brokers

I fully agree with you, but how many miles are you actually running per week? What is your ACTUAL average rate per mile, including deadhead. We can all just say no, but we all have to eat. According to my calculations, your truck cost should be about $1.20/mile. This should include everything but no earnings for you. Add 36c/mile as your salary and you're at $1.56/mile. So, if you're averaging $1.60/mile (true avg including deadhead), you're doing OK.

 

Who is paying .36 a mile? Prime? Who can live off that?

 

Reading this board, 36c/mile seems like a good rate. This is for an employee, not an O/O. My driver averages 2500 miles/week and gets paid on odometer miles, not only loaded miles, so he's happy.

 

900 a week doesn't cut the mustard. it's 200 a week just to live on the road. If I was home 2 nights a week and on the weekend that might work. However I do live in the Chicago;and area.

 

I can agree with that. But some of CHR's brokers wont budge for that set rate. Like its been said if your starting rate is 1.60 including everything your doing good. I tend to look around..If there isn't any freight coming out back home truck wont move and the phone won't come up to my ear. Simple as that. Its not hard! Just take your time some will hang up in your face and others will say thanks! I tell them my truck can't move at that rate...I need a little more for the fuel..if they won't budge. "Sorry man my truck won't move for that rate, but thanks!" Hang up on a good note even if they don't know who you are.

 

And are you paying Medical, Taxes, Workman Comp, Holidays, Vacation Because $.36 with no benefits is a rip off. And $1.20 operating cost wont begin to cover it. Most of you driver are figuring you cost of operating way to low. you leaving out a lot of the cost of operating a real business. the past couple months I have averaged putting 1021 miles a week on my truck and averaged $2312 a week with a fuel cost average of $550 home about every day and working an average of 3.5 days a week. I dont pay myself for tax reasons learn to do what major corp. do. I'm not out to get rich just turn a profit that what owning a business is all about. A lot of people think the large companies are cutting the rates hauling cheap freight no they are not its the O/O that want to get home or over to some better paying freight thats cutting the rates. To many desperate wanna be O/O mortgaging their house throwing away their kids education fund and brokers know you are desperate to make anything and so are they. Brokers running around cutting each others throat O/O cutting each other throat but shippers are willing to pay big dollars to get freight mover but why should they if the can move it free that just another golf trip and a big bonus for them. I have a brother that lives in that Corp. world million dollar home nice cars kids in private schools big bonuses couple times a year go to the casino and loose $10K and laugh about it ok his wife got a little mad, wife have a car that cost $0 dont even pay for the gas that goes in it and it is replaces every 3 years and she can go where ever she please with to include vacations. Its the bottom feeders that make all that happen millions of people doing this because you just want to make a living at any cost. You need to stop thinking like truck drivers and think like business owners. Quit thinking I have to eat and start thinking I have to turn a profit. There is companies out there that will pay you up to $1.74 a mile pulling their trailer getting fuel at their cost using their cargo insurance you can even get maintenance done at their facility at their cost, You can even go to a company that pays for a lot more at a lower rate, so why would you pull it for a broker for them rates or lower paying for all this yourself. I can tell you why its called lack of business skills and desperate to get the title Owner Operator. Why, cause you can go fast and pass the company truck guess what that company driver at the end of the year have made a bigger profit on his investment than you. Because you dont want some jerk in a office that dont know a thing about driving a truck telling you what to do well guess what now you got more people crawling up you butt telling you what and how you gonna do it. If all you want is the title go find a company that will let you put your name on the door and you can tell everyone you are a O/O but dont come out here ##### up a business that have cost a lot of sweat tears and even lives to build up. You have to remember the freight you haul one way to get home and that why you did it cheaper well that was another drivers bread and butter run you just cut him from. Now if he haul it cheap from you house so he can get home what do you have cheap coming and going. Before I haul it cheap I dead head why I was brought up old school in this business father and his friends taught me about this business and YOU DO NOT CUT ANOTHER BROTHER THROAT TO GET AHEAD. In case some of you didn't know back in the days driver considered one another as brothers when there was no cell phone Quad comm they bent over backwards to help one another. I was with my father once and came up on a driver broke down on the side of the highway well there was already about 4 truck there with him so why are we stopping well a couple of the drivers went on up to the truck stop dropped their trailers came back one took chain and pulled the truck and the other got the trailer everyone went to the truck stop and drivers started pulling out spare parts and wrenches and they spent hours fixing a drivers that they didnt even know truck went inside ate talk a little junk had some good laughs. Back then I was young so I didnt see the reasoning but that taught me a lot. It discuss me the way I see alot of drivers doing now days see a driver having a hard time backing in a spot and they will sit there talking about him on the radio or get out the camera hoping he will hit something like it will kill your ignorant a@@ to get out and help

 

So then thinking as a businessman, since you're so profitable, you would probably want to expand your operation. Get another truck, hire a driver. How would you pay this driver based on the above?

 

One I wouldn't buy another truck or hire a driver unless I get direct customer base under a contract once I achieve that I would have to evaluate my operation as far a pay scale and benefits and because I run short distance dont mean my drivers will I own the company And like I said i am not out to get rich as long as I can turn a profit, that how you make money once you get to where you think you can get rich thats when you go under trying to expand with out the necessary means. And like I said I have a brother that lives in the Corp. World I could and he even spoke with me about getting my foot in the door at his company which would mean I buy a bunch of dry vans enough to do drop and hooks get a bunch of trucks but I dont have that kind of experience and knowledge to run something that size and it would be a stupid move on my part because he dont have the say so of who and it would be to high of a risk

 

Why would any owner operator work for a company driver's wages? $.36/mile is not even a good company driver wage.