New Driver Question On Percentage Pay

Another flatbed company that does the east is PGT trucking they start at 25% I think I heard transport Nation got some type of % deal.

From what I heard that both cpm and % got there ups and down to them but personally I never drove for cpm and I always been happy getting % or hourly pay for my time

 

% pay has AT LEAST as many ways for a dishonest company to cheat a driver as cents per mile. The key is to know the company and their character/behavior toward drivers BEFORE you work there. How they pay is not a shortcut to picking one company over another. Make any trucking company put you in contact with drivers doing the work you will be doing, and ideally living somewhere near you. As k those drivers about pay, home time, etc to make a decision.

 

Most flatbed companies around your area pay on percent. If you run regional, your home time should be good.

Take a look at the Daseke companies. They have a number of options near you.

 

I currently pull tankers on percentage pay. Two big issues:

1. There’s no way to tell if the company is being honest with you on what the invoice is. I feel like a few of the runs i make I am under-paid, however I can’t prove it.

2. You do a lot of work “not paid.” They will tell you your percentage takes into account loading, unloading, etc. But do the math...by the time you figure in the non-driving time your pay per hour goes down significantly in many cases. Your driving time will likely be a decent CPM, but I suspect a lot of companies fall short on the non-driving activity pay.

 

As a starting CDL drivers cant expect such wonderful things as percentage of loads. Get your one year driven. Then if you still want to own, get a truck and you can work for a company that pays percentage of load. Yet as I recently found. Having 7 months driven and a desire to be o/o isnt enough for the industry. So I must drive another 5 months after I heal up before I can start thinking of driving as a independent.

 

I like percentage myself, and here is why. If you drive by the mile, you know up front what your pay is going to be at maximum miles, which sounds great and is not bad. What happen if you have a short week or three? On percentage, you will still get about the same as mileage pay or even more on a short mile week, but you just might make twice as much. At the very least you have a chance to make it up on percentage, where on mileage, you just have a short week even at the end of he year.

 

words of wisdom but I've seen it go both ways.the first carrier I worked for deducted 10% from the rates.

A small fleet owner lost drivers 'because the % never changed' while the amount he was being paid was being shaved to stave off other carriers circling that work...

Could also be ANYTHING ELSE between these two extremes and you will NEVER know if it is fair or not.

 

I do not remember a driver ever asking to see, but they would have been more than welcome to see the rate cons, my OO's got a copy of it, with there pay.

My percentages stayed the same at all times, except when they got a raise. If a carrier pays percentages on 90 percent, that is ok too if that is what both parties agree too, it does not mean he is cheating anyone.