A Question for Trucking Companies

I have been looking into several companies regarding there lease purchase and owner op programs and I am very discouraged of the results. It amazes me that any one can sleep through the night knowing that they are doing the things they are doing to poor soles who enter into these agreements. After running the numbers based on revenue per mile, fuel surcharge, and deducting the fixed costs associated with each organization it is appalling to see that some of these programs are paying the O/O or I/C less, the same, or slightly more than what a company driver would make. Each program delves somewhere with in the previous described ranges depending on the amount of miles the O/O or I/C gets. The question I have is how do you, as an organization or human being, justify that an O/O or I/C earns an effective rate of .38-.52 cents per mile after all deductions (not including personal income tax)? I am not a big wig corporate CEO, but I would imagine that a company will calculate several costs in there bid to ship and deliver products for there customers. Some of these costs should include, unless I'm dumb, fuel, truck payments, insurance, employee taxes, benefits, retirement plans, vacation, holidays (if you have paid holidays), maintenance, building costs, utilities, supplies, and other operating costs. Here is where my disappointment lies. If you calculate that you can pay a company driver, let's use .40 per mile as an example, why do you pay a O/O or I/C .96-1.00 plus a fuel surcharge of .175 per loaded only or loaded and empty? After the O/O or I/C is done they are barely clearing the company driver rate if they have a good week. That is sad when you look at the overhead the O/O or I/C just took out of that load for you. We aren't talking about small over head costs. We are talking about the largest costs you would have as a company: fuel, truck payment, insurance, employee taxes, benefits, and retirement funding. I know these costs saves companies more than 77.5 cents per mile in overhead. Thank you for any insight to how this is fair and don't use the excuse of the individual chose to enter it at there own will. If a person decides to take there own life it doesn't make it right, morally, and it doesn't make you blameless especially if you gave the gun to do it.

 

You are so correct about corporate Anerica. It is about the "bottom line" and making that number high to satisfy the owners (share holders in publicly held companies). The thing that troubles me, which includes company drivers, I/Cs,and O/Os, is we don't come together to control the hemorraging. We have so much power because if we all sat for one day and didn't pull any loads we could cripple the economy. I'm not saying we should do that, but we should ban together to get these corporate executives and company owners to distribute more of the exhorbinate profits to the driver. After all, we sacrifice so many things in our lives, things we can never get back, so those powers to be can enjoy more things with there families. We should be able to build a voice that effects change at a company level and a legislative level. I'm not going into how regulations allow governments to earn there money off of us as well. That is another topic. I know we have organizations such as OOIDA and others, but the state that the trucking industry is in, when it comes to drivers, tells me these organizations aren't doing enough.

 

Cranky Yankee,

I have realized a myriad of issues with trucking companies. The one that makes me laugh the most is how these companies lure people in with bonuses. These bonuses can consist of sign on, monthly, or quarterly it doesn't matter. They all are signs of one thing and that is the company can afford to pay you that money. People get so excited and these companies invest so much money advertising how they care so much for the driver that they are willing to offer you a bonus that may equal up to .02-.05 more per mile. unfortunately, the majority of drivers say, "oh goody" I can make more money...NO!!! Think about it driver, when you meet there criteria hey are going to be nice enough to pay you what they should have paid you in the first place. If you don't meet there matrices then they will hold that money they should have paid you and at that back into their profit pool.

 

I apologize for the errors in my posts. I have no idea how auto correct turns America into Anerica or when I meant to say,"add back into," it came up as at back. Anyway, I guess proof reading isn't over rated.

 

I appreciate your opinion in this matter. By no means am I trying to generalize any lease program. I am only sharing what my research has provided. I am open to seeing a company that has a lease program where the driver doesn't have to average more than 3,000 miles a week to bring home a per mile amount that is significantly higher than a company driver. I completely understand that you will not become rich as a lease purchase driver, but it isn't unfair to say that a person who is willing to take on that responsibility should be compensated much more than someone who doesn't. If you read the initial post you should notice that I am questioning the lack of disparity in pay between what a lease purchase operator makes and a company driver makes. I'm not giving an opinion on whether there are programs that work. I am asking why a person who is willing to come on to a company and take on the added responsibility or risk isn't compensated more for there efforts. Do you disagree that the amount of miles that a person drives as a lease purchase driver effects their pay? Yes, certain expenses will be lowered due to less miles (e.g. fuel cost is lower and maintenance cost is lower), but on the flip side certain costs stay constant no matter what the miles driven are (e.g. truck payment and insurance). When you take the numbers and compare them across different mileage scenarios your cents per mile also change. If you don't stay at a certain threshold you may, in effect, end up earning less than what a company driver earns. As a company driver your mileage rate stays the same no matter how many miles you drive. Where in this am I bashing or perpetuating the "dogma" of anti lease?