Hill Brothers Transportation: Lease vs. Company

With Hill Bros, how many miles have all of you been averaging?
Whats the rate of pay for lease ops? Is it % of load, or CPM?
Do you get a fuel surcharge or fuel rebate? Fuel Discounts?
WHat kind of trucks do they run? Options?

I'm looking to go with them once i hit my 1yr. I'm with prime right now, and they are a terrible place to work for. Every Hill Bros truck i see looks to be in great condition and the drivers look content.

 

I don't operate my truck like most other drivers, much less lease-purchase operators. That being said, in my first year I averaged 2,564 paid miles per week. The pay rate is based on the length of haul, between 90 cents and 110 cents, with deadhead miles paid at 87 cents. All dispatched miles, loaded or empty, also pay the DoE weekly fuel surcharge. In my first year I purchased about $60,000 in fuel, received about $42,000 in FSC resulting in a fuel bill of $18,000ish for the year. If you fuel in network (Pilots and J's) there is a significant company discount, ranging from 10-40 cents per gallon depending on various factors outside your control.

As I outline in my blog, my net pay after all truck expenses for my first year was just shy of $68,000.

The trucks are mostly Volvo 780's with the TriPac APU units, inverters and a large refrigerator. There are a variety of other trucks in the fleet (t-600's, some pro stars, petes and even a few Volvo 670's). I started with a new truck by design, though I'm told they aren't adding any new trucks to the fleet until cargo rates move back up. You can lease a used unit from the fleet with the value being adjusted by the miles already on it when you purchase it.

For more detailed information I would speak with Abbie Reed who is in charge of the o/o and l/p program at Hill Bros.

Good luck,

Jim

 

Thank you SO much Jim for sharing everything you have between here and your blog!

 

What do they say in the gut buster machine, diet pill, make a fortune in real estate overnight infomercials?

Results not typical. You should not expect to have similar results.

Jim is a rare exception. He is down for the money, not a lifestyle trucker. He is willing to sacrifice to promote his bottom line. He is a business owner from another industry, therefore he has skills that help him. He would be a success in any endeavor that he would choose. It's interesting to me that someone of his background and ability would pursue trucking as he has. All of us lease operators have much to learn from his ways...

 

Anybody tell me how things are at Hill Brothers . Im not seeing any recent posts ?

 

There was another thread here a week or two back (in the "Bad companies" forum if I recall correctly).

In short, a few years ago the pay package was changed around with the pay bumped up a bit and some expenses (IFTA, Qualcomm, transponders, etc.) being moved into the O/O side of the ledger. From my perspective it was basically a wash though they did away with the longevity bonus which has hurt going forward in time.

In April they changed the way the FSC is calculated from the DoE number to the same number minus five cents per mile. I'm told the reasoning is (on the part of HB, and to be clear I'm speaking only for myself not them) that if O/O's change their driving habits and get about .5 MPG more out of their trucks that this too would be a wash, financially. Since my own strategy is already to focus laser-like on efficiency and I don't have another .5 MPG to get out of my truck, this equates to about a $3,000 annual haircut for me, by my estimation.

I finished my lease last summer and elected to pay off my truck, which I still drive.

Good luck,

Jim

 

While I hate to disagree with someone who puts such a shine on my aura, I really don't see anything I do as a lease operator as a sacrifice, and nothing I do is a secret or difficult to pull off.

That having been said, having now spent five years (!) since coming to HB, starting and completing a lease, posting every number from every settlement and writing endlessly on my blog for more than 1,000 posts (some of which actually discuss the financial aspects of leasing) there have been remarkably few converts to my style of business. I've actually been called a liar to my face, for allegedly posting false settlement information ("No one can make money the way you drive!") and, of course, a company shill.

Depressing as it may seem, I could well be a rare exception.