Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

That's too funny. Flatbed customer?

 

Normally, but this is the one van load a month I do for these guys.

 

Did he want to shake hands?

 

The Scania Longline has a decent little bunk on it.

 

I'm sure that the people we have here are more professional than that...I've seen some real dandies show up for loads but I never thought about the calls the brokers and dispatchers might get as a result. Thanks for sharing!

 

The boom cycle has been for over a year. If every calendar year were like the last 12 months, there would be no reason to complain income - wise. However, I feel I am working a bit too much to my liking.

So here's the result of the bid, click and book / minimal negotiation freight. I completed 132 loads and drove 115 000 miles. None of the loads were the result of my posting the truck. It still involved brokers calling me with the purpose of lowering the rate when I bode too boldly.





I stopped separating deadhead from loaded miles. 115 000 is all the hub miles. If I can guess, the deadhead is in the range of 15-20%.

Including Deadhead, an average load distance length had 871 miles and paid $2159.

For novice readers, the average rate per mile does not reflect individual rates. There were loads on more than 500 miles that paid more than $6 and also loads that paid less than $2.

There is, of course, a driver pay and payroll cost but those are individual and since I am the driver and all the proceeds stay with me, I decided to omit those.

With this post, I conclude my regular contributions as to what rates I drive for. This thread already showed the rates in times of bust and the rates when things are on an upswing.

 

As an S - corporation I am supposed to pay myself a reasonable salary adhering to the industry standards. It cannot be too low so that IRS would not penalize me and disqualify my S-Corporation into sol- proprietorship and at the same time not too high in order to keep the payroll costs at bay. As I said earlier, it is rather up to an individual how much he is willing to dare or, on the other hand, how strong he feels about the future of Medicare and Social Security. I hope and trust that 12 - 17 years from now, my thus far contributions will still provide me something more than symbolic in addition to my retirement funds, especially Medicare. I stick to the ever old adage "Give Ceasar what's Ceasar's ...."
With that said, 115 000 miles at realistic 60 - 65c per mile calculated into the driver's pay at about $70 000 - 75000 , with Social Security and Madicare tax at 7.65% that's about $5355 - $5737 added as the payroll costs - that's the half of what an employer has to pay. If I am both, the employer and the employee, I need to pay all of it - the two halves. Of course, in case of a really hired 2nd person, there is also Workers comp. In this example, it could be up to $2000, I am guessing - it varies from state to state.
This illustrates why so many hire on 1099 instead of W2. You save 7 - 8k per year on each employee.
There is also unemployment insurance contributions and the aspect of health coverage and retirement like SEP IRA or 401k. Those can add up to way more than the previously stated amount.