Fleet Drivers

[Kephus]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to get my CDL license sometime within the next two months.

I am presently exploring the idea of driving for an expedite fleet owner. I feel this will give me a much better idea of what expediting is like without making a huge investment in a straight truck.

Working for a fleet owner, what type of income can I realistically expect? I'm sure that expedite companies pay the same amount of money per mile for a load - it probably doesn't matter to them if an owner operator or a fleet truck is taking it.

Are there any fleet drivers or owners on here who could give me some information?

 

[pelicn]

Best thing you could do is read back through the forums. There is also a classified section on EO that lists fleet owners that are looking for drivers.

 

[cheri1122]

Kephus: it's really impossible to answer your question, you know. Even if we knew which carrier, how the truck is equipped, team or solo, you'd still get a range of numbers that is pretty wide - it's the nature of the business.
What I'd do, (besides taking Pelican's advice) is ask the recruiters at several carriers for the numbers, then find drivers for those carriers at the local truckstop and ask them how they're doing.
Then you'll see that the numbers are as different as the folks providing them. "How much" is subject to so many variables that it requires knowing at least most of them before attempting to make an educated guess, even. Good luck, and happy researching!

 

[Slo-Ride]

Yeah what they said, Just make some kind of notes to any thing a recuirter tells and try to verfiy it thru a few diffent drivers or owners...
Another fast way maybe is to jump in someones van for awhile,,no investment just yet,,will give ya quick feel for the job
& ya maybe be able to forget the CDL untill ya get into a S.truck or 53ft ,,,what ever your thinking??
Another thing,,not sure if your in school or not yet,but if you get into this industry prepare yourself to see allot of death and destruction on the highway,,Way more then you ever seen while riding the highways going to the store or what not..This past winter was brutal from what I saw and never want to see a year like it agin. Please learn all you can where ever you can about running these roads...G/Luck ,,Be safe

 

[Kephus]

Thanks for the information.

Presently I'm eyeing Panther as the carrier which I'm most likely to pursue. Reason being that they seem to be the most willing to work with drivers with limited experience. However, from what a recruiter told me, they do require all drivers who are associated with them to have a CDL (at least Class B) license.

 

[davekc]

I am planning to get my CDL license sometime within the next two months.

I am presently exploring the idea of driving for an expedite fleet owner. I feel this will give me a much better idea of what expediting is like without making a huge investment in a straight truck.

Working for a fleet owner, what type of income can I realistically expect? I'm sure that expedite companies pay the same amount of money per mile for a load - it probably doesn't matter to them if an owner operator or a fleet truck is taking it.

Are there any fleet drivers or owners on here who could give me some information?

I would research out much of the information as the others have suggested.
Just a FYI, "all expedite companies pay the same". Not really.
There is a wide variation as to how many pay.
Good luck on your new gig.

 

[moose]

Another thing,,not sure if your in school or not yet,but if you get into this industry prepare yourself to see allot of death and destruction on the highway,,Way more then you ever seen while riding the highways going to the store or what not..This past winter was brutal from what I saw and never want to see a year like it agin. Please learn all you can where ever you can about running these roads...G/Luck ,,Be safe

you might be interested in taking a skid pad training .

the best investment in safety you will ever make ,
regardless of driving experience.



Moose.

 

[catchthecat]

I would want to drive for a fleet owner with a lot of trucks,to lessen the chances of being micro-managed.Also,try a fleet owner with trucks on at more than one company,so if you do not like the companyyou are driving for,you can switch without changing owners.

 

[Kephus]

Just a FYI, "all expedite companies pay the same". Not really.
There is a wide variation as to how many pay.


Well - what I meant here is that from what I can tell, if a company pays (just using a number) $1.10 per mile for a straight truck, they are going to pay that amount regardless if the money is going to an owner operator driving his own truck, or a fleet owner who then has to pay his driver a certain percentage.

I'm still continuing my research as to what an acceptable percentage is, and also what drivers expenses fleet owners are willing to cover.