Pay by the hour vs. by the mile

I am paid per day. Some days are full on 14 hours, some are much less.

Mikeeee

 

Actually not such a complex system.

Here are a few companies that come to mind that offer pay programs such as the 1 I listed;
LTL carriers (union and non union). Grocery truck chains such as Giant, Sysco, Food Haulers, etc. Frito Lay, Wal-Mart. Heck even the company I work for pays for mileage plus drops/hooks/stops/breakdown pay/congestion/detention/weekend pay etc. Its not "IDEAL" but it is a better package than most of the truckload carriers currently offer.

Its not as comprehensive as what I suggested but it would only take a few minutes to complete a trip sheet (which many carriers require already) that lists each trailer pulled, plus each stop and the time spent at customers. We do that via arrival calls on the OBC (qualcomm or similar system) and depart calls.

Much of the pay structure is already built into the program such as stops and mileage. Manual adjustments for breakdowns and detention are already done by dispatch and only require a few seconds.

 

I think it will end up as a wash. Not more not less etc. Depends on how long you sit in the dock really. You are figuring on 65hrs so that is your variable for that calculation. Will there be weeks when you only get 50?

If you were paid say .30 mile which I am not certain, but I think an average rate for a new driver, to gross $845 you would need to drive 2817 a week. If you can do this in that same 65 hour window then it is a wash, but once again, the variable is whether or not you are getting all those miles.

All things being equal, 2817 miles spread over a 65 hr period averages to 43.33 miles per hour. Therefore if there is a lot of highway driving involved, and not a lot of sitting at shippers and receivers you may do better paid by the mile if you can bump that average mph up to say 50mph. On the other hand if you are spending a lot of time sitting in traffic in say the Northeast, and time sitting at shippers and receivers, which would have you averaging even less that 43mph, then the hourly pay would be more beneficial.

I hope you can see from this post, and the others preceding this one that there is no easy cut and dried answer. Depends on a lot of variables.

To be honest if you are just starting out and can find a deal you are happy with jump on it and concentrate on getting the experience you need to get into the higher paying jobs.

Good Luck

 

Hourly pay is the way to go. You only have 70 hrs available each week why should you rewrite a logbook so a company can have you sit in a dock for the first hour or so uncompensated before they start paying detention(if they pay it at all). Very few highway drivers are running legal and that is why more and more carriers are being put onto EOBRs. Which incidently should make paying a driver by the hour easier. If you can track a truck with a satelite,you can figure out a drivers pay just as easily.

I hear the argument that "drivers will abuse the system"......ok.....fine.....then get rid of them,Drivers that produce shouldn't have to subsidise the companies who hire drivers that don't produce. Pretty much all companies these days have on board communications which allow them to track a truck and it's productivity which should allow them to seperate the wheat from the chaffe.
It's time good drivers start getting paid what they are worth and stop paying for the riff raff that is contributing to downward rates.

Wages are going backwards in this industry all because of the "drivers abuse the system" excuse and companies have to find ways to claw back that money.

Drivers that get paid by the hour don't generally rewrite log books wherase highway drivers do it almost regularly and it will become even more so when the new "reset" rules come into effect this summer. Highway guys will rewrite books to avoid a reset or to accomodate a "convenient" reset.

Hourly is the future otherwise drivers will become the working poor.

 

Amen Down the road...AMEN!

For the record, unless I'm driving which I get paid mileage for... I'm on the clock and paid hourly from the time the parking brakes are applied until they're released.

That includes fueling, scaling, pre and post trips, dot inspections, truck and or trailer services, truck and or trailer wash, all time spent at customers, customs, log resets, time spent to complete paperwork of any nature... ALL time spent waiting for dispatch...

Not a minute of my time is given up for free.

So it is possible...all it takes is having the guts to stand up and say NO to doing work for cheap pricks who don't want to compensate you properly.

 

Log resets? I don't know of any employer in ANY industry that pays for your off-duty time over the weekend or while you are sleeping in your bed...only for your time actually doing work-related tasks. One other thing to consider when desiring pay for your log reset and other time that is typically considered off duty is that if you are being paid for that time, you are not off duty, and you cannot legally log off duty time...meaning the ENTIRE duration of your 34 hour reset would have to be spent inside of the sleeper because the second you step outside of the truck, that is a duty status change to line 4 and it interrupts your reset, meaning you'll have to start it all over again.

 

BS... it works the same way as a 'layover pay' which many companies pay.
Unless I'm at home, then I'm at work and time spent on the road is considered to be 'work related' hence all resets done on the road are paid for.

And if you're unaware of companies paying for resets... you need to educate yourself better bulldog.

 

No, it's not BS. It is right there in §395.2.

If you are being paid, you are on duty...with the only exceptions being found in #4. So if you are at a truck stop and being paid by the hour to sit there and take your 34 hour restart, and you exit the truck to go eat, take a shower, or for any other reason, you are no longer covered under the #4 exceptions. The only other way you would NOT be on duty is if you had been relieved from duty by the motor carrier...in which case they wouldn't be paying you for your time.

 

Reading comprehension really isn't your strong suit is it lol...

Try reading it again...s l o w l y and see if it sinks in lol...

And then google layover pay... since you clearly need to educate yourself.

 

Oh hell.. I'm feeling generous today. Here let me help you out Bulldog....