O/O Rates

What kind of fuel sur-charges are you seeing? TL right now should be about $.66 per mile. I am seeing half that at $1.50 base AND it's my own reefer trailer. Needless to say I will be movning from here shortly.

 

try local work by the hrs pays better less fuel home at night

 

try working where there is a fixed pump price

 

any suggestions? looking to buy a new truck again.. go back to the grind pounding pavement

 

Out here in BC, some bucket shop companies will offer you a mighty $1.60 to pull maxed tridems in the mountains. And when you ask them about the FSC, almost all will say it's built into the rate. What's the discount off pump price? Usually 3 to 5 cents. And my own ICBC discount is usually the same or better than most of those companies.

But beware!!! Some companies will pay for the fuel themselves. But of course, sometimes their fuel card needs to be loaded up and it 3 am. No dispatch, or if there is, nobody there to load the card. So you sit and wait. But then they'll yell at you about the load being late. And of course they tell you that the next time it happens, use your own credit card and they'll pay you back. Don't fall for that. usually you'll see it in 3 months. But by that time they've started stiffing you on pay. So they laugh as you then wait 2 years to take them to court, and most times the company has changed names twice by then.

 

Don't forget, the numbers shift all over the place, so don't just look at the price per mile, and then do your calculation to arrive at your take-home.

Almost all companies pay either by mile or percentage of the load. Quite often, it's the percentage that will make you more money. But you have to look at all the numbers in the pay packages. Yes, the cost of fuel and any surcharge and the price at the pump is the king number just after the price per mile. But then you have lots of variables. Some companies have fuel caps, that can save you a lot of money. Let's say the price at the pump is $1.35/liter, but the fuel cap for you is 43 cents. Woohoo, that really shifts the numbers. Some will pay for insurance, which is another monthly chunk of change. Some will pay for plates, again numbers change. Some don't demand an escrow account, which changes the numbers at the beginning portion.

Some will do all of these, or some of them. each contract is different. So if you're not good with numbers, it's best to find someone who is to take a look and crunch them all for you.

Bottom line, what you need to know before anything else, is your total running cost per mile for your truck. That means everything that you have to spend money on. From lease payments, to wcb, to repairs, to your mpg, to insurance, to plates, to road taxes, IFTA, etc etc etc. Let's say it's $1.18 per mile. Yes that's an insane number, but it can happen. Trust me, for my last truck, that's what it was, ugh. Anyway, if it's just a straight number like $1.70 per mile, that would be 52 cents per mile after everything else. Might as well just drive a company buggy for 55 cents.

But then you have the companies that will pay for plates, insurance, and every drop of fuel, and pay direct to you 90 cents per mile into your pocket. But hold on, don't light the fireworks yet. You still have all the costs for everything else to subtract from that number.

So, if it's a lowball mileage amount, and they don't offer anything else, walk. But if they do, then work it all out.