It wasn't a good conversation. He said he was throwing in the towel there and suggested I look elsewhere as well. Management was holding meetings to scheme up excuses, forcing him to lie to his drivers and not allowing him the latitude he needed to keep them rolling. The planning department is impossible to reason with, he said, and are clearly doing a lackluster job.

Apparently in an effort to secure more backhaul and broker loads to sustain the fleet, the geniuses at the helm negotiated ZERO fuel surcharge for these loads. In the old system, lease ops were paid 100% of the fuel surcharge on every load. If a meat load paid $.54cpm, that's what we got. If a Sterilite load paid $.17cpm, that's what we got. Even when diesel was $4.50/gal+, I could actually make a little money off my fuel.

Now they have switched to telling us the weekly DOE average and applying a percentage to that. Believe me, with our base compensation at $.84cpm, the percentage is ludicrous. This week the fuel surcharge $.19cpm based on a $2.296/gal DOE average. I should mention we get no fuel surcharge on empty miles. Let me lay out for you what my last 2 weeks combined looked like:

Load 1 - 370mi.
FS - $65.79
No fuel purchases

Deadhead 80mi to next load.

Load 2 - 1020mi.
FS - $182.02
Fuel purchases - $506.21

Deadhead 77mi to next load.

Load 3 - 240mi.
FS - $47.40
No fuel purchases.

Deadhead 63mi to next load.

Load 4 - 481mi.
FS - $91.86
Fuel Purchases - $160.43

Deadhead 291mi to next load.

Load 5 - 868mi.
FS - $169.20
Fuel Purchases - $400.64

Deadhead 101mi to next load.

Load 6 - 1116mi.
FS - $214.80
Fuel purchases - $509.85

That's 4,707mi with a fuel surcharge totalling $771.07.

I plan my fuel stops very carefully to maximize profit, and several of these runs went through OK, MO and TN where I could purchase fuel for substantially less than $2.29/gal. I even manipulate the company fuel solution to allow me to receive a discount at locations of my choice. The software that runs their fuel program was programmed by #######. I digress...

I won't bore you with all the numbers about base pay and fixed expenses, the point is the fuel surcharge left $806.21 worth of diesel coming out of my $.84/mi.

All told, I took home $926.44 over two weeks. That's 19.7cpm folks.

The head of dispatch tries explaining to me that while I'm in a lease I'm paying on an asset. Just like owning a home, when it's paid for I will be able to treat it like an asset and earn money from it. Excuse me lady, but do I sound like a middle school drop-out to you or something? Since when do trucks appreciate in value (like a home) as they get older? And how can I possibly save enough to pay this truck off at lease-end if I'm only bringing home $450/wk pretax!? You can't get a f'n home loan earning $450/wk, much less pay rent or afford a decent car!

You know, everything was fine before this. I could easily take $1,500 from a 3,300mi week. Heck, I could break $1k on a 2,600mi week. Now I'm much better off making $.30/mi as a company driver.

Feel free to call me delusional for thinking this would work out. It is my current opinion that this step has ensured Trans Am will fail as a company. It has been disclosed to me that dispatchers are now REQUIRED to try and convince every company driver to go lease. HA! Experienced folks will get one taste of this pie and leave the table, and you cannot run a lease-op fleet with a roster of newbs. Too many mistakes, too many accidents, not enough customer service. It's a lose-lose for the company and I fear they will figure it out far too late.

.
SSDD ya know.

I won't flog you for going lease. But can you bail out, and get another job?

__________________
Insuring polititions fear that
which goes bump in the night.
Seek out their personal homes
and family members. -- SU 83
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Man that stincks

drove by their olathe terminal this morning, they had a ton of trucks in the back lot and quite a few on the east side of shop. you would think if they were occupied they would be out runnin. just thinkin

That totally sucks. It sounds like TransAm will be down the tubes shortly....

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Most of the trucks you saw in the back are their used trucks for sale. Don't know about the ones on the side. Alot of them could be trade in trucks that havn't been demarked (is that a word?) or detailed and fixed up.

TA sent out a fleet message the other day concerning the 401K plan. Due to the efforts of all employees, they managed to have a solid year despite the economy. Because of that, they were going to match 50% of the first 6% that you put in.
1) damn glad that I'm a company driver.
2)damn glad they haven't asked me about leasing in a couple of months now.

I'm sorry you are getting hosed. But there is a reason that some of us that have been around tell the noobs to NEVER FLEECE PURCHASE a truck!!!!!!!

NEVER


I hope I wasn't unclear there.


How do I know?????????? I personally lost $30,000 in a fleece purchase deal.
Only thing that saved my bacon was that the note was not in my name allowing me to walk away. Trust me I tried every thing I could before throwing in the towel.

__________________

I guess they did me a favor by not hiring out of Whizcowsin

__________________
" If you ain't living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!

I have looked over the company lease deals. They are all bogus. The companies push them since they know that it is cheaper on them not to pay for maintenance and fuel. You may make money, but they are saving a good amount. If anything, form and license an LLC, have the LLC buy the truck, and then run as an Owner/op under the LLC. Shield yourself from liability. That way if you fail, you are still on good ground.

__________________
Fun Facts.
1. A GPS is only a tool, not a tour guide.
2. Starter companies all suck, that's why they have openings.
3. The worst examples are the ones people remember
4. Listening to talk radio all day will remove your ability to reason in regards to politics.