Percentage pay?

I don't know what your deal is with your boss but I will tell you I never would work for anyone that would not give a copy of their settlement for each load!!!

I don't trust anyone with my money enough to just take their word for what it paid !!

There are just to many less than honest people in the industry for me !

 

Drivers that get paid percentage should be given the opportunity to see the freight bill. Short of this transparency you are at the mercy of your employer as to how much you will get paid from load to load.

 

yeah, otherwise it ends up being "We got screwed on that haul but it kept the truck and YOU Running and so it only paid $200 to the truck so here's your $50". And " whaddayamean you wanna see it with your own eyes? I trust you with my $50 thousand dollar truck, you think I'm gonna screw you?" DON'T let 'em hide the freightbill, Thats your money too.

 

I get a driver recap sheet every week for the loads I ran during the previous week. I get paid on a flat rate load basis plus a percentage of what the load made as well as any incidentals associated with the load.

For instance ... I pulled a load to Florence and that had a driver load rate pay of 98.91 ... plus 17.80 for the percentage ( 18% ) ... and since it required two terminals to pull it from and two drop sites that added another 13.50 X 2 to the load ( first terminal and first drop is free ) or 27.00 ... so the total for the load was $143.71. Not too bad for about 5 hours work ... and when I get back I have another load waiting in my box.

 

Nice John, Do you get the impression that there COULD be any way that they could give you papers that are not accurate. I'm not at all implying they are I'm just wondering if you think its possible for a company to BE SHADY LIKE THAT

 

Well guys, there's a problem here. Unless you're the one doing the customer billing, you have no freakin' idea what the load actually pays.

This is one thing I learned when doing my own little trucking business. No load pays what the drivers think it should. Especially in these tight times, every shipper in the general freight arena is looking for deals. The load that paid $1000 a year or two ago nowadays brings in $700 or so..... if some dummy don't cutthroat you on that. No matter how you pare down your rates there's always some dumb SOB who will do it cheaper just to get or keep that business, especially if it's a steady account. Think demurrage is a given? Hah!!! Where you used to charge after 2 hours last year, you may have to give him 5 now. Then Joe's Fancy Trucking tells the shipper "Hey, we'll give you 8 hours no charge". Then JB or one of the other big guys steps in with "We'll lower the rate and charge no demurrage atall". Guess who gets the business?

Then there's "Return Rates". A plan thought up by morons for idiots. Let's look at an example. Harry Armpit Transport picks up a load from Amalgamated Potholders in Deadsnake Texas and hauls it to Hellosucka Nebraska for $1500. On unloading Harry hears of a load going right back to Livesnake Tx (which is right across the Interstate from Deadsnake). Harry thinks, "Jeez, loads are scarce in Hellosucka so I'll take that load outa here for "return rate" of $500 "just to cover my fuel" Then I can go for another $1500 load back here.... after all $2000 is pretty good for a round trip". So off he goes, smiling away at the "good business decision" he just made.

What Harry doesn't know is that Dumazz Trucking out of Hellosucka is currently at Amalgamated negotiating that same "return rate" deal back to Hellosucka. So when he shows up at Amalgamated for another $1500 load he's told " Gee, sorry Harry, but we've got a guys willing to haul all of our loads to Hellosucka for $500. We're not gonna pay more than that." Meanwhile Dumazz is hearing the same thing in Hellosucka concerning loads to Livesnake.

So what have our intrepid truckers accomplished? Not much other than cutting their rates in half or more. Which means they won't be able to buy the missus that computerized fried tater turner she wants so bad..... but hey, they're covering their fuel, right???

 

Ohhhhhh yeah Bogey ... this is a dog eat dog world ... and this industry is merely a reflection of the world. There are plenty of companies that will use you ... abuse you ... and make you feel cheap, any way they can. It's not just this industry alone though ... take a look at the recording industry. How many singers and bands have you heard of that made millions and millions of dollars and 3 years after their hay day the artists are paupers again. Some of it was likely due to the fact that they didn't take proper care of the money they were given ... but a huge percentage of it was because their managers were "taking care" of it for them.

Wether you are an artist or a mere employee ... the relationship should always be treated as a BUSINESS relationship ... not one of friendship, or one of trust or anything else. Get it in writing and check all the facts ... if the facts don't add up ... then more negotiations are necessary until everything is on the up and up and both parties are satisfied ... otherwise it is better to walk away and find something that will not only keep you happy but also let you work for a better future for you and your family ... after all ... employment should be a mutually satisfying and mutually beneficial relationship ... not one of abuse.

 

I get paid on percentage as well, I've never asked to see what they charge, although I work for a small company, I'm often in the dispatch office so I occasionally get to see the dispatch cards which will often have the rate written on them. The other thing, what is your percentage rate? How long have you been with the company, I know with mine, they start at 22% and then top out at 29%, which is were I'm at.

Sometimes, percentage pay can be #### good, other times it can suck. In my case, anything beyond 100 air miles is paid by percentage, some of those runs, anything under 200 road miles, would be better off if they paid by the hour, but anything beyond 200 road miles pays decent. Typically for me, Denver to Grand Junction (518 rnd trip miles) is about $250.00 (roughly $.47 cpm)for a 9 to 10 hr day, Alb. is about $375 ish for a 23 hr trip.

The one down side to percentage loads, for OTR, the pay can really vary. When we were doing regular runs to the Port of Houston, the load heading to Houston often paid real good, but the return load, not so much. One trip, I made $500 (my percentage rate back then was only 24%) for the outbound load, but only made $300 for the return load because he couldn't find anything decent and had to settle for a cheap load of shingles. My percentage loads run the gamut, the cheapest is about $140.00 rnd trip, the best I've done was $1,100 rnd trip.