Brock Express - an unknown gem of a company?

I see these trucks out here on I40 quite often, though I never talked to any of them. Nice shiny black trucks with flames on them. Curiosity (the type that kills cats), got the better of me.

Saturday afternoon. Vrrooom ! There goes Brock Express for the 3rd time in 240 miles. So I key up and say . . .

Me: "You got it there Brock"

Brock: - "Thank you driver"

Me: "How many trucks that outfit got?"

Brock: "Oh, about 20 I think"

After a little more ####-chat about where they ran and what kind of freight, I gleaned that they had worked there 10 years, ran produce doing 4-5 pick ups and 2-3 stops, Backhauled dairy with 3 or 4 stops, and did about 7,000 miles a week. So here comes the big question -

Me : "So how much they pay per mile?"

Brock: "They pay per load, it's about $1,700 a trip"

After a little mental math, and a puzzled look . . .

Me : "That's a little low isn't it? Have you ever crunched the numbers on how much per mile that is?"

Brock" Yeah - it's like 23 cents per mile or something"


Wow, I thought - 10 years experienced team drivers, still working for 23 cents a mile. I was about to ask her if she had hazmat and doubles, and why not come and make 3 times the pay here . . . when she nailed me with it . . .

Brock: - "But I didn't tell you one more thing; (and I could almost see the gleam in her eye and smile on her face) - the trucks are governed at 80 mph!"


So, there you have it. I didn't go on and tell her that her fast truck wasn't getting any further ahead with her stopping all the time, or that her truck needed to go 180mph for the pay scale to match . . . it just gave me something else to ponder for the next 400 odd miles. It baffles me that you could do a job like that for 10 years and never step back and look around at other companies and ask a few questions. I guess it separates us from other types of drivers - on the list of "Top things I need from a trucking job" - pay is pretty high, as is home time. Chrome and speed is not - and I'm not knocking that either.

Any thoughts - fire away! Any Brock Express drivers that can clarify are most welcome to.

 

She did also say in the mix that they started off on $1500-$1600, 10 years back - and that she didn't know what they paid new guys or solos . . . $1150 divided by 7,000 - 16 cents ?!?