Inquiring about California Farmers' Produce Shipping to the East Coast: Destinations, Shipping Costs

There are 3 different ways truck drivers are paid. It varies by company, and often within the same company drivers hauling freight for this account are paid one way and drivers hauling for another account are paid a different way.

Drivers can be employees of the trucking company, or own and operate their own trucks, or something in between called 1099.
Drivers can be paid per mile of travel (with important details omitted), per hour of driving or on-duty time.
Drivers can be paid a percentage of what the paying customer pays for the shipment. I would guess driver gets maybe 25-35% of what customer pays.
Drivers can also be paid for waiting time (Detention pay) which often has important exceptions such as detention will only be paid if you arrive on or before your appointment time, or only paid after you wait X number of hours (2 hours is common), or "this customer doesn't every pay detention pay."

I was only ever a company driver employee. I never paid operating costs of a truck and had zero interest in doing it. I was paid by the mile and with additional detention pay for maybe 10% of my waiting time. Everything in trucking is complicated because of specific circumstances and the regulations. The govt doesn't recognize a 24 hour day in trucking, just a series of clocks that control how much driving can be done, how much working can be done, and how much rest must be taken. Hours of Service is the branch of the regulations.

If you want to get real numbers wait for other owner-operator truck drivers to answer here or ask freight brokers who bid to move freight and then put that freight out to be bid on my trucking companies and owner-operators.

 

Might wanna spend some time researching

https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/fvwtrk.pdf

 

#1 is easy; Hunt's Point, Bronx.