Hi everyone, I am new to the site. I am a 34 year local truck driver who became an owner operator hauling crude oil in the ohio Valley less than 3 years ago. I started with one driver and slip seated with him, and over a year ago I expanded and have 5 trucks. Each driver works 5 days a week and is home every day. They work 50 to 60 hours a week, sometimes up to 65 hours. I give them 6 paid holidays a year and 6 paid vacation days a year and it is $300 a day. I offer hospitalization and pay up to $1000 a month to their premium, and they get 35% of gross. If they don't want hospitalization, they get 40% of gross. Each driver is on pace to make $110000 a year. The job requires very little physical labor, and they don't drive more than 200 miles a day. I treat them extremely well and am pretty lax on things. My problem is several drivers have quit, I fired one, and one fired himself with a big safety issue. I am down to 3 drivers, and 2 drivers miss work a lot. One worked all year, and has missed about 20 days. I tell him to work extra days as a make up, and he refuses. I getting close to firing him. He is a excellent driver and a hard worker when he works, but money isn't motivating him to come to work consistently. To add to the puzzle, he has never made more than $50000 a year in 20 years of driving. Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong? I know I am too easy on them, but am I paying them too much? Thank you, Ken
Drivers pay
Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by Ken Ro, Dec 7, 2019.
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It’s hard to find good guys anywhere now a days.... there’s a reason why we are owner ops and they are just drivers...
88228822, FlaSwampRat and dwells40 Thank this. -
People are lazy.
That's the problem.
The better you make it for some people... the more Diva they become.
You'll get lucky eventually and find a real driver or two, and your Biz will flourish.
And you'll be able to sleep at night without worrying about children in the equipment.novastar, FlaSwampRat and Midwest Trucker Thank this. -
Sick days and vacation days should be earned, not just given, some of the perks they have should be earned.
If you give them out like candy its worthless to them.
Remember when you where a kid you broke a toy? Did you care? Probably not, because you didn’t pay for it. Soon as you earned money and purchased something and then you broke it? Remember how mad you got?bryan21384 Thanks this. -
Have you asked him what the problem is?
Also don't go below 40% -
buckmanmike, FlaSwampRat, Coffey and 1 other person Thank this. -
Also, for a small company perception is a big factor. If your “A” or All Star drivers see you keep around a B or even C driver then it will only frustrate them and they’ll leave. You end up left with only the crap guys. If they see you be caring and sensible about things, but expect them to bust ### and be dependable, and if someone steps out of line their ### disappears, then you’ll get much more respect.
It’s a tough ### deal all the way around. I’m 35 and am running 10 trucks and a little brokerage but I also took 12 yrs to get here. So, I can relate a lot with what your saying.
Ps. Never pay a percentage, offer a very high weekly guarantee. Assuming they actually work all week. -
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Are you looking for drivers I take it? I'm in the area you are in and used to frac
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