High Miles Low Pay vs Lower Miles Higher Pay?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Gulf, Oct 20, 2014.

  1. Gulf

    Gulf Medium Load Member

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    I have seen this coming up in various threads of discussion recently more and more often. What I don't think I understand is how can a company that runs it drivers less miles afford to pay them more? I know the actual annual pay to the driver could work out to be about the same, but if the one is running less miles, how does the company stand to still make a competitive profit?
     
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  3. david123abc

    david123abc Heavy Load Member

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    Higher paying freight would be my guess. A 100 mile load that pays $500 probably results in a higher profit margin than a 1000 mile load that pays $3,000.
     
  4. fireba11

    fireba11 Heavy Load Member

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    Yes, higher paying freight is the key. You could run 5000 miles a week and make $7000 or you could run 3000 miles and still make $7000, which is the smarter way to work do you think? Less mileage on the truck is always better as it takes less repairs to operate the truck. My wife and I run team and always average around 106,000 miles per year and still make great money! Work smarter not harder.

    Many short haulers also pay their drivers percentage as compared to a mileage pay. Working on % means a driver doesn't have to count on driving as many miles as long as the loads they are hauling pays well.
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2014
  5. ramblingman

    ramblingman Road Train Member

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    as a rule of thumb the shorter the haul the more the pay per mile.
     
  6. STexan

    STexan Road Train Member

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    Most carriers are seeing a shift towards shorter hauls with higher per-mile rates ... and they like it. Think about it, fewer miles (less wages/costs), more revenue? Who wouldn't go down that road? The driver's gross is not of any real concern to most carriers ... they will continue to pay the cheaper "long-haul wage rates" and hope the drivers will stand for the abuse.

    But it's demand from retailers and food service sector that is driving this trend. They want to order TODAY and have it TOMORROW. So this is why you see distribution warehouses being built on every corner and more and smaller production facilities to move product shorter distances, and impose almost JIT demands on carriers, on even stupid stuff like toilet paper. So, what you're seeing is fleet average length of hauls getting shorter and shorter every year for most of the larger carriers.

    And no, you can not drive just as many miles in a week running many 400 mile runs compared to a few 1500 mile runs. Some will say you can gross the same at the right carrier, but you will have to carefully market yourself as a driver to get into these positions as they are far and few between. The reality is most carriers will only pay as little per mile as the market will bare, regardless of [quantity of] miles they can or can not provide.
     
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  7. walterjacobo15

    walterjacobo15 Light Load Member

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    Simple... Some freight inherently has to pay more than other freight to be moved. I don't really know the whole story (I don't need to) but there's a lot of factors that affect rates up or down. An extreme case would be a shipment of explosives vs. a load of potatoes.
     
  8. Brandonpdx

    Brandonpdx Road Train Member

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    Doesnt really matter as long as your weekly gross pay is good. Fewer longer runs means less chance of getting held up at shippers/receivers though.
     
  9. okiedokie

    okiedokie Road Train Member

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    Drive less pay more.
     
  10. Interplanet Janet

    Interplanet Janet Light Load Member

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    Personally, I like to run. Pay me a decent wage, wind me up, and see ya in 4 weeks...
     
    walterjacobo15 Thanks this.
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