I've noticed that the percentage range is all over the map. I've seen some as low as 27% to as high as 80%. How can a guy gauge how much money he can make with a company with numbers like that. Has anyone determined if percentage is better than miles or if you're better off sticking to miles?

 

You have to do your homework when checking out each company, 80% of crap equals crap, but I get paid 62.5% and I avg. $1.90 a mile last year for every mile the truck ran. Also you have to consider how much deadhead is involved a realistic 20% deadhead can make any milage pay much less than advertised.

 

Wow that's outstanding Mike. There is so much hype and bull crap in this industry it gets tiring trying to weed through it. I can see that it's worth it when you find a good combination of all the things you need.

 

Each will have it's own pro's and con's. I get 70% of all loads +fsc. Our freight going out pays 2.02 a mile, so we get 1.72 a mile + .15 fsc. That's the current FSC for now anyways. If we got a flat mileage rate, which probably would be a little over $1 per mile, we'd be better off percentage wise. BUT, when you DEADHEAD....and there's no load pay to get a % of...You get nothing. That's what kills me sometimes. If I were getting mileage..I be getting paid an empty mileage rate at least with no FSC. I guess it kinda evens out..but if you sign onto a company that sends you all over empty, you'll get screwed doing %. Ask them what their average weekly DH is and go from there!!

 

Percentage is the only way you can have a chance to make real money. But 100% of squat is still squat. You have to work for a company that knows how to price your service, not one that will take anything offered them and expect you to lose money to service their customers.

You have to know who pays what, including trailers lic. permits, excess fuel tax etc. Pay is usually 65 to 70% with a company trailer 75 to 82% your trailer.

My personal belief is per mile companies keep rates down because the will take a .90 per mile load so they can reposition trucks without having to pay deadhead out of their pocket.

 

I'm happy with my 55%

I guess it all depends on what a mileage rate is where you are going to sign on. $1.40 all miles wouldn't be so bad...but how many are paying that? 99% is awsome, but when you pull $1.02 freight, you get stuck.

 

I have always done better on percentage. I have looked at the numbers on both sides and for the most part percentage pays more to the owner operator and driver. From the percentages you used I would suspect that the lower percentage is for drivers. You can generate a lot of revenue if you run enough miles, but when you run percentage you can run fewer miles and earn the same or more money. The key is in the rate for which you run.

 

You are probably meant $1.41 a mile...?

 

The key is in the rate for which you run. there ya go.. I have always ran for % with the exception of a few times at flat rates. but then I knew the miles so it was not hard to decide if I wanted the load or not. when hauling stee l like I do, you make a lot more by hauling more weight. also if the fsc is higher , than the % would also be higher. higher weight + % + fsc can add up significantly over mile pay.

 

Great answers everyone ...really appreciate the come back.