how do you spot when a company has good benefits?

The $76/2 weeks your friend gets paid would MORE than cover the cost of the health insurance plan that I have. When I bought the policy 5 years ago, it was only $65/month...but it's up to $117/month now. BC/BS, $1750 deductible w/ 80% covered once the deductible has been met up to the $4750 max out-of-pocket limit after which costs are 100% covered. It is insurance, there to protect my assets and limit my liability in the event of an unplanned, unexpected, catastrophic injury or illness. It is not intended to pay for the day-to-day costs of living. I wouldn't expect my car insurance to pay for gas, oil changes, tire rotations, or tune-ups. I wouldn't expect my homeowners insurance to cover lawn care, snow removal, landscaping, paint, or window washing. If you DID expect your car or home owners insurance to cover the regular costs of owning a car or a home, the insurance premiums would be ridiculously high just like health insurance plans that pay for everything. The more the insurance company thinks they are going to have to pay out, the higher premiums they are going to charge to write the policy.

If you are receiving those extra "perks", it means you are paid less than you COULD be while you are working. Your employer can afford a certain amount to cover the costs of your employment. Every "benefit" he buys for you on your behalf cuts into the amount left over from which to pay you. Employment taxes. Workers comp. Unemployment insurance. Health insurance. Paid vacations. They are all costs directly related to your employment, and the more spent on those items the less that will be available to pay your wages. It doesn't matter whether you are working for a "good" company or not...they know what they can afford to pay you, and each "extra" thing they have to buy on your behalf reduces what they have left to pay you. Personally, I'd rather have the money in my pocket to make the choice as to how it gets spent for myself rather than allowing somebody who doesn't have my best interest in mind and is making the decisions based upon what is best for HIS bottom line. Just because a company buys a bunch of stuff on your behalf doesn't mean they are a "good" company. Hell, just about every bottom feeder company is going to have health insurance and paid vacation time, and some of them even have holiday pay. Does that make them better than the company that pays it's drivers $0.20 more per mile without any of those benefits? Give me the cash and let me make my own decisions on how best to spend it on myself.

...and I'm paid on percentage, and I'm pretty sure that my percentage is higher than yours. I'm also home every day and sleep in my own bed every night. If I don't make it home, I get a motel room because I'm paid well enough that I don't HAVE to sleep in a truck. If you are being paid double time to work the holiday, why can't your employer pay you more every other day that you work? If he wasn't making money based upon the work you were doing, you wouldn't be doing the work...so either the customers he services are paying him considerably more for the convenience of having a truck available on the holiday or you should be getting paid more on every other day that you work. The work you do isn't any more difficult. Most of the holidays I've worked, it has actually been EASIER than my normal work day...less traffic, more laid back attitude with the shippers & receivers I deal with, etc....sometimes I wish EVERY day was a holiday.

Hope that explains it a little better, but nevertheless your reply just reinforces the point that everybody is going to have their own view of what a "good" benefits package might be. You seem to be the type that wants things bought for you...and that's fine. There are plenty of companies out there that seem to be willing to do just that because a lot of people just don't want to be bothered with having to shop for insurance, manage their finances to save for retirement, etc....so they just pawn those responsibilities off onto their employer. I would rather my employer pay me what he would have spent in that fancy benefits package and let me decide what is in my best interest to do with that money. And there are many others who fall somewhere in between those two extremes. The OP wanted to know what a good benefits package looks like....and that is going to depend upon what he wants, because "good" for one person might be completely unacceptable for another.

 

I can tell you that I have been looking at alot of companys, as I am on a job search right now my self. It seems like the average going rate for a family is $75-100 a week. The worst price I saw was right around $150 a week by the time you paid extra for vision and, dental. The best rate would be my current job, I pay nothing for me or my family for GOOD medical, dental, and vision. I also have a free pension plan. The only thing I pay is $49 a month union dues. Oh, and I get paid $.53 a mile.

So your probrably wondering why I'm looking to find a new job. Simple I have been laid off three times this year already, including right now. I've been laid off for almost two months and they dont know when they'll be calling back. If I was young and single I would just ride it out on unemployment but with a wife and 2 kids unemployment just isnt cutting it.

So the reason I told you this big long story. Some times the benifits and pay might be great but it's still a bad job for you. Like I said if i had got this job when I was young and had put my 5 to 10 years in and built up some seinority I would prabrably stay here till I retired.

 

You're an O/O. There is no way that you can compare benefits with a company driver. You are never going to receive the same benefits as a company driver. You might think that they are unjust. You might think they are not fair. Nevertheless, you can't compare the two. You are entitled to your opinion but you already know that.

 

Sure, I may be an O/O now...but for the majority of my truck driving career that wasn't the case. I was a company driver for 7 years before I bought my truck. Even if I sold my truck and went back to driving for somebody else, my attitude about benefits wouldn't change. When I worked for a company that offered paid vacation, I'd cash it out as soon as it was available....so that I had the cash in hand to do with as I pleased....and then if I wanted to take some time off later in the year, I'd do so unpaid. Of course as a company driver, I also operated under the false assumption that "group" health insurance policies could be had cheaper than "individual" policies. Planning to buy my truck caused me to shop for an individual policy since I would no longer be eligible for a group plan once I bought the truck...and I was shocked to discover that I would have been $20 or so per month better off buying the same exact policy I was getting through the carrier I had been working for on my own as an individual policy. I also found a much cheaper option that works better for me. Even if I go back to driving somebody else's truck, I will NOT give up my individual policy. Why allow anybody else to control your situation like that? THEY decide what coverage level works best for THEM...and you either take it or leave it. Quit? Get fired? Pay ridiculous premiums under COBRA...or take your chances without insurance until you find another job and wait the 90 days for the new employer's group plan to kick in. Why put yourself in that situation? ESPECIALLY in an industry with greater than 100% turnover rates? The more thought a person puts into it, the less sense it makes to rely upon your employer (especially in this industry) to provide you with your health insurance coverage.

 

Lots of things do come into play with insurance though. A lot of the things my insurance pays for, say chiropractor visits and mental health care go unused by me. If I were in a situation where I did not have company provided insurance, or it was prohibitively expensive, I would most certainly elect to not have those things that I consider luxuries covered, and would have just a policy that would cover the bulk of any major medical bills like a surgery, or a bad accident.

Not to stray too far off topic here, but I tend to agree with Pedigreed Bulldog about us expecting or health insurance to cover far more than it should. Sure, its nice to go to the doctor for an office visit and pay a $20 co-pay, but how much more per year are you, your company, or most likely both of you paying to have that luxury?

As I alluded to earlier benefits needs very widely from person to person, and there is hardly a one-size fits all approach. Individuals have to evaluate what they want/need from a company and go from there. In my experience/opinion though an excellent benefits package is a good sign about a company, and can be a deciding factor in choosing a job.

 

Why put yourself in a situation that has you working for a company that has 100% turnover? Who's the dummy now?

 

Why? Just because I don't agree with YOU?

You get 1/52 of your annual wages for each week "paid vacation" you receive. You get that whether you take the cash as soon as it is available to you (at which point you can invest that money so it earns interest for you) or you can go blow it on whatever your heart desires. It is money you earned over the course of the last year that your employer has been holding for you waiting for you to ask for it anyway. I want my money NOW, so that I can put it to use benefiting me. You are content to wait and let your employer keep using your money until you're ready to take the time off. You aren't getting any extra by letting your employer hang onto that money for a few extra months.

You are pretty sure of yourself, aren't you? You just keep making assumptions, and not one of your assumptions is even remotely accurate. It wasn't just as a company driver that I held onto that false idea that group policies were cheaper than individual policies. Even in jobs prior to entering the trucking business, I relied upon employer-provided insurance without ever shopping around to compare prices to individual policies that were available. The last company I worked for would pay 100% of the employee's health insurance premium...or if you chose not to accept their policy, they would pay you $35/week extra. I could have bought the exact same policy....same insurance company, same deductibles, same coverages, same co-pay amounts...the EXACT same policy...for $20/month less than they would have paid me to not accept their insurance.

And you can keep wondering...you've probably never heard of them anyway.

If you want to know that information, try re-reading the thread. Heck, you even quoted the post where I listed the specifics of my current policy...so either you are responding to posts without reading what you are responding to, or your reading comprehension sucks.

ANY company's decision is going to be driven by the bottom line...and the "benefits" often are there to mask deficiencies in other areas. An argument could be made that the companies with the most expansive "benefits" packages are among the worst to work for, because they HAVE to provide enough "extra" stuff so that you'll be willing to put up with their crap. A "good" company doesn't need gimmicks in order to retain quality employees...they treat them with respect, give them decent equipment to run, and pay them what they are worth.

I didn't say the company I am affiliated with has a 100% turnover rate. I said the INDUSTRY has a turnover rate over 100%. source. You really need to work on that reading comprehension thing...

 

I didn't catch what company you work for now. What company is it?