Contract changes on my gig!!

OK, so the new contract my company signed has cut into my profit quite a bit. Here's the new layout, tell me what you guys think...

Loaded out of IL to S. Texas (4,500lbs in tanker) and come back empty.

Load pays $2,050 (to truck) plus FSC on ALL miles (.62cpm right now)

So I am getting roughly $3500 for the run, it is 2,700 miles round-trip. MPG is good due to light load, and it is drop-n-hook on both ends, plus 400 miles is bobtail.
After fuel and deductions, I am now bringing home $1,800 a week (was about $2,600)

Downside is I don't have a set work schedule anymore. It was leave Mon and back by Thurs afternoon. Now it's whatever they need it and if the plant shuts down for repairs then I sit at home making no $$$. I am planning on getting married in a year and starting a family, so not knowing what I will be working is not good either.

I am leaning towards going back to doing regional work pulling a van or maybe a flat since I'm in NW Indiana and have tons of steel here, and doing my own thing. That way i can work what i want and be home on weekends or whatever I want.

Just some thoughts?

 

That is correct, the .62cpm is my fuel surcharge. I posted this in the "Ask an Owner Operator" section cuz I wanted O/O responses, not company drivers. I am not a company driver because, yes I know some only make $300 a week!!

So let me try to clarify since I must not have done a good job.

The entire 2,700 mile trip pays me $3,750 this week.
I used $1,800 in fuel
My deductions include my insurance only, so I will change it on here to show my maintance and tax put away....so lets say $500 a week for that.

My bring home in my pocket is $1,450 (this week since the FSC changes)
Does that sound resonable for 2,700 miles of driving as profit? Because I feel i could do that here in the Chicago area and be home every day.

$1,450 is my exact cut-off for all my household bills and everything, so I think it might be a no-brainer here and I am going to have to leave to do something else.

 

That is the exact problem to a point. Some weeks they want me to do 2 runs and then I might have to take a few days off if they shut down, but would never last a week.

For example, I left last Tuesday morning and was almost home friday night when they informed me they needed me back in texas on Monday morning, so I had to turn and burn back. So as i was almost home last night, they called and told me they needed me to deliver my next trailer before my Tuesday's normal delivery (such as Sunday) so I would get 2 days off, then have to go back out again. Now i know some of you go out for 2-3 weeks at a time, but I can't do that. Life is much more important to me and I like to enjoy it with my family. When it was Mon-Thurs everything was great, but now the schedule is all over the place and i don't know if I will be doing 4 runs a month or 6 runs. Then if they have a shut-down for 2 days, then my schedule gets changed again.

I guess what I am saying is I don't like living on the edge of my financial burdens. Just getting by isn't ideal, but i have been out of the freight loop for a while and not sure if this would be considered a good deal?

I will make $1.29 for all my miles and they are all EMPTY miles.

Kinda regretting getting the new tractor since I now have a payment and the MPG is about 1.2 worse than the old truck..... but hind sight is 20/20

 

the rate got cut by $1,000 a run, which had me very upset..... now that I have had a day to figure it all out, it still makes me mad LOL..

I have several bills that are just a few grand left on the balances, and the girl says she would be fine if I had to be gone a week or two at a time if I could get them paid off. With my current run, i am limited to making what the route allows, as where if I leased on somewhere I could do a bit better on my income I think and have more diversity on hometime, and control my income a bit better. Not to mention retain this woman I love so dearly, as I have lost 1 already to this business and it's hours/days away from home.

For example, when I was leased on at Schneider, I was able to clear $2500-$3000 a week bring-home after fuel and all costs. That's how I got my 1st truck and motorcycle paid off. And i am thinking maybe i should go back to that for a few months and get the new rig paid for and the small bills gone, then I can relax a bit more this winter and not run as much in the snow and ice.

So in a nutshell, I made the wrong choice by getting the new rig, but it is saving me on my taxes the little bit I was paying, but now I have a payment I can't just get rid of w/o a loss.