Most drivers making same or less than they did last year

Easier said than done. The industry is set up to suppress wages. Other than a few good companies most companies will have trouble competing unless all companies we're playing by the same rules. Hourly wage would add transparency to true wages earned. Any accessory/ bonus would just be icing on the cake to attract better drivers.
All time with the truck should be paid. The full 70 plus any layovers.
Again this would be fair for the drivers so it'll never happen.

 

I'm not sure why everyone thinks going hourly is the answer. I'm also not sure why people think the money gets better by going hourly. If you work OTR, you ain't going to see 30 bucks an hour, probably not even 20. I like the cpm route. I guarantee, if all these companies go hourly, the company will design it to where the money equals out to what they pay now. Remember, businesses only set aside so much percentage of revenue for payroll, which is one of MANY expenses. These companies gotta get something out of it too now

 

No it won't. Companies can only pay what they can afford, or what the market allows. They arent going to go above their means to satisfy cry baby drivers that can't make any job work. We drive. We get paid good money......to drive. Probably the easiest job I've ever had. Why would they invest large amounts of money to inexperienced drivers or drivers that won't stay?

 

I made over 60k as a new driver back around 2003. Why is 60k still considered good 17 years later. I was just a dirt hauler at the time. Nothing special there.
And I stayed local.
Now I'm looking around to get back in and the pay is ridiculous. I'll take it because I don't have other options. So I become part of the problem. But again truckers will never band together.

 

Of course they will. This wouldn't affect good companies much at all, other than having to change com to hourly. And drivers would flock to the better companies.

Crap companies will always pay less and cry baby drivers that have no ambition or backbone will always have a home with them. Most use them as steeping stones others like the lube treatment and tell others to just enjoy the ride, it's all good nothing needs to change.

Again Transparency will not change pay at first but it would require drivers to be paid for all their time. In time it would force the entire industry to raise rates to match any additional expenses.Not just one carrier but all carriers. No real advantage to do this as a company othe than improving driver retention. So it isn't likely to ever happen.

 

If you were to pay a driver by the hour then how do you feel about the driver going 60 in a 70 zone? That's nearly a 15% loss in time for the company, yet means nothing to the driver.
If you pay by the mile you have to govern the trucks for all but the most trustworthy drivers just to keep from being put out of business by your insurance.
When complaining about pay we should all go on the load boards and call up some brokers to haggle a rate. Take that agreed upon rate and subtract fuel, tires, maintenance, insurance, ifta, irp, 2290, boc3, workers comp, blinker fluid and what have you to get your operating expenses. See what's left to pay a wage and then see if there's anything remaining to put fuel in the truck for the next load or if you're lucky enough to put in the savings account.
It all comes down to people not deciding to haul cheap freight, I'm unwilling to buy another truck because I feel like too many people are hauling for too little. As long as I'm driving and paying myself I feel like I'm making great money, as soon as I run the numbers on adding a truck and driver the margins become too thin for me to justify the risk of losing my business to the carelessness of a stranger behind the wheel of one of my trucks. I don't dislike any of my friends enough to hire them and I don't trust a stranger enough to hire them.
I think the megas have just mitigated their potential losses by governing trucks, acting as nannies and polishing lug nuts of politicians.
If everybody searching for a driving job decided not to apply for less than x amount per mile then there would be a driver shortage and a rate increase. If the cdl schools pump out cadets in search of any job at any rate then the rates suffer.
The megas undercut each other on their bids for contracts based on their expenses, wages are part of the equation. The cdl schools are hedging their bet that they'll have a continual supply of cheap labor. The wage issue is a top down problem, you can see it at every level.
I think everyone should become an OO so we can cut each others throats rather than let the megas do it for us. In the end we are just working for what we feel we are worth, for some that's $.40/mi and for others it's $4.00/mi. The company's hiring are just looking for people smart enough to drive yet at the same time dumb enough to do it for pennies.

 

i worked for a company that did dedicated accounts only. i worked salary, and got yearly pay raises till they would max out, until the next contract and price increase to the customer would kick in, then continue to get yearly raises.

we never had to ask for a raise. what we could do, and i have done, was ask for the max pay raise now, and just trot along the remaining years on the contract, with no more raises.

worked for me.

 

As a smaller O/O you know how long things should take. Now imagine you have 10 trucks with someone in the office. A 10 truck operation should be able to track and set a reasonable schedule for their trucks. If not they should be looking for a better office manager. Now if a small 10 truck outfit can do it then a larger one definitely could get some software for it.
If a company paid for all of your time they would be less willing to waste it. Or allow their time to be wasted.
Fair days work for a fair days wage.

It's terrible that trucks need to be governed. CPM encourages some unprofessional drivers to drive in a risky manner that puts us all at risk.

Changing to hourly would not increase driver pay at first. Unless you work for a bottom feeder company that pays less than minimum wage. That would be about $620 a week. So again nothing would change for most. At first.

 

What would be a good starting point in terms of hourly pay? Paid from the time you leave home terminal until you return?

 

It ain't likely to happen, and neither is driver retention. I think driver retention gets better if the lifestyle looks more appealing