How much is to much or not enough?

If you barely have any money left over at the end of the month .... maybe you should figure up what exactly you need per mile and then talk to the company .... maybe going to $1.30 / mile will help you

Just depends on what you need to break even or have a little extra each month for an emergency

 

I'm not sure that running locally, I would want to have the trucks running on a per mile basis. Since you are local, you are going to have a lower average speed, and not do very many miles. My best guess is that if the trucks are running prety steadily, then you should be making about what a dump truck running in the local area makes.

Is there any kind of cost protection concerning your fuel costs, or are you eating that as well? 1.25 is very close to what companies pay their O/O's when you combine the fuel surcharge with the per mile fee, and this is in deals where the truck runs 2500 miles per week to make the numbers work. And from where I sit, those are close to starvation rates anyhow.

Unfortunately, there are probably others that would be willing to slip in and take the work from you, which means that you don't have much of a bargaining hand to play here. I'd do whatever it takes to get the money up where it belongs, but if you aren't making any money at the end of the month, then you need to do something fast. One blown engine or trans can wipe you out when you start running on the financial edge.

 

Burky's right, you shouldn't be charging by the mile for local work. Perhaps a flat rate per load or pound would be more appropriate. Dumpers usually rent out by the hour; we have a tandem dump (I don't remember why we ever bought the thing; it's an '03 T-800, C-12 Cat with a 14 yard Ox demo body, 43,000 miles on it) anyway, occasionally we haul dirt and aggregate in it for some local contractors, we charge $65.00 an hour from our yard with a four hour minimum. It doesn't roll much anymore 'cause I'm the only one in the partnership with a CDL and I'm out of town four days a week.
Hourly rental may be a possibility for your operation, but in order to ask for more monetary renumeration (pay) without getting eaten by the competition, you may consider ways to add value to your services. You know, offer to perform something extra that the other guy can't or won't do.
rx