You MUST read this! It helps me prove what I am trying to get you to understand!

Someone told me on the board (forgive my forgetfulness) it's about quality not the quantity of the miles

It's not all about miles per se. It's the money you make with the miles. I can get loads that pay me $2K for 1000 miles or $2K for 1500 miles. Uh, not hard to choose.
Well this applies to O/O's anyways.

 

But, when are the other O/O's going to figure it out and stop pulling loads for only fuel money?

Mark

 

Several experienced drivers on the board have tried to educate and pass on their knowledge. Only so much can be done at this point in the game. Time for "Darwinism" to take over and the industry will have the best and the brightest to depend upon for their loads.

 

Ron - sorry. Military time was in the Coast Guard. Gotta be tall so when the ship sinks you can wade to shore, don'tchaknow? (probably doesn't apply now - they're not working with Navy cast-offs any more). Army and Marines.. too much like work. Air Force.. too effeminate for my tastes.
Navy.. don't like crowds. Plus, my paternal grandfather is at the bottom of Ironbottom Sound.. Joining the Navy just seemed to sit a little crosswise in my craw...

notarps - thanks for sticking up for me

Markk...

I know those driving numbers are completely unrealistic. They are a completely 'best case' scenario - no stops, no slowdowns, etc. But it DOES give a base for comparison, which was the intent.

35 cpm seems to be a pretty average pay rate, from what I've seen. I'm willing to be wrong.

so, 35 cents times a theoretically possible 660 miles = $231 per day.
$8 (let's round the min wage up) times 24 hours is $190 per day

I picked 24 because even if I'm not on line 4, I'm working.

ergo, you would need a minimum of $10/hour (averaged over 24 hours) to offset the *possible* pay per mile rate.


Are those numbers really out of whack? I'm not talking what actually happens here - look at this as an exercise for somebody writing a law. Potential earnings are what's counted.

 

No problem lurch. We all started out new at one point or another. I have never forgotten that. There is a lot of new tools now. This board is probably one of the best tools a newbie can have. Lots of info here.

 

Lurchgs..

more realistic would be 3000 miles per week, so 7 in to 3K is 429 per day.

429 miles time .35 is $150 a day.

$159 divided by 11 hours is $14.50 an hour. I use an average of 11 hours day, when I drove OTR I hardly ever went over 11 total hours on line 3 & 4. Some days I went to the 14, but on other I only went to 8, I think 11 is a good number.

I think the above number are more realistic, What do you other OTR drivers think?

Lurchgs, I was not trying to pick on you to much, but you haven't even run in your own truck and lived your own OTR life yet. It takes time, and we all started at ground zero at one point. I just don't think you have a total grasp of OTR yet.

Mark

 

Markk -

I know that's more *realistic*. I even know that from my limited time on the road. Some days I drove all 11, some only 3 or 4.. and toss in the 14-hour rule, it gets messier. But As I said, I was basing my numbers on possibilities, which is how anybody making rules is going to look at it.

I think, also, that it will have to be based on responsibility time, not just on duty time. Questions of responsibility come into play, there. If I can't walk away from the truck and come back to it later, I am responsible for it. Ergo, I'm still working. I may be asleep, but I'm on the job. If I'm not being paid, I have zero responsibility. I can go watch a movie while my load is stolen - and I could not be held accountable by anybody.

I think that's the discrepancy between us - you are basing your expectations on drive time, and I'm saying the numbers need to be based on .. well.. responsibility for the truck.