The Barr Nunn Illusion: High mileage pay, low miles

Fellow drivers, I would like to weave a cautionary tale of a company that promises the moon, but will only get you to Secaucus (not NYC). If anybody east of I35 has looked for a high paying outfit lately, surely they’ve come across the fact that Barr Nunn is a Certified Top Pay Carrier. They share that designation with companies like ATS, Crete, Marten, and others. Think of it like a JD Power & Associates award for trucking companies. Barr Nunn is VERY proud of this designation. They put it all over all their stuff; trucks, trailers, hats, shirts, website, etc. They say that the top 50% of solo drivers make north of $102k/year. Stick with me, and I’ll show you why this is statistically impossible.

I was paid $.70cpm on a 3 week on 7 days off schedule. That 7 days off does not include a full day on each end for travel time because they require you to park the truck at a yard, so it is actually more like 3 weeks on 9 days off schedule. Now, I will caveat that Barr Nunn does not require this amount of time off, and they do have other fleets that have less time off. But for the sake of this post, I will use the schedule I was presented with. Also keep in mind that at no time was I told that I couldn’t make 6 figures by following their work schedule.

My schedule had me working a total of 36.5 weeks annually. At my mileage rate, that equals $63,875 at an average of 2500 miles a week. You get about $6k extra a year in safety bonuses, so we’ll be generous and say $70k annually. Still well short of the $102k of the top 50% of earners. There are other incentives like $35 extra for loads under 100 miles or $25 for loads under 400 miles, but that’s not going to get you $32,000 extra. So either you have to drive close to 3800 miles/week or lose your home time, like all of it.

Here’s the nail in the coffin. You aren’t getting 2500 miles a week. The average solo Barr Nunn driver averages 1800-2200 miles a week. That’s it. And Barr Nunn’s layover policy doesn’t start paying you until after 34 hours of sitting. So you can sit there and wait on a load for 33 hours, and they won’t pay you a dime. Now, I never sat that long, but sitting 17-24 hours between loads was not uncommon. And the loads you’re running are short. The longest load I had was 500 miles loaded miles, so you’re never sitting on a loaded trailer. Anyways, I uploaded a picture of my logs to show you that I’m not exaggerating. What this boils down to is that Barr Nunn would have to pay an effective rate of $1.25/mi in order for a driver to make what the top 50% of drivers average according to them.

One of the things that was an immediate red flag to me about Barr Nunn presented itself almost immediately. There were 5 other drivers with me at orientation. Barr Nunn has 4 terminals. If each terminal has 6 people in orientation, that’s 24 people every week. Now obviously that number will fluctuate, but it begs the question; if Barr Nunn pays so well, why do they have such a high turnover rate that a company of 600-700 trucks can hire up to 24 people a week? One would think that a company that pays as well as Barr Nunn purports with their home time and driver focus would have absolutely no problem with retention.

The reality: Barr Nunn is owned by Knight-Swift. As such, they are nothing more than a glorified training company. We would get 15 messages a day reminding us to do pre and post trips, slowing down in inclement weather, and how they would ruin our career if they caught us with any type of electronic device in our hand while driving (including scrolling through your gps). The first phone call I had with my team leader (what they call a driver manager), he reminded me that he was my supervisor 3 times. You drive a 65mph truck for the brief amounts of time that you are actually being a truck driver. The rest of the time, you’re basically a truck stop princess. And the straw that broke the camels back with me was when I started seeing 3rd party carriers pulling our trailers and loads. And that right there is the bane of Barr Nunn. They are in the expedited business. On time delivery is the only thing that matters. They plan these expedited loads at 50mph, and refuse to give the driver the benefit of the doubt. If you cannot be at least 4 hours early on the load, they will either relay the load or just give it to somebody else.

In conclusion: Barr-Nunn’s entire business model is a machine designed to run high turnover using the "Top Pay" badge as bait. They rely on the uncompensated 34-hour layover window to stay profitable while simultaneously grossly underutilizing their own assets and their drivers' available time.

My advice is simple: Don't chase the high CPM. Chase reliability, speed, and a company that respects your HOS clock. Don't be fooled by the moon.

 

I think you missed the point of my post. The fact is that Barr Nunn sells new drivers on the point that they are almost guaranteed to make 6 figure annually while still maintaining a healthy work/life balance. I turned down a local job hauling lime where I would’ve been home nights and weekends for Barr Nunn based on that promise. And when the rubber meets the road, I would’ve made about $200 less a month doing that job than binge watching tv shows at Barr Nunn. IF most drivers went to Barr Nunn because of the home time only, they wouldn’t have the turnover they do. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my home time as much as the next driver, but I can’t afford to take that home time if I only work 1/2 of a week every week either.

 

Thanks for the response, but you missed the key takeaway. My point wasn't about the 9 days off—it was about the insane amount of sitting time and the 1,800 - 2,200 miles a week.

The Math: To hit $102k with my schedule, I would have needed to run almost 3,800 miles per week.

The Reality: The company only provided 2,200 miles and was willing to use the 34-hour layover loophole to make me sit unpaid.

If Barr-Nunn was truly a 'top-tier' operation like THEY claim that they are, they would have provided the means to achieve their stated earnings, and I would have gladly made the $102k. Their failure was operational, not calendrical.

Lastly, if you truly believe that there are no companies out there that allow you to make 6 figures while having a healthy work/life balance, then you either haven’t been in the industry very long, or are incredibly naive. Walmart, most LTL’s, fuel and specialized fleets, and numerous door swinger outfits like Van Eerden and other smaller fleets will allow you to make a very good life for yourself, and give you time to enjoy that life.