Gross pay to truck

You guys are right, 85% of nothing is pretty much nothing. One thing is for certain... We can't control the rates but we can control our costs.

 

I get 67%. All their trailers. 40-50% drop n hook. Flats. 20-25% DH. Avg $ for paid miles is 1.85-2.10 depending on the customer and how far. As previously mentioned: 3 short runs makes lots more than 1 long one.

 

I agree, I get 80 % but I dont care if I get 99 % 99 % of a low rate aint worth it. the bottom line is what matters. I used to haul plastic pipe at 75 % but it paid approx $3.00 a mile, so that 75 % paid better than the 80 % I now get hauling steel.

 

I get 98% on company freight and 92% on broker or other loads...

 

There are two kinds of costs to run a truck, fixed and variable. Fixed costs are the ones that are the same every month regardless of whether your truck is sitting in the driveway or careening down a mountain road. Variable costs are those that are incurred while careening, cruising, or even idling. Things like fuel, maintenance (escrow), etc. One cost many forget to add is your own paycheck.

Variable costs are calculated by the mile. For operations sake, fixed costs are added up and divided by the number of days you intend to work over an operational period, month or quarter.

When these numbers are pulled together, an operator can determine what the operational costs are for a given trip. Anything above that number is pure profit. The reason it is profit is because if you have done the calculation correctly the number the model provided you covers all your costs including your income. Any income above that is, let's call it your bonus.

When using this model you can determine if a quoted rate is profitable or not.

Profitability should also be considered over a period of time, a month or a quarter. For example, naturally you want every load to be profitable. But, sometimes you get somewhere where the loads coming out are not paying much. You can deadhead 300 miles and pay for it all or take a less profitable load for that 300 miles and defray some of the costs. When you throw your revenue for the month into the model against the miles you put on your truck what matters is the percentage above your costs, the pure profit or margin.

I do this in an excel spreadsheet that calculates the cost for any given trip and also let's me enter data for a series of trips.