Pay as a L/P or O/O?

I'm guessing everyone is wondering about this question. You have lots of posts and six years experience. Do you receive a salary? Not trying to be rude, I just don't understand your reasoning.

In this industry pay is usually by miles, which vary. The rest of the time it is by %, which varies by what the load pays. That is a product of miles too. Why would you not base your pay as an owner/operator on the same model? It just makes good business sense to pay a portion of your CPM into each category of expenses. This way if you understand your cost of operation and don't run cheap freight the process is simple. When done this way your pay will be so many CPM and will vary based on miles traveled in the period.

In business, especially small business, I doubt many pay themselves salary. I seldom have in any of my business endeavors. When I did it wasn't an amount to brag about. It was usually what I could get by on. Most people just don't understand how hard it is to make a business successful. Unfortunately, in business the owner is usually the first one to be shorted if the money runs out. You can't get your fuel free. You're out of business if you short your maintenance/repair fund and breakdown. They won't wait for your equipment or insurance payments. You can't run if you don't pay for license or taxes. You get the point. There is only one expense to cut and stay in business.

Few small businesses are stable enough to pay their owners salary, especially a good salary. In trucking the only way to make it work is to know your cost of operation and put that portion of earnings from every mile into each category to cover the expenses. Everybody gets his or her slice of the pie. You just have to run hard enough and be profitable enough that the owner doesn't get shorted his pay. If you want more money you run harder or become more profitable.

 

Not sure what small business men you are talking to. It often takes years of building business before the owner can create a set salary. And then when times get tough it is the first thing to go. But for that sacrifice they are the ones that get all the extra at the end of the year.