Better wage vs. Better miles

[TheNewGuy]

If you were to choose between a new company offering a fantastic wage (40 + cpm), but a relativly small customer base and possibly not as many miles or an established company with plenty of miles but signifigantly lower wages (25-30 cpm), which would you choose?

[bluebeetle]

This is called the Dispatchers Math.

.40 cpm X 1000 miles = $400.00

.30 cpm X 3000 miles = $900.00

Why, simply because some use it to decide who gets a load and who is running shag work.

Crete Carriers Math

.39 cpm X 2500 miles (average per week) = $975.00

And you get one to three loads to choose from depending on where you unload and there is no Dispatchers Math Principle used. Just deliver the freight on time in a professional manner.

I also believe that Heartland uses the same idea, but doesn't have the choice of loads.

[LTC]

Good Pay Reasonable miles, regular home time.
We offer all three.
One or two out of three doesn't cut it.

[Doctor Who]

This does fit with the discussion:


A recent phone conversation with a recruiter the discussion came up about how slow the day was going for him and I asked why and his reply: There?s a shortage of drivers!
This struck me kind of odd but has the day finally come that all the Doom and Gloom predictors had predicted.
After further conversation he said that a driver from another well known company said even though the recruiters company offered a couple of hundred dollars more a week he?d rather stay with his present employer. Why did this surprise him so???
Pay, home time, benefits, the three are tied for first in what a prospective driver looks for. However, it seems home time has the slight edge followed closely by pay.

It is quite possible that the truck driving population has finally had their fill of spending way too many lonely nights away from home sprinkled with a pay scale that doesn?t run concurrent with the national average?? Maybe!!!
After a little digging into a few other websites the other option to the ?I?m staying where I?m at!? attitude is the ever present risk of upsetting the soon to be ex-employer and having that employer post negative feedback on the DAC!

Beetles Dispatch pay scale pretty much sums it up as far as drivers pay goes.
Home time is a premium commodity, a real good reason for the lack luster employment picture in the industry. And just what is Excellent Home Time?? It seems just about every ad has something close to that phrase? Home time, Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, Saturday noon to Sunday noon, Saturday midnight to Sunday noon, or a variation there of. Which would it be???

Some where there is a happy medium to all this, just where and when it?ll happen remains to be seen.
Take a close look at some of the ads in the trade publications and really read them, some how ?Get miles, Get home!? doesn?t quite work in the same sentence when the company is only offering $.30 a mile for PC Miler miles.

Maybe the recruiter is correct, there is a driver shortage, it is possible the drivers have woken up and now are demanding something a whole lot better plus, fair and equal treatment.

[LTC]

Some of us recruiters have known that for a while.
We are not all as we are so commonly described.

There are still a lot of drivers out there the problem is there are very few GOOD drivers.

[Ironturkey]

Last sep. I quit a job that paid .38mi. and moved to billings for a job that paid .20mi. The .38mi job was local/regional weekends and holidays off, and I made $700 every two weeks. With the present job I get 3000-3500mi aweek, my choice when I get in for 2 days off or the 34hr restart, company pays 100% of my families ins. premiums, $1200-$1500 every two weeks, and the boss stands behind the drivers. They'll have to pack dynamite under to get me to leave this job. And the dispatchers dont hide behind locked doors and windows, always hated that.

[Doctor Who]

We are not all as we are so commonly described.

And that would be?????

There are still a lot of drivers out there the problem is there are very few GOOD drivers.

And this is from a recruiter.

OK, what would draw a "GOOD" driver to your company or any company for that matter?

More money per mile? Better Hometime? A benefit package they and their families can rely on???
How about being able to do their job without the constant harassment from overzealous politicians, LEO's, and special interests?

Trust me LTC I'm not picking at you but the questions are still there.

[hoohaa]

Could you let us know whos paying .20/mile?

[littleman2]

ok lets look at better wages say company H has a .44 cpm but only runs you 1500 miles a week thats the company avg. thats only 660 a week were as company xyzpdq pays .27 cpm and you get on avg. 2500 miles a week you only get 675 not much difrents there what I see is companies that say they pay high don't give miles and companies that pay low run you in to the ground. I get paid per mile plus percentage of what the route make per week. So it pays well.

[Ironturkey]

I've worked for outfits that only pay once a month with a $750 draw in the middle of the month. Now the outfit I'm with now is Steve nelson trucking out of billings, mt.. I've made more money with this outfit than I have in the last ten yrs with anyother outfit.

[hoohaa]

Again......who's paying .20 /mile?

[hoohaa]

ok lets look at better wages say company H has a .44 cpm but only runs you 1500 miles a week thats the company avg. thats only 660 a week were as company xyzpdq pays .27 cpm and you get on avg. 2500 miles a week you only get 675 not much difrents there what I see is companies that say they pay high don't give miles and companies that pay low run you in to the ground. I get paid per mile plus percentage of what the route make per week. So it pays well.

Exactly.....why would you drive a 1000 miles for free?

He is probably talking about alot of companys so called route miles they give you. Say it is 1500 miles from point A to point b where you are to deliver. That is what the company tells you. But after you drive it and look at your speedo or hub it is actually 1650. After awhile those extra add up. Alot of companys pay that so called rand mcNally miles or post office to post office crap. I have actually told a company I worked for to route me just exatually how they wanted me to go road for road tyrn for turn and I would prove there system was bad. Did that a few times and It averaged atleast 15% more than what they said and that was going by there routing.

[kenworth75]

Sanchez, did your expierement change anything? did it change the companies look at routing and milage?

[wayne59]

There is only a shortage of good drivers willing to work for crappy wages. You can quote me on that!!!

Pay enough and the rest of the problems will work themselves out. Drivers are standing in line to work for a company that will keep them on the road for a year away from their families and civilization. I'm sure there are a few that are doing it for duty and adventure, but even with those, money is a close second.

There are plenty of drivers that don't have a family. Professional Nomads. Pay them enough and you won't have to worry about job hopping.

Getting drivers back home once in a while can't be as complicated as companies make it out to be.

There are plenty of jobs besides trucking that keep you on the road and away from your family. Truck drivers don't have exclusive rights on that. But other jobs PAY. PAY PAY PAY PAY PAY PAY PAY PAY.

[Rob_0126]

Why is it so hard to pay a driver for the work he does?

I think the cmp + commision on the route is a good idea. It makes sure you get a paycheck, and also gives the driver an incentive to do a job well.

I use to work for southeast toyota in Jacksonville, FL. We got paid $4.75/hr to start. I was their for almost 2 years because it was steady work, and the better of the jobs Ive ever had plus benefits.

I suggested to my supervisor that it would be a good idea to pay every driver some money per car that they staged(Gas up, send to the proper shop, etc). Considering how much toyotas cost, 50 cents added to the price of each car was negligible, but would be a big impact on our paychecks, because we staged a TON of cars and trucks, per week.

I gave some ways to police the system in my letter, so none would be tempted to snag from a car the sticker(each staging of a vehicle was done by what the car had on it's manifest, and was taken off and placed on a sheet by the installer/stager/gaser on their board)

She gave it a thought, then put it aside, never to be heard about again.