Why are otr drivers paid by cents per mile as opposed to a regular hourly wage?

Good question.

Most likely because the industry is not overlooked closely in the past, so the performance pay was based on the truck movement.

Now, they have ways of tracking so things like:
Tarping
Sweeping trailers
Dropping trailers
Waiting at docks
Fueling
Waiting for dispatch
Repairs
Breakdowns

All of this should be paid. After all, the owner, dispatch etc, do not work any time for free.

 

Imagine for a moment you own a large trucking company with over 100 trucks, during the day 50 of them are tied up in traffic for 4 hours per day , would you rather pay a driver per hour or per mile? Get the point now?

 

At least if they did pay by the hour at lot more attention would be paid towards "driving economically and slower".

Productivity is the name of the game. Doesn't do any good to have a thousand drivers whose primary goal is to "take their sweet time". Shippers have a product that needs to be transported, trucking companies need to transport. Slower (hourly) means less overall production out of a very expensive truck and trailer. Mileage (or load) pay is an "excellent productivity motivator"

 

Sad part is , if you don't get enough mileage per week you won't make a living. Some companies do still pay hourly but there is some accountability on your part to produce a certain amount of work. Otherwise the only person that would benefit would be the driver. That being said no company wants to lose money.

 

The company I worked for had a pay scale they called "component pay" You were paid so much a stop, so much for each case unloaded at a stop, and mileage off of the speedometer. If you broke down you were paid at an hourly after the 1st hour...worked there for 30 years.

 

There are many questions you should ask when you are getting paid by the mile. You need to find out if they are paying you wheeled miles or moving guide miles. You do a lot of free driving on moving guide miles. We now have mapping web sites and software that will tell the actual miles, still many companies still use the old method.

 

You guys get paid for this?
I thought we was out here for the fun and our health.
I need to talk to my boss.

 

I am paid for all of those items in addition to mileage pay.

 

Paying cpm versus hourly is greedy profit for the company. There would be alot less trucking outfits if the law of the land was hourly wage. Nobody in politics gives a rats ##### about the driver who spends countless hours at wharehouses ect. A driver is an expense just like insurance on the truck, the company is required to maintain insurance 24/7 as long as the vehicle has plates, so at the end of the day the driver is legal for 14hrs a day so WHY ISNT THE DRIVERS TIME TREATED AS AN EXPENSE ? GREED