[lowrange]

Originally Posted by Red Clay Rambler

lowrange, is your tractor paid for?

Yeah, RCR, the truck is paid for. It's everything else I was hoping to get paid down. :?

[lowrange]

Started on the paperwork today. It was actually kind of interesting. It's not Paul Craig Roberts or Seymour Hersh talking about what's REALLY going on in Washington DC, but I think I'll actually enjoy getting my business computerized.

I see that the $1000 for my fifth wheel raiser was taken out in its entirety. They've been taking out escrow, $700 toward my registration in 3-4 months... Point being, if they were to cash me out today, I might be down to $5000 for all the modifications done to my truck.

I know how to do the tankers now, I'm a little ashamed to say it made me nervous at first. My truck is locked, cocked and ready to rock should I chose to move on to find one of them high roller tanker jobs.

It appears there is life after a crappy contract (yeah, yeah, I know, and life after not paying attention to your numbers for 4 months.)

I wonder how I'll feel about $1.50/mile practical loaded and empty once I look at all my advances and time off. I still expect it to be too little, particularly for heavy freight. At 20% deadhead, that's like making $1.80/mile loaded and nothing empty. Is that reasonable? Two rules to live by:

1) haul light freight
2) every thing has a price...

Yeah, you can haul heavy if you get paid for it. It's got to pay though. Cheap and heavy...no, expensive and heavy- that's it.

[GMAN]

Why don't you take all your expenses, revenue and miles driven and see where you really are at this point? You have a track record to check and can plug everything into a spreadsheet. By playing around with the numbers you can see what you need to make in order to reach your monetary goals. It is one thing to speculate, another to look at the real numbers. One reason you aren't doing as well as you would like is due to all the deductions. Man, you have a lot coming out. Fifth wheel, escrow, registration, truck modifications amount to a lot of costs coming out of your revenue. Once those are completely funded you should see a dramatic rise in your revenue.

[lowrange]

Originally Posted by GMAN

Why don't you take all your expenses, revenue and miles driven and see where you really are at this point? You have a track record to check and can plug everything into a spreadsheet. By playing around with the numbers you can see what you need to make in order to reach your monetary goals. It is one thing to speculate, another to look at the real numbers. One reason you aren't doing as well as you would like is due to all the deductions. Man, you have a lot coming out. Fifth wheel, escrow, registration, truck modifications amount to a lot of costs coming out of your revenue. Once those are completely funded you should see a dramatic rise in your revenue.

The fifth wheel was a one shot deal. Also too, looking back, I found $700 they had missed and they are going to make it good...yeah, reading these statements is a good idea... :lol: Even so, all the rest of the deductions, it comes out to about $280/week, something like that- chemicals, I have to have Occupational Accident insurance to the tune of $200/mo. Blackberry, physical damage (only insured for $15k, ok, $15M :wink: )

I'm looking through one of those books and companies are advertising dry freight contracts at $1.30/mi...How bad is $1.50!?!?!

Well, this is how bad it is: even if I could make it at this rate, it still sounds like chump change compared to what these others are making. That's all I need to know. I'm going for the money, I'll let somebody else worry about whether or not they are making it.

The spreadsheet or software or whatever ought to be fun. I'm picking up a load to KC on Wednesday and I'm probably taking a week off.

[GMAN]

Are you paid a flat rate for all miles or percentage? You need to have a good rate, but managing what you have is just as important. I have known some people who earn a lot of money but manage to be broke at the end of the month. I have also known some who earn much less but always seem to have more than they need. Much of being successful is in managing your expenses, no matter what you do for a living. Before I left the company I would first see if the numbers are accurate and if so, if there is any way you could improve on the income. You need more money, but leaving will also result in loss of income for at least a week or two until money starts to come in again.

[mudpuddle]

Camrange, mileage pay sux, plain and simple. Ask a lawyer, but I think all they can do to you is take off the unpaid mods or set up a payment plan. You would have to default before they could get a judgement.

At Superior we have freight over two dollars loaded and some in certain lanes paying over three. You can absorb the deadhead with those rates but you have to be willing to go where others don't want to go. Look at mike's numbers. Those are realistic and include his deadhead. I did dry and flat before and Maniac is definately right tanks are way better. You just have to get away from that company. Borrow the money to pay off the pump and compressor if you have to.

[lowrange]

Originally Posted by mudpuddle

Camrange, mileage pay sux, plain and simple. Ask a lawyer, but I think all they can do to you is take off the unpaid mods or set up a payment plan. You would have to default before they could get a judgement.

At Superior we have freight over two dollars loaded and some in certain lanes paying over three. You can absorb the deadhead with those rates but you have to be willing to go where others don't want to go. Look at mike's numbers. Those are realistic and include his deadhead. I did dry and flat before and Maniac is definately right tanks are way better. You just have to get away from that company. Borrow the money to pay off the pump and compressor if you have to.

That's great, Mudpuddle. I appreciate hearing your experience and your advice. I can see paying them back for this equipment, but I want to do it when I'm ready. They probably need 45 days or so to close me out, I'd be through orientation and in my new fleet by then.

I called Miller today. I'd definitely prefer to run more toward TX than NJ, if that's the difference between them and say, Dana. Here at QC, I like my dispatcher a lot. The company treats me fair and square- the one exception is the recruiter who told me things that aren't true to get me there in the first place. I'm going to look over all the numbers closely, ask around about who is hiring and what they are offering...if/when it seems right, I'll pull the trigger.

Seems I remember you were in dry vans a few years ago, Mudpuddle, is that right? So, you made the switch and you are happy you did, huh? I heard or read Superior might be going mileage pay, any truth to that?

[Cyanide]

Well, I can only tell you about my side of this Cam. I'm with the others concerning paying off the equipment charges and running on percentage. However, with that being said please allow me to state for the record that with the dedicated gig I have been doing for the almost last year, I initially started out on percentage, then switched to our mileage pay scale a couple months into it. Why??? Because with the amount of long-distance deadheading I run, I make a little bit more weekly on average. However, if I was running the system here without a doubt I'd be back on percentage! But, I'm not running system nor do I ever plan on it again, as my family enjoys me getting by the house pretty much every other day at a minimum and then on the weekend. And then after a few weeks of that I head to Florida to be with my son for a week or so. It's a system that works for us, regardless if I'm not making the most $$$ out here.

The numbers Mike has up are achievable; like Mudpuddle says, we have some really good paying loads here at Superior as well as Dana and Miller. It's just a matter of where and how you want to operate between us and them. I will go on a limb and say that from what I've heard, it seems Dana may actually make a little bit more revenue per loaded mile than we do, but if I remember correctly from what Maniac and Mike have told me we have other advantages here that balance things out. Just a matter of who to drive for. I personally love Superior with how things are set up and, with my treatment here. It's the same that I received as a company driver here, which is second to none...

As for your other question concerning us switching exclusively to mileage pay; NO! Actually if I remember correctly it is now the I/C's choice whether to be paid % or mileage. I know that most terminals pay percentage and run strictly short to medium length freight. The others pay mileage and deal with a lot of longer stuff that may entail a subsequent long deadhead...or not. I've met both types of drivers concerning pay scale, and have yet to meet one who was hurting for $$$. Heck, we have one driver on mileage that runs out of Cincinnati who does nothing but pick up on the south side of town there, goes to the SoCal area to unload and washout, then reloads the next day up by Anaheim returning to Illinois! Then back over to Cincinnati for a couple days off and repeat cycle.

Just in case you're interested, I've got both pay scales up in my first post from when I made the switch from company driver to I/C, as well as all of my numbers to a "T"...

:wink:

[mudpuddle]

Originally Posted by lowrange

That's great, Mudpuddle. I appreciate hearing your experience and your advice. I can see paying them back for this equipment, but I want to do it when I'm ready. They probably need 45 days or so to close me out, I'd be through orientation and in my new fleet by then.

I called Miller today. I'd definitely prefer to run more toward TX than NJ, if that's the difference between them and say, Dana. Here at QC, I like my dispatcher a lot. The company treats me fair and square- the one exception is the recruiter who told me things that aren't true to get me there in the first place. I'm going to look over all the numbers closely, ask around about who is hiring and what they are offering...if/when it seems right, I'll pull the trigger.

Seems I remember you were in dry vans a few years ago, Mudpuddle, is that right? So, you made the switch and you are happy you did, huh? I heard or read Superior might be going mileage pay, any truth to that?

We have one terminal on mileage (Cincinnati). I will not work mileage you loose too much. I haven't heard anything about the company switching but if they do I will be gone. I just bought a truck and leased it here. I did a year as a company driver to check out the rates and make sure I wanted to do tanks. I did dry van and flats before this and I do not want to go back to either one.

Making money in this business requires that you forget your preferences and follow the money. Texas to Jersey or Pennsylvania pays the money so that is where I go. I treat this as a business and go to the nice places when I take vacations. I let all the guys run the easy lanes because they just don't pay as well. I had a dicussion with an O/O on the road about this very thing the other day. I got the load he turned down. It was Pasadena to Cincinnati. Paid the truck 1442.00 plus 980.00 fuel. That's 2.40 per mile loaded and he turned it down because of the mountains and the 2.00 AM unload time. Shame I didn't have my truck ready at the time and had to take company driver wages for the trip. I also got a reload after that one that only had about thirty miles deadhead and paid well going near Phily.

Since QC has you on mileage do you still get accessorials or are they short changing you on that too. Lots of our income can come from the extra hourly pay while airing off a thick slow moving product. Detention is very profitable.

DISCLAIMER: I have always lived and driven in the Northern Virginia, DC metro area and the traffic in Jersey and Phily is nothing to me.

[lowrange]

Originally Posted by Cyanide

Well, I can only tell you about my side of this Cam. I'm with the others concerning paying off the equipment charges and running on percentage. However, with that being said please allow me to state for the record that with the dedicated gig I have been doing for the almost last year, I initially started out on percentage, then switched to our mileage pay scale a couple months into it. Why??? Because with the amount of long-distance deadheading I run, I make a little bit more weekly on average. However, if I was running the system here without a doubt I'd be back on percentage! But, I'm not running system nor do I ever plan on it again, as my family enjoys me getting by the house pretty much every other day at a minimum and then on the weekend. And then after a few weeks of that I head to Florida to be with my son for a week or so. It's a system that works for us, regardless if I'm not making the most $$$ out here.

The numbers Mike has up are achievable; like Mudpuddle says, we have some really good paying loads here at Superior as well as Dana and Miller. It's just a matter of where and how you want to operate between us and them. I will go on a limb and say that from what I've heard, it seems Dana may actually make a little bit more revenue per loaded mile than we do, but if I remember correctly from what Maniac and Mike have told me we have other advantages here that balance things out. Just a matter of who to drive for. I personally love Superior with how things are set up and, with my treatment here. It's the same that I received as a company driver here, which is second to none...

As for your other question concerning us switching exclusively to mileage pay; NO! Actually if I remember correctly it is now the I/C's choice whether to be paid % or mileage. I know that most terminals pay percentage and run strictly short to medium length freight. The others pay mileage and deal with a lot of longer stuff that may entail a subsequent long deadhead...or not. I've met both types of drivers concerning pay scale, and have yet to meet one who was hurting for $$$. Heck, we have one driver on mileage that runs out of Cincinnati who does nothing but pick up on the south side of town there, goes to the SoCal area to unload and washout, then reloads the next day up by Anaheim returning to Illinois! Then back over to Cincinnati for a couple days off and repeat cycle.

Just in case you're interested, I've got both pay scales up in my first post from when I made the switch from company driver to I/C, as well as all of my numbers to a "T"...

:wink:

I'm glad you made it, Cyanide. Never before have I ever looked forward to seeing that ugly, nasty, satanic avatar. :P You don't listen to Korn, do you? I saw some of their cover art the other day and I was wondering, 'shouldn't these guys have been rounded up and shot, already?'

I have to go over and have a look see at those numbers. You haven't said anything bad about the QC mileage pay so I suspect it's about normal. I too value quality of life, and I understand if you are on mileage so you can be with your family. In your case, though, you're out heavy and back empty, right? So, that's fifty/fifty loaded and empty.

If I'm going to haul heavy, I just want to be sure I'm not taking a little profit now while in the long run using up my equipment that will eventually require repairs and replacement. I think Maniac said he had 5 trucks in 20 years, something like that. Heavy is going to take it's toll, and that's ok if all the money is there to float your happy non-trucking life and also be able to maintain decent equipment to keep the stream of things flowing.