how to pay drivers

To me mileage pay would be a curse because you'd absolutely have to run hard to make money. And if I was the owner I'd want less miles and more money as well as the driver. Structure the deal as a win win. And keep in mind that if your not offering any Benny's then the pay would have to offset for a smart driver. Realistic fuel bonuses would help also

 

I deadhead alot to go home. Probably 140 miles every week.

 

pay your drivers a wage that you would work for,,you don't have to give them the "ship" but a fair decent wage,
Back in the 80's I paid my drivers 28cnts/mile, others I knew that had more than one truck and had drivers told me I was stupid paying so much,,most were paying 15-18cnts/mile ..I still made a good profit and my driver did not look like bums and wanted to come to work,,driver turn over cost money and keeping drivers helps the bottom line,,I would ask my drivers what load they preferred but I made the decision what loads they were assigned,, I also helps to rotate the loads with your drivers, give all a chance at the easy loads and hard loads,

 

Problem with monthly bonus is it is too easy for drivers to game the system. Say you tell them $1000 bonus for 8 mpgs. Savvy driver will put in $500 bucks more or less from his own pocket maybe even reefer fuel off the books to make the truck perform 8 mpgs and still pocket an easy free $500 from you at bonus time.

 

Would that matter if he took the money from his pocket as long as he hit 8mpg you were looking for. now stealing reefer fuel, well we have flats so I'm gonna leave that to you reefer guys to regulate.

 

For solos I could see this working with percentage and bonuses. But FYI for teams the rate is far too low. The truck runs much more and the profits are much bigger. 40% of total revenue plus bonuses for a mouth breather team that makes no decisions on freight, fuel and toll routing is the norm. 45% or more for a set-it and forget-it autonomous team.

 

In theory that's a good idea the problem is not every driver is cut out to handle that kind of responsibility. There are even lots of o/o who can't handle it. Anyone who is good enough to manage a truck that well in those areas already has their own truck. Most drivers have to be told what to do and where to go.

 

And spoon fed said information to boot!

 

Unfortunately, some of these guys can't even follow WRITTEN and HIGHLIGHTED instructions.