Well, so far so good although this is still my first week back. There are litterally hundreds of choices for an eligible trucker such as myself... but despite a few major disadvantages (such as they wont let my bring my cat in their truck) I came back to them after a year away because they treat me right. In 2004 I made mid 50's and there's no particular reason I can't do that again. Their pay per mile is a few cents less than some of the competition, but they have consistent work and their super maintenance keeps my downtime to an absolute minimal. But beyond that, they treat me like family. The people in the office and the garage know me by name. I can talk to the owner's sons about anything I might have a problem with. Things like that really count for a lot.
Plus many big companies save the high-mile trips for their teams only. I run solo and routinely get weekend trips in the 1500 mile range (like my current trek to El Paso). That also means I'll be spending at least 3 days getting BACK from here too and it's certainly difficult to complain about that.
There are bad days too. Shitty trips to New Jersey. Shippers that take all fucking day to re-load my truck forcing me to work dead tired half the night running across the super dangerous PA turnpike. But it all balances out.
Plus many big companies save the high-mile trips for their teams only. I run solo and routinely get weekend trips in the 1500 mile range (like my current trek to El Paso). That also means I'll be spending at least 3 days getting BACK from here too and it's certainly difficult to complain about that.
There are bad days too. Shitty trips to New Jersey. Shippers that take all fucking day to re-load my truck forcing me to work dead tired half the night running across the super dangerous PA turnpike. But it all balances out.