How much does it cost a shipper to run their own equipment?

My dad went into trucking in 1980 when the housing market started to collapse and when he started as a greenhorn he made: .11 cpm which is equal to .32 cpm today (looks pretty close to what the greenies make today). In 1982 after two years experience he was up to .17 cpm which is equal to .42 cpm today ( wow that really looks like what most company drivers are making after two years experience today.) Is that calculator still wrong?
I made 3.00 per hr in 1985 at McDonalds which is equal to $7.01 per hr today, you mean to tell me that those working at McDonalds actually got better pay increases over the years then truckers. What is wrong with that picture?

 

I would like to thank the roughly 2% of the viewers for taking the time for giving their answers on the poll. I would also like to thank any who responded with their answers in a post as well. At the time I am posting this only 19 people answered the poll out of 761 viewers.

I have come to believe that truckers must be in the following categories

A. They honestly don't know the answer
B. They are afraid to know the answer
C. They don't care to know the answer
D. Even when the answer has been given to them they will not take the time to acknowledge that they now know the answer.

And truckers wonder why they are being taking advantage of. Hmm??????

 

I think the only ones that really care about cost of operation are those who run their own trucks or have an eye towards it as a future goal.[/QUOTE]

I thought this posting was in that arena, Maybe Owner Operators don't care about what they should really be getting paid anymore. I am like you, before I even bought my first truck, I tracked all the cost that I could associated with running the company truck to see if I could do it myself. Interviewed every old school owner operator that I could find by buying him a dinner or coffee to get the rest of the information that I needed. Took my notebook of data compiled it into a spreadsheet and came back with a rough estimate as to what my cost per mile would be, would my profit per mile should be and decided to go for it. I have been at it for five years on my own with four trucks, and earlier this year as good as my numbers were I realized there was something missing. I went and wrote another spreadsheet and started researching the shippers cost per mile. When I got finished and got the evidence to prove that I was right, I felt that the information was to important to just keep to myself. I also feel that with how degraded the price per mile is in our industry that I would need others to see the truth and help bring the rates back up where they belong. Looks like we are in for a long battle at this rate. Hopefully the independents that are stopping by this week and joining me will help spread the word. It is easier for another man to accept the truth from one he knows vs one he does not. Thanks for your response, when you are ready to take the plunge IM me and we can talk about the particulars that you will need to dive in.

 

I figured it is time to give everybody the answer, for those that take the time to scroll all the way down and read this. I doubt many will.

The answer is ranging from D - F $2.51 - $4.00 per mile.

I can only input so much possible data and only run so many scenario's. Each shipper will be different just like each trucker, and here are the reasons why.

We don't know exactly if the shipper is paying wages to their drivers from back in the 1980's, 1990's, or what todays rates should be. We don't even know if they are paying an adequate benefit package or none at all.

We don't know how many office personel to truck ratio they are using (I am using 1 - 10 in my formula).

They will receive a certain level of discounts when they go above the 20 or more truck range.

Given all those possibilities D - F is the range that is coming up over and over again. This is for standard loads and does not include multi-stops, layovers, and the like, they would cost even more due to lost time at the shipper and receiver. I hope this has helped the rest of you to understand that we need to be getting what is ours because if you are under those rates then you are leaving green on the table that should be in your pocket.

Remember the shipper would rather put it on our trucks to defray the liability that goes on in our society today. Truck gets into an accident the first place they head is the trucker/carrier, the next is the broker, the next is the shipper. That in itself has a certain level of value to it.

If I am wrong about the numbers than somebody needs to enlighten me. I can only work with the information that is available, and beings I am from Missouri, I sometimes need to be shown to understand.