average bring home pay for owner operators leased to a company

Isn't that the truth. I think I'll go work the oilfields for a few years to pay everything off and save a little. Then I'll buy a truck and trailer cash and get my authority. I can then run a few loads a week close to home and make more than enough to live on. I'll remain semi-retired until I can't get into the truck anymore. It'll be my hobby truck.

 

Wouldn't we all wish we could do that

 

Greasehauler's figures, I can't dispute, because he includes trailer in the mix. But what the cost per mile is for just a tractor leased on is variable on what you have to pay for. In my case, my rate per mile right now with FSC is roughly $1.43 a mile loaded with .82 empty. My deadhead is under 10%. My out of route miles run around 3% per year. My year round average mpg is just over 7 mpg. With all costs including all insurances and medical ins and truck payment, and roughly 7% of gross revenue set aside for Uncle Sam, my cost per mile comes in at around .92, give or take a couple of cents on average. This month has the numbers all screwed up from the 3 year average because I took it upon myself to do some things to the truck I have wanted to do for a while. Cattle guard, Espar heater, etc. so this month's CPM will be higher.

It all depends on the rates you can negotiate for your insurances, what the company that one leases to will cover themselves, etc. Only way to figure this out is develop a good spreadsheet that you can plug the numbers in and see what things look like. If a company will provide many things, your CPM will be better. For instance, I get physical damage at $2 per $1000 insured value from the carrier. They cover all the IFTA taxes (no.. they don't just file for me, they cover the cost). I just have to concentrate on the cheapest at pump fuel price I can get. And I get in on their negotiated fuel discounts. And they reimburse me for my base plate each year (my base plate, not theirs). I get my OCC/ACC from them for $136 a month. Only weekly cost I have with them is $10 for the qualcomm. I have done an average of 135,000 miles a year with them for the last 3 years. And that is with being home every weekend, off on the holidays, and getting in some time off for hunting season.

Look at the entire package. Run all the numbers in a spreadsheet. And see if it is worth it.

 

Cowpie forgive me but have read enough of your posts to know you have a thick skin and just going to use you as the jumping off point.

What CP is describing is a big piece of what's wrong with this industry. He is pushing 600 miles a day just to make a living. That is what is wrong with mileage pay. The driver has to average hard miles just to make it and CP is on the high end of the mileage income because his CPM is so low. But his company is making more than he is.

On an average percentage deal he could average 100 less miles per day and make $10k a year more and that is based on increasing his CPM assuming he has to cover a little more of the expenses. And that is just an average program. In the next year with a good CSA score he could see that double or triple.

Now that alone may not seem like much but consider this. For every 4-5 days on a percentage he will get an extra day use on his truck because he is driving 100 less miles per day. Or make the same money with an extra 3-weeks off per year.

Companies love mileage pay. They make more money because they can have a better driver to staff ratio. Make more per mile on the driver. They have increased capacity because the drivers have to run 2700-3000 miles a week to make an average living.

Imagine what would happen to rates if more drivers would only work percentage and only had to drive 110,000 miles a year to make $90K+ per year? That's taking 15,000-20,000 miles a year per truck capacity off the market.

It is time for quality drivers to start earning what they are worth and create a better work/life balance. And in only rare situations will that happen on a mileage pay. We are at the beginning of a long rate climb cycle. And the last people that will see this increase are mileage pay drivers.

 

I understand where you are coming from, but I contend that if the Package deal is good, even paid by mile can be a good thing. Anyone who only looks at primarily the per mile thing is myopic. Unfortunately, that is something most folks can't get beyond in their mind. It is a package deal you want. Per mile is just the starting point. Percentage can be fine, but one can get screwed just as easily and even more so in some cases. We all have heard of myriads of instances where numbers were fudged in the favor of the carrier so that even though the contractor did indeed get the percentage they were supposed to, it was based on faulty numbers. And even with percentage, a package deal can make a huge difference. it is one thing if you are under your own authority as to what revenue is on the load, it is quite another when you have not only what you get on the load in the rate, but also incidental revenue associated with the load and negotiated lower costs in actually getting it done.

If drivers are not getting what they think they are worth, then why are they doing this? No one is grabbed by their genitalia and forced to drive a truck, or drive for a carrier that is "taking them for a ride", so to speak. Just about every carrier in the country is crying for drivers and O/O. Time to negotiate the package, folks.

 

Good post, but 3 years later... Did you forget to hit send?

 

You do realize that it took you two years and nine months to reply to that post Bill made, right?

 

yeah, lots of irons in the fire, so I do miss some stuff. It only got my attention because the previous post got a notification thing. Otherwise I might not have caught it. Heck, I hardly ever notice the dates at the top of a post anyway, just the content.

 

LOL!!!!!

 

In todays trucking climate, I have no idea why some pursue the O/O path. Been there - did that. I bring home 60k yr while driving another guys equipment - and that's with just under a yr at my company. I have a factory fresh Pete (2015!), and have yet to drag a dilapidated trailer behind it - in fact, current one is a 2014. I have minimal to no supervision, a nice benefit package, and am respected among my peers. Why mess w/ a good thing?