Why do OTR megas pay so little for 70 hrs worked?

I never said that experienced drivers dont make more than noobies.. I said milage pay is incentive based meaning a new guy can make good money if he works hard while a lazy experienced guy can ##### and moan about low pay if he doesnt work hard..

 

Again fiction: A new driver (or experienced) only makes what is planned on him.

These mega companies lead rookies to believe if they try to out work the guy next to them they will make bank. Like all good lies, their is a nod of truth in it; an absolute slug with experience can be starved out. But, in general when it comes down to it, the experienced driver gets planned more and better runs. That makes a huge difference. That makes much more of the difference than anything else.

Of course the big lie is; there is a shortage of drivers and therefore an excess of freight. That just isn't so. You can bust your but, bend all the rules, arrive days early, and load/unload the freight yourself and you will not get anymore freight then the guy that took the time to be safe.

 

Because if you don't take the money someone will. There's always a steady supply of new drivers that will work for peanuts.

 

That particular statement is false, sir.
Had you said "will not get any more dollars"....ok because maybe we can compare across different carriers.
But "will not get anymore freight"/miles...no.

Look at this way, carrier keeps a listing / ranking of top producers, top mile runners, and yes earnings too.
Do you think the driver-type you describe in the beginning of your statement might rank at the top?...or you really want to stand by the notion that type of driver has equal numbers compared to less self-motivated drivers, in a given month/year/decade?

 

I'd rather be on percentage than mileage based pay. That's still plenty of incentive for me to bust my ###. More in fact.

 

If you don’t mind me asking how were you making 6k a month as a company driver at Swift? From what I read so far online is that most drivers don’t make that much.

 

Where does your pay come from? I am serious. Think about where the money you end up with actually comes from.

It does not matter by which of the many, many ways your pay can be calculated by your employer, the money comes from the company that bought the movement of that freight.

Say a company pays $1000 to move a trailer's worth of something by your company. Your company has a formula for how much of that $1000 is going to be paid to you. It does not matter how they dole that out: Hourly, CPM, percentage, flat rate, etc. Your pay is still a portion of that $1000.

You ARE being paid to move it and do ALL the other things necessary to successfully and safely move it. You are not just being paid to drive the miles, you are being paid to move the load. Your company is just using CPM as a mechanism for dolling out your share of that $1000. Your share may not be a good share, but that is what you are getting regardless of the pay scheme your company is using.

Getting hung up on CPM is both common and foolish. Determine how much money you are willing to trade a day's worth of labor for and see if you are making at least that much, on average, per day. If so, quit worrying about how the pay is doled out and get to work. If not, figure out how to get more pay in whatever system you are working under, or find a new job.

Obsessing over whether there is a line item on your settlement for each and every task you have to do to deliver a load is silly and a good way to drive yourself into a bad attitude and a career death spiral. The real question to ask yourself is: Am I getting an acceptable return for my day's work.

 

That is why I love my company's weekly pay commitment. I know what my gross will be on Friday. My job is to use my hours as efficiently as safely and legally possible. I don't worry about my cpm. It is like being salaried.

 

Why because no one has the gumption to take on the authorities to ask for fair pay thats why?

 

Always before you consider one statement more "false" then the other, consider the source and motivation behind the statements. I have no motivation to lie to you. Unlike, a recruiter, planner, or dispatcher that has a financial incentive to mislead you.

As such the, one of the most ridiculous lies is the myth of a roster of "supertruckers." That the "super truckers" in the organization get first dibs on the freight. The myth that planner's and dispatchers bend over backwards to keep their "supertruckers" flush with freight. They like to pretend if a driver makes the extra effort they would be valued as much as the first round draft pick in the NFL.

The truth is they use that myth to extort extra work from drivers at no cost. If you just 'accept' every load that comes your way weather you make money at it or not, you will become a top performer, top runner, and make more money.

Sorry, to break it to you; the freight business does not work that way. You get loads based on what makes money for the company. No one is bending over backward to make sure their "supertrucker" gets more freight or "runs like he likes" . If you get a cherry load that makes you money, it is because your were closer to that load and therefore it cost the company less to dead head to it. That is all.