What is the Realistic first year pay?

A new driver right out of school can average $1500 weekly driving for FFE (Frozen Food Express) in the LTL division.

 

Never mind the pay. Look at your expenses.

For example dispatcher tells me to leave Little Rock for Memphis to load for detriot. Im paid 200 miles empty and then about 650 loaded miles. Load delivers at sunrise in the morning.

Ok... that's a $425 dollar gross work overnight provided we are loaded and rolling early today. Take 40% for taxes, withholding etc under W2. (We send a additional 100 to uncle sam and 75 to the state weekly against annual taxes... and a form of new years savings to start again)

That's 200. Forget lunch. Maybe dinner somewhere adequate. Nothing fancy. Call it 8 dollars to 15. After you unload in the morning you will spend that much or more in breakfast. Call it 40 dollars for two days. That leaves 160.

Put in 20 into your pocket, send the other 140 to the bank to sit until you have need of it when there is no work today or no loads for a week etc. Or too few miles in a week next week. You will have that savings.

When you have the next reload on day two, you will look at the pay miles total, find out the gross deduct etc. And put aside yet another portion minus what you need to be strong, hydrated etc for the whole run to come. However long or short that is.

It works well when you are paid instantly as soon you pick up a load onto your 5th wheel by satellite. You can direct a portion to cash, dump the rest direct deposit and carry on.

Add up your gross at the end of the year. You will know then what you are doing yourself. If you have been careful in your savings, you should have quite something in that bank ready to go and getting bigger. slowly and steadily.

 

Sorry about the newbie question, but what is LTL division?

 

Less-Than-Truckload to each customer.
You will have multiple stops on each trailer load. You get paid extra money for each stop.

 

Take 40% for taxes ....

 

I never ran on the van side at Roehl, i pulled a skateboard for a year and a half and then went into heavy haul. I made about 45k my first year. Beyond what others have said about expenses and miles, i say its efficiency.
It takes time to become efficient period. This is a new career not a new job. They are going to ease you into it with shorter and easier runs at first. If you have a question a concern anything call into dispatch. I say worry about doing your job correctly and to the best of your ability and don't hit anything. The money will come later on the more you get the hang of it. Even now if i stop working my current job i would *consider* going back not likely, but over all it wasnt that bad of a place to work oh, my last year i grossed 110k but take it with a grain of salt i was in the RGN fleet under a building all summer getting paid some very good money.