for the higher pays..here, too many drivers, too few jobs, so it's an employers market for sure..
 
This is basically the top here. There's a bakery where my brother in law works right around the corner (literally) from my railyard. It's the other top driving job.

If there are others, I've yet to hear about them.
 
Long days hustling are catching up to me already. I'm supposed to average 15 loads and 1500 miles a week but I just ran 15 loads, 8 empty moves, and about 800 miles in the past three days. Heck just today I ran 5 loads, 3 empties, and one of the loads was the live unload at Starbucks.
 
Thinking about switching to regional. Borrowing a sleeper tonight and feeling spoiled. Better ride. More space to sprawl out during breaks, and only have to commute twice a week.
 
Thinking about switching to regional. Borrowing a sleeper tonight and feeling spoiled. Better ride. More space to sprawl out during breaks, and only have to commute twice a week.
i as many others and you perhaps, have done regional. that can be tiring as well, but you might also get in some extra zzzz's.

as long as it fits YOUR schedule for hometime, and other personal affairs, it's all on you.

pay notwithstanding, this can be a better move in my opinion.

good luck, and remember too, you may be away on special days, it's how regional works as well..
 
Funny thing is I've been doing some of the regional routes in a day cab already. I didn't have a slipseat partner so I'd just stay out for the ~13 hours it would take. I did the one route in under 10 hours and they tossed an extra short one on me at the end.
 
I just gave myself a pay cut. So I now run sorta local for Target, no more dedicated with JCPenney. With this pay cut I get, 1to sleep on my bed every night, 2 Get to see my family and friends again, 3 get the first holiday at home in over 2years. Uh huh very happy
 
I'll still be off every weekend. I just noticed I'm less tired driving the sleeper compared to the day cab, and I like the extra stretch space. Will also be coming back to the railyard frequently so if I happen to need my 10 while I'm there I can scoot home for it.
 

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