I'm a carrier - Planning to give/sell ownership of my trucks to my drivers (Good idea or Bad?)

Well, you certainly have an interesting idea. However...
As a driver with a little experience who's currently looking at places to work...

I wouldn't take that.

First: 42cpm and only 50% of that when empty?
Roflnope

Second: freight comes from load boards and you have issues with hometime? Yeah, that sounds like nope again.

I understand you want to grow your business. Good for you. And sure, this profit sharing plan sounds pretty groovy. But, also in part like a huge rip off. So, you say that if I pay you 30% of the truck value in two years and then want to quit you'll calculate what the truck is worth now and pay me back that 30%? That's ridiculous. That five year old freightliner is barely worth the 40k right now maybe. In another two years and 220-300k more miles it'll be worth approximately as much as it weighs in scrap and you'll pay me 30% of that? Yeaaaa no.

Or are you planning on recalculating the value of the truck every month and then charging 1% to the driver? Because if not, pretty soon you're charging much more than 1% and calling it that. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me there

On top of that it's 1099... are there benefits? Vacation? Holidays?

You say you get apps from drivers that have experience and you only have two trucks. You'd be better off cycling through drivers until you find one that's stupid enough to stay than try this crazy plan.

 

Sounds like a win for you.

For a driver with no resources who wants to own a truck and has their head in the clouds it might be lucrative also.

Think very carefully about that last part. What kind of a driver is going to find that lucrative? If they don't stick it out all the way they're giving you a loan and giving you interest for the privilege.

 

Mate anything under 55 cpm your not going to get a good quality driver. Even at that rate it won't be easy.

Your talking 3-4k per month profit that then gets split?

No good quality driver will go for it. I know I wouldn't... I make more than that on a salary with a mega..

 

That's what I was hoping to hear. (Not that my opinion matters much) But If I was the driver/partner, I'd certainly want some input on such things

 

I think the $.42 is a tad low for an experienced driver, and if you're paying on a 1099, that makes it worse. (Although I couldn't see any other way around that) Now the profit splitting would make it more palatable, but I'm not sure it would be enough in the beginning to attract the type of person you'd want for such an adventure.

It's definitely a neat idea, really different from the norm. And I think that's why you are getting some not so positive feedback. Because it's different. As I said earlier, it could be a good deal for the right candidate.

Keep us posted on this, I'm interested to know how it works

 

I wouldnt do it myself crappy deal for driver , just do lp then sounds better the company driver , driver makes same amount money and he going to pay you for truck to make no more money really , driver has to make more money . The key is for driver to make more money

 

On a 1099 50-55 CPM considering the extra tax burden and lack of benefits.

Rough math at 42 cpm and 2500 miles a week the driver takes home less than $800 a week after taxes.

Instead of a dubious and overly complex scheme for the driver to buy the truck why not set up profit sharing? Each driver gets their base pay, plus a percentage of the net. The longer they stay, the larger a percentage. It's now in the driver's interest to run efficiently and they feel like they have a ownership stake so will stick around.

 

4 to 5 years experience will get you $.45 all miles loaded and empty, on W2 and benifits at a mega. You're compensation is not competitive and you will never afford more. Why? Because your running cheap freight

$1.65? The spot market average has been around $1.68 for a year, until last month. Now the market is hot and the rate is around $1.79. Heck ... The loads I pull for Swift are averaging $2.05 on all loads and the spot market loads average $2.55.

Your real problem is revenue. Your inability to retain quality labor is just a symptom.