owner operator wage questions

Anyone out there running for less than 1.80 per mile dry load is an idiot!!!

 

i agree to hellandback...anything less i would just as soon sit in the yard with a stack of twenties and a lighter and save all that dealing with the traffic and shipping clerks....

hey i got a couple questions for you long timers...is it customary or option for a carrier to deduct his percentage not only out of your contracted haul rate but also out of things like your fuel surcharge, detention, stop pay, layover pay, etc ?....i know i read somewhere a bill was being pushed to stop them from doing it to your fsc but dont know the outcome of that, or anything else that pertains to this subject....thankx alot in advance for any help anyone can provide.....

 

Thiis is my own authority with my own truck and trailer:
YTD revenue: $99,757.50
YTD miles driven per odometer: 46,278
YTD revenue per mile: $2.155
YTD profit: $42,040 (I already pull money out for repairs, plates, insurance, etc in advance to determine my profit)

I've taken 7 weeks off already this year (plus miscellaneous days off here and there)

I haul a reefer, but run a lot of dry goods if the price is right (sometimes it's market dependent). Dry moves well out west, but reefer moves much better back east (especially produce seasons). And, I've done a lot of deadheading. 600mi to get home once. Deadheaded 350mi, 670mi, and 950mi to pick up a load. Total revenue per mile dropped on that 950mi deadhead, but I still clocked in at $2.18/mi for all miles on it (load paid $7300 on 2400 loaded miles).

If you're here to make company pay, or equate it to company pay. You're doing it wrong. You're the one on the hook for everything. So, how much is it worth to you? My truck doesn't move for free. I don't book my truck for free. I don't bookkeep for free. And I certainly will not drive my truck for free.

 

I know this thread is a bit old. Sly Fox, how did you come across your reefer loads? Through working with another company or through load boards? This is the type of O/O would like to become.

 

..............

 

you are correct on breaking even at $1.49, but JCT lease deal is fair, you may only get the $1.49 a mile, but they pay for so much more, like plates. 2290, and more, The savings there add up to more per mile, when I was there I had a 07' 379XL 475 cat 13sp, after payments and others, i ended with around $1200. a week in my pocket, I had to leave due to health issues in my family, I would go back to JCT, but the trucks they get today are Cascadia's, just not interested in this kind of truck, I'd been thinking of just buying a truck, and I consider leasing on with JCT, the only difference is I'd have to pay my own 2290 witch is $550 for the year, unless its gone up,

 

You realise IRP and 2290 amount to about 1.5-2 cents a mile in cost, maybe less depending on how one rolls and the rates they get? Running up big miles at less than TRUE break even and clearing $1,200 after you pay for fuel does not equal $1,200 in profit. Really you're just slowly going broke and when the SHTF and you can't pay for anything you will understand. The pennies they "save" you by paying for a few minor things do not make for a profit. $1.50 on hub miles is the highway to the poorhouse. It's even worse on shorted practical miles or whatever JCT pays. Paid empty miles don't make up for it either. Not even if they have a surcharge. That is the truth about mileage leases but many will argue about it.

 

Rollin coal: would you say farm2fleet keeps you hooked up, yet home enough, and still average what per mile?

 

I get plenty of home time, almost 6 months year at home on the year. Last year I was at home 5 months out of the year. Year to date rate per mile, to the truck after F2F's cut off the top and 33% deadhead factored in - 2.36 a mile on almost 48,000 hub miles. Not getting rich but not going hungry either. Keeping more than I was turning 120,000 miles at 1.40 loaded .90 empty at the old company I was leased to. If a driver rolls with the rates and parks when they're down he should be able to keep busy pulling a dry van for about 8 or 9 months out of a year making a decent profit. Home time, when and where I go, what I book or not, the rate I go on, that's all determined by me not FarmFleet. The reason I take so much time off is due to normal slow downs in freight. I tend to let others take the hit on rates out here and wait it out and I also enjoy my weekends at home. Also a tad lazy I admit, next year is going to be different than the past couple in that regard.

I work to make that happen more often than not but will work on a weekend if someone is serious about the rate they're willing to pay. Freight is slow right now, or at least rates are in the toilet. They've done a fairly good job of connecting me up on some good 3PL freight since I came back to work in September. I'd say overall that has been a pleasant surprise because most of the first year and half - except for the first few months when I first started - it has all been on me to find my own freight. Our safety rating took a hit due to some bad apples that got leased on. That has hurt a little bit, that coupled with freight being unusually slow for this time of year... ..but the 3PL stuff has taken a lot of the sting out of that. Don't know if Bill is leasing any tractor/trailers on right now - but do know he is a lot more picky than he used to be about folks who are trying to lease on. You have to ask different drivers here what their situation is. Everyone's is different. Some go home more than others. Some turn lots of miles and some don't. The driver has full control of their operation here.

 

Thats great if you can earn a living and only run the miles you are. It seems farm2fleet is decent at providing work and good rates. Obviously I haven't posted much, I will post more as I get closer to purchasing a truck. I tend to read and research on here to see trends and what works for some and doesn't for others. It has become apparent to me $2+/Mile on average is about the rate one needs to be at to maintain and be profitable. I plan on buying a cheaper truck ($30k or so, all mechanical, little older) with cash and leasing on where they aren't so concerned with age, just concerned with production. From the different spreadsheets I've seen on this forum, $2 is where most need to be. Any thoughts?

I've been a company driver for several years, and am the entrepreneurial minded type. My wife and I own a small business now (selling equipment to purchase truck), so I have a slight leg up on grad students but know just enough to get me in deep ####.