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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

And that would be?????

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.

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

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.

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.