A few questions...

1. Most flatbed compaines pay around 22-30% of the bill...now from hay to steel pipes and tractors...what would you save the "Average" bill would be?...

2. Since you don't get paid for unloaded miles...most compaines...around how many miles after a drop off do you find yourself running empty to pick up your next load?...

3. For those that went straight out of school to a flatbed division...what did you find yourself hauling the most and what was your after pay per week for the first 3 months?...

4. What was the highest paying freight your pulled?...what was it and how much did it pay you and how much percent did you get from the total bill?...

5. What freight pays the least?...how much and what percentage you got?...

nobody wanna help me out...

I pull a flat,but its mostly local (KC area). We haul concrete pipe and boxes. Sometimes we haul equipment to other plants in IA, which pays for the round trip.We get paid 25% and its on a zone basis from the plant. Each 10 miles the zone changes and everything over 40,000 lbs gets paid extra per lb.

Grew up in Doylestown, Pa but have not been back in that area for a long time. Last time I was there all the places I used to ride my horse and hunt was now in houses. Too sad.
Schullkill Expressway, probably sucks double what it did back in the 60's.

I drove for a company for 25% in the mid ninety's. We hauled a lot of steel...... got to know Chicago and Gary pretty darn well. A flat bed can just about haul everything including rocks. (in crates for nursery's) I brought home around $600 per week. (but that was the ninety's)

More input please...

Most companies offer your choice of % or mileage. Mileage usually pays for deadheading, % doesn't. You may DH anywhere from 0-300 miles with the average probably around 150?? Remember, they're still buying the fuel and DHing is the same as downtime, so if they have a brain they'll keep it low. I suppose if you have 2 trucks in one area, 1 on miles and 1 on %, guess who gets to drive? Generally though, it works out about the same in the end moneywise. What matters most to me is how long the run is and how long it takes to load and unload. A few pennies a mile are insignificant if you're 10th in line at a steelyard and have to wait all day. Most people say flatbedders get in and out faster?? We usually have to take a lot longer for securing the load though. As far as what they pay...you'll probably have to figure that out yourself as everyone's different. The recruiter can tell you what the % is, around 25% I bet. Hope this helps.

I can only answer 1 of your questions. Hopefully it helps a little. My guy went to a flatbed division straight out of school. He just got his first load yesterday. It was aluminum.

I hope that what I can offer to this ? helps you out. I went straight to flatbeds right out of school hauling oilfield epuipment. What a load will pay depends on what you are hauling, how far your going, who is the customer(some pay more than others), if it is hazmat or not, all of these come into play in determining the pay. Now as far as for what I get paid, say a load pays $1000 now this is just an ex. the company takes their 20% which leaves $800, then they take out ins. and fuel surcharge which leaves about $680 that amount is called the line haul. I then get my 25% of the line haul which is about $190 to $220 now remember this is just an example. The amount varys with the pay and all the above factors I mentioned. Say for instance I do $10,000 worth of work in a wk, I will usually gross about $1,600. One thing that will help make you more money is to get a backhaul, if you cant get one then your just deadheading home not making anything execpt for the fronthaul. How far I deadhead depends on how far I drove. There is a lot of factors that come into play, its hard really to explain. But I hope this helps a lil bit, if there is anything else I can help with just let me know.