Per Mile/Practical Miles / Percentage

That's it!

If you don't like your pay deal then MOVE ON!

 

You will never get wealthy working that way, but if it works for you, that is fine. But for anyone who wants to get ahead in this business, you have to be willing to have some "skin in the game". That means, yes -- when something goes sideways, you take a hit. It also means that when things go right, you win big -- instead of owner take all.

 

So you're saying that's not one of the "thousands of ways to counterpunch"?

 

I do not think a driver is going to come up short if he works by the hour. Most shops work 50-60 hours/wk. The good shops pay O/T after 8hrs,Sat. Time and a half. Plus fully paid benefits. If a person can not get ahead under those conditions,my next suggestion would be to get an appointment with a financial planner. Right away!

 

It all depends on your perspective. You are worlds apart. I'll give you something - a job like that is head and shoulders above what's mostly out here in the wonderful world of trucking. And, if that's the height of your ambition, it'll do. The way I look at it that's a really boring, unchallenging, dead end job with no risk and no reward.

 

you wont get wealthy being paid by the hour? ups drivers are the highest paid company drivers around.

being a company driver, paid by the hour is the best, and fairest way to be paid.

Skin in the game implies to me that you are a company owner, or an owner operator. yes, you can make excellent money that way, but you don't realize there are owner operators that get paid by the hour? in many situations, anything other than hourly would be an insult.

 

no risk and a good living IS the reward. When you have no family, and no bills, gambling might be fun, but with my first kid on the way, i have enough on my plate, unneeded risk would be stupid. And getting set raises that will keep me in a STABLE good job as long as possible gives me more options to plan for the future.


it is much easier to get into your own truck than it is to land a job like the one described. just look at all the lease operators out there. prime or trans am will give anyone a truck, but do you think praxair or linde gas will give most of those people a job? i doubt it. but there is no risk in working for a reputable company, right? much better to have to worry about being fleeced by the company who loaned you a truck.

 

Plan for what? Working 48 weeks out of the year? Set raises that eventually top out.. Have at it... A company gig is a deadend gig regardless if it's UPS or Swift the way I see it. Nothing wrong with that if you're happy with the limitations on income and time away from work.. Not everyone who owns a truck is single and living out of the truck just to get by. We're also not all fleece operators. Yes I have worked for hourly pay as an o/o, the money is good, you're right hourly is cool I do like it. The ups and downs of freight are a part of my chosen path as well. I get my kicks out of that. Never felt that driving someone else's truck. But it's not for everyone. And anything could happen and I'm ok with it. Pick myself up and start over. I enjoy my profession and have fun with it at the same time.. We just look at this thing differently is all...

 

limitations on income? compared to what? most new owner op's around here don't do any better than a GOOD local job.not an "ok" job, but if you have a job making over 21 or 22 an hour, with a decent amount of OT, and benefits for cheap or free, whats the big pay advantage? The biggest advantage to owning a truck around here seems to be that you don't have to deal with as much management ########, and you get to run fairly regional, since there is still some steel to be moved around here.

i'm sure there are owner operators out there making over 100k profit, after everything else, but from what i have read on here and elsewhere, it seems to be a wash in a comparison between owning a truck or having a high paying local job. I always see high numbers quoted on annual income, but talking to local o/o's, it seems like they end up putting most of it into the expenses of the job. fuel, truck payments, insurance, maintaining the truck......

 

Where's Wall Drug? In Wall, South Dakota.