Hourly or mileage

Not exactly true, dont forget all your Union shops out there that mostly pay by the hour and most local gigs thats how they pay. Just because the govt says most states dont have to pay OT dont mean that a good company does not have to pay it

 

That's a huge point, pay them for on duty time as well. If you really want to look at pay then let's look at hours spent on the job and pay the driver for all time spent in the truck..

OTR, if you're paid 40¢ a mile and you drive 3000 miles a week then for all your time in the truck away from home would come out to be $7.14 an hour.

 

I worked for a company that would not pay you for the first hour if you broke down. It was line hauling pulling triples for an LTL company. I broke down (fuel pump) about 15 miles from terminal one morning and after all the trouble shooting to make sure it wasn't me I laid down across the seat (day cab) and set my alarm clock for one hour. It was out in the desert and you could pull over anywhere just about.

After the one hour was up I radioed the company with our company radio and told them where I was. They asked how long had I'd been there and I told them 1 hour and 15 minutes. The guy started yelling and I just said look I don't work for free. Then he tried to trouble shoot the truck over the radio and I keep telling him I needed a tow truck. Another truck show up and we did get the set unhooked and that driver was telling me I started some sh-t and be ready to be fired. I said sure, I already had a job that was 100 times better anyway.

They didn't fire me but they were upset. I think any company that needs to pull this type of cr-p is not a company worth working for. And this one surely wasn't.

 

I too believe hourly is the only way to be truly paid for all of your time. However, in my opinion, you left out some critical information. It is obvious that drivers give up time to their company. You failed to list other expenses that the driver is responsible for. These expenses will cut into the drivers take home pay every time unless covered by the company.

For example;

Pre and post trips, fueling and in-route inspections? How about tolls and scales?

You mentioned breakdown time. What if you were put out of service at a weigh station. Does the driver just loose all of that time sitting there waiting for repairs?

What about the cost of living on the road? How much does it cost to eat, do laundry and take a shower every day?

You also failed to mention medical benefits and retirement. How much do drivers pay for medical insurance for themselves or for their families?

As for retirement, I am not sure how many can afford it after reading some of these posts on here. These plans seem to be 401K's with some type of company match. My question would be, if you can't afford to live on your current income now, where are you going to find extra money to put away for your retirement?

There is more but it is time to get ready for bed.

Drive safe

 

as a new driver i found it hard just having gotten my cdl to find any one that would pay a decent hourly wage id say starting out new drivers have to put in there dues otr at milage pay the companies who did pay a good hourly wage and would take me had other drivers with more experience apply and hired them.

 

from the ammount of work i do on the road i wish i was paid hourly i also live in st louis which has a high density of truck drivers looking for local jobs once i get my year or 2 of experience a local job for me will be no problem. but then again i actualy like running the open road