Originally Posted by MACK E-6

I prefer to not announce who I work for, as websites like this tend to be home to company snitches. I made the mistake of outing myself once and got in trouble for it, which wouldn't have happened at a union shop. I now have very strong feelings on that issue for those who don't already know.

They won't get me a second time.

Originally Posted by ziggystyles

My argument against hourly pay is from a company standpoint...for which Im sure ridicule shall soon follow, lol....BUT...

While one might think that hourly pay is the only true way to get paid...how can the company know it is not overpaying a driver for work they arent doing? You can't really punch in and out on the road...and with hourly pay...you are guaranteed to see many drivers milking the system to get more time...and ...well that leads to the next thing...


a trip rate system might work, although Im not sure how...there are tons of routes zig zagging all over the place and it would be darned near impossible to figure this out...and most companies in a sense already do this, although they just pay per mile. This doesnt count extra work, but...man this would be a huge fuzzy area that I would see a bunch of kinks popping up in.

I am not sure of the formula for the trip rates that I was paid but it is based on an hourly wage. We were paid $20.50 per hour in 2004. The amount you received was based on how many miles you drove among other things. We were paid 15 min for a pre/post trip, 15 min to fuel, 1 hour to load and 1 1/2 hours to unload. The pre, post and fuel never changed. If it took more than the rate paid to load/unload, you got your hourly rate for all time spent over that time at $20.50 per hour.

I know it sounds confusing. I will look tomorrow to see if I can find an old trip rate sheet.

The way it worked in a nutshell was as follows;

If the run you were on was supposed to take 5 hours to do and you did it in less time, you were still paid for 5 hours. If it took you longer, say 6 hours, you were paid a flat $20.50 per our for six hours.

You can see how it would work for otr drivers. A 500 mile run would pay the driver X amount of hours. If they could do it faster than X amount of hours, great. More money for less time and you are ready to do another load. If it took longer, you are still paid for all of your time but it would be working for straight time hours. It forces you to work smart and at the same time, you will be rewarded.

Having to sit at a customer would benefit the driver by knowing he is being paid. It is up to the company to deal with the shipper/receiver to get the driver out of there ASAP. Some will say that it is not fair to the company. I say it is not fair to not pay the driver while they are in the service of their company waiting.

I worked as a line driver going to the bay area and Las Vegas. It was obviously better working local as a driver could be paid for 15 hours while actually only working 11 hours. It still worked out good for me though. I used to take home between $1000.00 and $1200.00 per week. I am sure there is a way that otr companies could figure this out. I know if BOC did, they can as well.

I know that turnover is a huge problem. However, I havent really seen any statistical evidence showing WHY drivers leave companies. We assume its because of pay...but pay is just one of a large number of reasons why a driver leaves. Time at home, benefits, not what they expected, wife, a unexpected wite expecting benefits and more time at home...etc.

Yes, there are many reasons for turnover. You mentioned just a few but the fact of the matter is, it's an ongoing problem. It appears to me that pay is one of the number one issues. Not so much the rate but the big things like sitting. Whether it's loading/unloading, waiting for a load, repairs, scales etc. I think if drivers were paid for their on duty time in one way or another, you would see turnover drop. The others you mentioned play a huge part as well.

Also...I seriously think, and this is not meant to offend drivers, but I think that many drivers jump ship without much research. They see that x company pays a few cents more per mile..but they dont research to see how many miles they get...etc. lots of times a driver will leave a company only to return down the line.