how you get paid?

traffic or bad weather, pull over to the side and have a full course meal because you get paid no matter what. if you get paid by the mile, you can eat a banana as you crawl in traffic. we are allowed to drive 11 hours after coming off a 10 hour break. we are allowed 14 hours per "shift". ( after coming off a 10 hour break as well). if you drive 11 hours, you have 3 extra hours that can be used to log on-duty not driving time.

if you go somewhere and you run out of hours after you get there, you can still be on duty and load, unload, tarp,etc. for as long as you want....but you cannot drive again until you take a 10 hour break. as far as dropping the trailer goes or going to the store, it all depends on different factors, one of them being having permission from your company or the shipper or receiver. among other factors as well.

if you get paid by the mile, chances are that you will get a lot of miles each week and a traffic jam here and there or weather issues shouldn't be a major factor in your paycheck in the long run. everything fluctuates including how many miles you get each week.

 

Most drivers have to pay a special tax called the "Rand McNally Tax". It's not really a tax, it's a deduction. When a driver for most companies drives 100 miles, he is paid for about 92-94 of those miles. Some outfits I drove for paid me close to 100%, but the per-mile rate was already low. I guess I was in a lower income bracket and had less of a deduction, just like the tax system. I drove for SwiftQuit back in the day, and some of my runs saw me get paid for about 70% of the miles I drove. It all depends on where the city limits are in both the pick-up and drop locations.

It'd be great if all drivers got paid hub miles, but most drivers would milk their companies if that were the case. They'd drive the long way 'round to most destinations if they had the spare time so they'd get paid more. The Rand McNally deduction supposedly takes this into account. Yeah, right. Actually, the opposite case is the status quo. Companies have learned to milk the drivers by using special mileage-calculator programs. Every year or two, new programs come out and drivers discover the world has once again shrunk by a certain amount between program editions. I used to run a regular delivery between two points that were pretty much a straight shot. One year my deduction was around 7%. The next year my deduction was about 8%. I wonder if scientists know the earth is getting smaller that quickly?

 

Team drivers at Tri-State when it was Teamster were paid by the hour for the first eight hours of delay due to hazardous weather conditions. The company also paid the motel bills. When chains were required at Donner, we got a room hoping the weather would improve. After eight hours or so, we proceeded to the chain-up area. Once, a trooper stopped us from installing chains, saying that the requirement would be lifted within an hour.

Most of my long-haul driving was paid as a percentage of the gross revenue. It is assumed that the percentage covers delays, breakdowns, etc. Some loads pay better than others. Don't worry about it.

Now, I drive short-haul and I am paid by the hour from the time I log in until the day is finished. That includes lunch breaks, breakdowns, waiting time, everything. Some drivers work more efficiently than others. Apparently, the company doesn't worry about it. The hourly rate is not fantastic, but we get cash bonuses before each holiday, and a year-end bonus along with the 401K. They say each driver receives the same amount, but I don't worry about it.

 

Heyns, who do you drive for?

 

I retired two days ago from:

http://southshorecompanies.com/

The company published an employee profile about my driving career in their December Newsletter. The article was a surprise to me. They had been consulting my wife and keeping it secret. I missed the company year-end dinner on my last day at work because I was on the road. Wednesday, the day after Christmas, the company is providing pizza to honor my retirement. I don't expect many drivers to be there for pizza. Our primary customer, Bosch Braking Systems, is on holiday shut-down; and a few drivers may take the option of cleaning the trucks and garage rather than staying home without pay.

 

of drivers, old and new that can learn a lot from you. And your wife is one heck of a woman it sounds like.