Estimate for mileage in a year
 

Hello all,

I'm doing some calculations to compare potential earning between companies with differing pay scales. I am assuming an average week of 2500 miles, with 48 weeks of the year being on the road. This gives me a total of 120000 miles for a calendar year. Does this seem a safe enough guess for a new driver?

I am looking for information to help refute these numbers, or bolster them, either way. Is 2500 miles per week a rather safe figure for OTR, where the driver (myself eventually) stays out for three to four weeks between trips home? I assume two to three days at home, then back out on the road again for another three to four weeks.

Thanks!

Ballpark
 

120k - 135k/year is a good estimate. BOL

75-80k

marcel27208: why such a low estimate of 75 to 80k the first year?

Thats barely running 1600 miles a week...am I missing something obvious here?

Standard Mileage for a year with a decent company should get you around 120,000 with Slow downs figured in.

i run as little as possible and im home everyday :D

Well the home time makes all the difference! I see now. I just could not figure out how a figure that low would work OTR. Some companies even have a minimum amount of miles they want you to run, so I was a little confused. Thanks for clearing that up. :)

mileage will vary I wouldn't count on a set minimum.

rubberducky: I am well aware that mileage will vary based on a large number of variables that are outside of my control: breakdowns, holdup at shipper/receiver, HOS rules, traffic, weather, blown tires, sudden sickness, etc etc etc. That list can be endless.

I am in the planning stages, trying to weed out companies based on pay, and so forth. I have created a spreadsheet where I am charting the pros and cons of each company: pay, insurance, etc. I am using the mileage feedback I get here as a baseline to calculate potential earnings the first, and subsequent years I am employed at company X.

Obviously I don't want to shoot that number too high, because real world slowdowns will make a big difference between what I calculate as my earning potential at a company and the actual earnings from said company.

For instance, if I can drive at 65, but traffic will keep that average closer to 55, then I am taking the 55 miles per hour as the number, instead of the higher number. Also, for mileage, I am figuring 2500 miles per week, which seems to be an attainable average number. The average is more important than the individual weekly total for me. Since the peaks and valleys of my production with relation to mileage will average out to around 2500, that seems to be a reasonable number to make calculations with.

Taken a step further, at 55 miles per house, 2500 miles per week means that I am only behind the wheel for about 45 hours each week. The rest of my on duty time could be devoted to customer site issues, pre and post trip, fueling, etc. I know I might be erring on the side of caution with these numbers, but it gives me a much better real world picture.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Sorry for the edit. I can't spell, and don't have time from work to mess with spell check! :oops:

Most companies route you at 40-45mph.

And, yes, 2500 is a good number to figure on per week.

Something else to figure in: the average miles per load. If you're running 400-450 mile loads, you're going to be doing a load/unload (or D/H) at least 1x per day, which cuts into your time.