lease with May

And I didn't mean that comment towards you I just ment that it's the difference between the 2

Steering wheel holder & the business person

 

We train to look at the hub as final gauge. And that would be the big difference. Getting paid a low rate on 90% of your miles or a better hub rate.

I know you are giving examples in saying look at the whole picture but it is also the trap that many mileage pay or low percentage pay drivers get into.

The say "look at all the things they give me. That is worth a lot." Hmm, is it really. Few drivers I talk to that start that way can tell me what that breaks down to per mile. When they do that they are shocked. They will use that and all sorts of other things to justify why $1.40 is better than what they are hearing on a high percentage deal or why that 60-70% deal is better.

When evaluating any deal you start high level. Rate or percentage. What is it? Area they run. Type of freight. But $1.40 range on an LP is a killer. All those benefits likely won't add up to more than $.05-.07 cents per mile.

But I agree 100%. When it gets to details you have to start looking at those items. But remember, many of the items are designed to make it harder to leave. Plates, they aren't cheap to get on your own and often require taking time a way from driving to do it.

 

I am totally redoing this post.

 

I would definitely consider myself a business person, and not a steering wheel holder.

In my time as on O/O I have had loads cancelled, I have had brokers lie to me and I agreed to take a load if they will promise me a decent $$$ backhaul load only to find out it was a total lie. I have grabbed great paying loads only to find out after getting empty everything with in 200 miles paid $.80 a mile out of there. I can name you ten cities off the top of my head that pay like that. I have towns like Denver that I avoid like the plague.

Every reefer hauler in N. America knows if you go into Seattle. Youve got a choice Yakima, Wenatchie, Ellensburg Wa. or down to Portland to grab produce. Well over your one or two percent dead head THEORY! From Yakima you might score a load to Cincinnati. From Oh. you might have to jump down to KY. for a load of whiskey. Flat Bed is the same way, big cities with lots coming in, but youre gonna have to dead head to get out of there or accept low rate per mile. Depending on the time of year you may be all together SOL!

Not to mention if you own a tanker, and its 500 miles to get your next load.

None of this makes a guy a steering wheel holder. It is doing what youve gotta do until you can find those magical loads. I personally have yet to find those magical loads that I can haul over and over and over again.

OTR to me is a lot like shooting a good game of pool. You dont generally get to take the easiest shot or highest paying load. Instead, what you do is set yourself up for that next shot or next decent paying load that doesnt leave you trapped.

The next thing wrong with your THEORY is we have been discussing company truck leases. A guy who is signing on with via company lease is not going to have to much say in what he hauls and what he turns down. Sure, he can do it once or twice a month and that wont be a problem. I can promise you the other guy dispatching him aint thinking about his one or two percent dead head theory. He is gonna shove ya the first load that works, or the first load his boss wants moved. He dont give a ####. I can also guarantee with one hundred percent certainty, if that guy get a rep of turning down load after load he wont be there long. Theyll either fire his ### or starve him out.

 

I think you miss my point ... If you happy with mileage that your perogitive ...

My point is guys Get into these LP deals thinking its the greatest thing ever to find out its not .. Being able to control your business is the key to success and most that can control their future are on % unless you have DIRECT FREIGHT CUSTOMERS ...

 

I'm pretty sure I did not call any one a steering wheel holder directly

I said its the difference sometimes between the 2

 

The easy answer is on percentage you get paid zero to deadhead which means you haggle on rates to cover the deadhead on your next reload so in reality you DO get paid to deadhead.. I'll take that over someone paying me a dollar twenty,that's what May or any company's buck forty will be on actual hub miles if that, all day long. There is no benefit at all to any contractor being extra capacity except for the carrier paying those guys so cheap, making it easier for them to cutthroat rates, while they laugh all the way to the bank.

 

Very well said

 

On mileage you get paid the same as the guy that has been there 20 years. You start at the top with no where to go. just try and run more miles.

Working on % if you are smart and work at it you can work into better paying freight. You have to work your way to the top.

Choose whatever way you like .