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

That's all well and good. But if the carrier is "required" to pay the driver for traffic/weather delay time, then doesn't it stand to reason that the carrier should tell their customer, "I may have to pay a driver for 4 additional hours to move your freight, so I'm going to go ahead and bill you for this just in case" so as to remain profitable? How do you think that conversation with the shipper is going to go?

Some carriers may tell you that delay time is built into their base mileage pay. And if you want it separate, then they will cut ALL your mileage pay and perhaps you'll get SOME of it back later down the road. Most carriers have been doing this a very long time and they know trucking inside and out from sides the driver is typically not even privy to. They know what customers will and will not tolerate, and they build their business model accordingly and run their business accordingly. If they've made the determination that paying a never-ending supply of inexperienced drivers low wages is the best way to go as a business in competitive industry with a lot of liability exposure, then more power to them, I suppose.

 

Uh..that was the point.

 

i wish mileage and elog drivers would wake up and realize that they are being pimped

or at least put on high heels and much shorter skirts

 

Sometimes if that driver had gotten out of the bunk earlier he would not be sitting in traffic for 4 hours.
Or if he would have been at the shipper the night before instead of rolling in 2 hrs after they open, he wouldn't have to wait 2 hours.
Or if he didn't blow my doors off only to pull off at the next truck stop he'd arrive 2 hours earlier.

Hourly pay removes incentive.

 

so your solution for drivers working for free is that they should start working earlier? maybe load the trucks early themselves and unload the truck themselves?

 

I start my day at 1-2am every day, I don't need to start any earlier lol

 

I'm in two minds over this. I do believe mileage pay does something to motivate productivity, but when, for example, I find myself driving back from Denver in a Cobalt on a slick road, traffic is slowed down, and I've got a C.R. England truck tailgating me thinking it'll push me and the traffic ahead of me faster (which is what happened last night as I went to pick the other half up from the airport in her Cobalt), I kinda see it as a double edged sword.

 

Dirtydiesel I guess its in the eye of the beholder. Personally I have to say that if I am not sleeping in my own bed and away from home then I surely consider it work. Even when you are sleeping in your sleeper berth and not technically on duty you are still responsible for your truck, trailer and load. Therefore you are at work or working. The only time you are relieved from this duty is during home time. (for the most part.... even then some drivers are still responsible though.)

 

i think its exactly how witching said it. think of it as a comision based job. it aint bad. hell i was in the navy working 3 straight years. at no time was i off the clock. but the other side (like witching said) is that at times you cant make the miles. or as we all know sometimes an act of god gets in the way. the transportation industry is a fickle thing we CANT be paid like other people. it wouldnt work. on the other hand truckers get the #### end of the stick a bit too often.