Miles

That means he’s paid based on the Household Goods scale (HHG) which calculates the miles between two points using the shortest route which is by no means the quickest or best route for a truck. It’s old, antiquated, and been around for years. There will always be shorted miles known as out of route (OOR) miles. These usually add up to roughly 10% of paid miles being free....pro bono....no pay.

Other companies pay practical miles. These are much more accurate and tend to route the mileage calculation using the fastest or best route like using a loop around a major city and driving a few extra miles to stay on an interstate where the old HHG movers guide will pay a route consisting of more back roads and straight through city centers where often times commercial vehicles are forbidden.

Very few companies dictate exact routes, it’s usually the drivers discretion as to which route to take.

Sometimes you’ll hear of companies that pay “Hub” miles. This is not very common BUT the drivers are paid off the odometer miles which means they are trusted to take the best route that benefits the customer, carrier, and driver.

Here’s a good discussion from a few years ago that goes into more detail.

Comparing Practical-Mile pay VS PC Miler/HHG?

 

Company uses a dispatch route software that calculates the distance from both points and it spits out a number... In this case it was 1685.... That is the absolute SHORTEST distance to drive between the 2 points... How ever it is very rarely the FASTEST way to drive between the 2 points...

I'm not about to run the county roads to shave a few miles when it will also add a few hours to my travel time. The company pays me for the SHORTEST route possible... How I actually get there is up to me as long as I'm not late or put extremely excessive miles on the truck unnecessarily.

I loaded in Rigby, ID on Wednesday late in the morning, dropped trailer in Lima, OH Friday evening... had to wait until Saturday for an empty trailer (from same place I droppoed the loaded one) which I then load in Lawrenceburg, KY also on Saturday... bright and early Monday I offloaded part of the load in Denver, CO... bright and early tomorrow (Tuesday) I will finish off loading in Salt Lake City, UT... then I will probably either switch trailers in Spanish Fork, UT and take new trailer to Idaho Falls, ID... OR... I will deadhead from Salt Lake City, UT to Idaho Falls, ID.

I do this all in 7 days, and 70 hours or less of driving and on duty time combined... I don't have time to dink around shaving miles at the expense of my time... Time is $$$... both mine and the company's. I spend my days driving AND mentally going over how many miles I have gone, can still go, how long that will take, where I'm going to park, will there be parking available, will that location stage me so I can make my appointments on time or early, do I need to call and let them know I will be late... Or maybe early... And that doesn't even take into account weather considerations, construction, time allowance for repairs if needed, ECT, ECT, ECT...

As I said... I give away a few miles every dispatched stop... Not because I want to, but because that is the most efficient way I have found to do this job. I make more $$$ faster, and get to be home with my family sooner and more often.

Hope this gives you little insight to the trucking world... It is a good honest way to make a living... But it is not for everyone... Think long and hard before diving into it as a career, especially if you have a wife and/or kids. Its even harder on them than it will be on you... Trust me.

 

You type faster than I do... But still explained the same point in different terms... Thanks for the help.