Confused about driver's pay

Taking a step back and looking at the bigger 1-truck picture, you get an idea of what your rate needs to be to cover your costs and turn a profit. You've got $1.10/mi tied up the model above. All other expenses of running the business obviously come into play before profit can be realized.

The model goes to show what kind of latitude a $2/mi + fsc rate can give you in deciding what is fair to pay your driver, and how little a $1.40/mi rate will pay you over your basic expenses.

 

You have to factor in driver screw ups tearing up equipment, destroying tires, idling continuously, etc. A variable expense that no business plan on paper would ever be able to quantify.

 

This" is ONE of the problem's in our industry; (ie) buy a truck-find a Driver-deal with Broker's only (no contract's of your own) and play the "sit on my ###! I'm a Trucking Co. now! mind set. (ie) another don't know ****! about what I'm doing-but I'm going to do it anyway...parasite feeding off" some one ele's experience & and work...pitty to the Driver that is going to be the "learning curve" patsy of people like this! WTF.

 

If paying mileage, why would you pay a different rate loaded or empty? It is not the driver's responsibility to keep the truck loaded, why would he pay a penalty?

If your driver does not have choices and share some responsibility for income from the truck, the IRS will bend you over paying 1099. There are ways to do it, but you have to contractually cede some control to the driver, which unless you have the right driver (which you won't with your pay), it's cheaper to just pay the taxes.

Please don't come on here and complain about expenses and such as to why you can't pay a driver or whatever. Some of us here, myself included, have driven a truck just to pay our driver's promised wages in our other trucks when times got tough and revenue was below break even. What will you do if you don't break even? There are a lot of costs in this business, and profit comes down to pennies per mile in a lot of cases. If you don't know anything about trucking, you will fail unless, you hire someone that does.

So to answer your question, .35 for all miles, you take out taxes and at least provide Occ/Acc insurance, $12-15 for detention, $1-150 for layover.

If you're just starting out, you probably won't be able to insure anyone with less than 2 years experience. Go down to the truckstop and check out the books and see what crappy companies are paying and what decent companies are paying. Where will you fit in and what do you have to offer a driver besides your inexperience? Those big companies rely on recruiters that either have a quota to keep their job or get up to $2000 per driver to orientation.

 

Rent Truck to driver so u can 1099 him/her , forget workmans comp., % of what Truck makes is what driver gets! ...best way to pay! + a bonus at end of year if no trashing of Truck . AND I mean no bent bumper, curbed tires (ruined), air hose and cord ripped off, bent doors, drove overheated with no oil pressure to nearest truck stop that was JUST 20 miles down the road!!
good luck!

 

Do it that way, you can haul cheaper than the guy trying to do it the proper way, screw the driver so you can make money.
If the driver gets a injury where he can not work for years you have ruined him and his family.

If you figure out what it takes to do business the right way you will find the cost per mile and what the average load board pays don't mach up.

It's you choice to do the right thing or be just anothe cut rate carrier waiting to go under.

Ask yourself why a driver would want to work for you with no bennies or go to a good carrier that pays more, has bennies and probably a almost new truck. You are only going to attract problem creating steering wheel holders.

Sorry for the harsh reply, but the facts are the facts.

 

Reality check-anyone?
Does that mean truckin ain't fun anymore?

 

Trucking is work, always has been. Fun? no, but I enjoy my work.

was it fun when I started in 1974, no, very different, but still work.