Performance Pay

Following fuel solutions is to help them lower fuel costs as they have a partnership deal with Pilot/FlyingJ. When you put in for a solution their system looks at the route it thinks you should follow calculate the gas you have and how far it thinks you can safely get then do a search for the lowest price per gallon then send yo to that solution.

If you go into where you can get your breakdown of your numbers in compass you can find - or used to as of 11/22 - what their projected or expected MPG goal for you is and then you can do the math from there. The breakdown has a chart that will show you in the month of X you idled for whatever amount of time, used cruise control for whatever amount of time, and other helpful information to help you find ways to get that .7 over. Click on your mobile score and then look at the top of the screen on next window, you'll see different categories fuel, safety , regulation etc. Click on each to see what info they give you. It keeps track of each truck you've been assigned to. If time window isn't long enough the last category in that list you can click on and change the date ranges.

When I was there I ran from NC to Atlanta running reefer for a dedicated account. On average I would easily pass their goals. Average cruise control usage was about 85 +/- percent usage. If you know the hills of 85 south of Charlotte and throughout northern half of South Carolina the hills can challenge the cruise control. You just have to be aware and understanding that getting on the throttle to pre empt the hill may save you seconds on time but costs much more in unnecessary fuel usage. Idle times add to it. Keep your APU when sleeping at a tolerable level and make sure the opti idle is on so the batteries dont kill themselves. Winter time it will be easier on idle time due to heating doesn't require the energy that cooling does.

Oh and remember the part of pre trip where inspecting tires, look for abnormal wear, check tire pressure BEFORE starting to drive and make sure they are at the right levels. If low. Make note what the start temp was. Recheck before adding air. See how much pressure increased and add that to what your putting in. Ex. if you check before driving (tires are cold) and are at 90psi. You drive to get air and now 100. that a 10 psi difference so when you go to the pump get it up 110. When tire cools again after sitting undriven for a lot of hours then you should be close to 100 psi "cold"

There are many things you can control and bad habits that you can break that can easily get you that big 5 you were looking for.

 

What they call the goal mpg, which really isn’t a goal, but just the base mpg you have to beat by .7 mpg to get the top performance pay, is set depending on the truck and line of business.

The mpg goal for the 2023 Cascadia I moved into last week is 7.4. The 2018 I moved out of was about 7.1.

 

I actually got around that in a 2016 Kenworth 680 hauling reefer. I did OTR by myself but I idled the truck almost all the time and I ran at the 72mph it was governedat as often as i could. Also didn't use cruise control, I just don't like it. It was a 10 speed auto but I used the manual mode more often then not. I was concerned that I was getting poor mpg doing that so I asked my boss and she said I was getting one of the best mpg in their company of about twenty trucks. Go figure.

 

It's based on truck spec, line of business and region. As a Midwest regional my target is lower than it would be otr, but higher than ne regional. In the summer I'm higher than se regional, but lower in the winter. It's actually pretty easy to hit.

 

I doubt it will really impact drivers that much.

The problem with the old metrics is two fold. First, 2/3s of the return to work get rolled back by Ops so it wasn't doing anything to make sure guys got to the truck on time after home time.

The second is that ###### fuel optimizer. It has been giving dumb as heck solutions more frequently (like being told to get of 294 to fuel in elk Grove village because it's 5 cents cheaper than oak creek WI, despite having to pay $10 extra in tolls to get off and on). Factoring in the costs of drivers "gaming the system" - ie putting in 50 gallons at a time to increase their total feelings- the cost of the metric starts matching the savings.

 

I guess I really haven’t had to deal with those issues on my dedicated account. Our metrics were mpg, days worked, and fuel compliance. I haven’t had any issues with the fuel solutions, but my routes are regular so I can usually predict what fuel stops I’ll get before it gives them to me.

I’ll have to see how things average out in this new truck. So far in about 2,000 miles I’m at 7.4 loaded and 9.1 empty. On my account, 50% of our miles are empty, but loaded we’re pushing 80k just about every time.

 

I run dedicated in South GA.......optimizer frequently gives me a fuel solution for Katy TX.
Here's the dealeoooo Schneider.......this is how I get paid, ok? So, by doing this, you're jacking around with my PAY.
No real big deal. But there are some of us that honestly try to meet GOALS.
After a while you get used to it and ignore it.

 

My favorite is how long it took them to take the butler kwik trip out of the optimizer- it added 5 miles off the interstate and took about 30 additional drive minutes; in a 3 month period we had 2 hit vehicles and one hit fixed object.

The kicker - it wasn't any cheaper than any of the other kwik trips, just closer to delivery.

It's a dumb program that no one likes, but there isn't anything better on the market for our size, and we all know what would happen if we tried to build our own. Anyone try and submit an expense lately?