Paying my guys?

They are thinking as a union on you. Why put in a lot of production when we still get paid anyway. The percentage pay is going to make them come back to reality. You get paid for what you produce . You're going to have to be in the 25-30% range. I can see their faces when you announce the changes.

 

If they’re w2 I’d say 25% of the gross would be about the minimum. Percentage needs to be higher than that if they’re on a 1099.

 

Short runs are All you need, bid them correctly and you can pay them to not wear the truck out for no reason, or 26-28% depending on other benifits

 

Why not do a minimum hours worked for the guaranteed pay, or do % based on what the driver wants?
Or simply make it a rule to not accept runs less than x miles, but that can be a problem if they are independent contractors.

 

I wouldn’t discourage sort runs like that because you have the potential to make way more money if you can turn a couple in a day. I have been on both sides of this and would suggest making whatever rules on a weekly basis so if their day goes ####ty you don’t have to figure out what to do. I don’t know your exact situation but I would give them a low base salary per week and then tell them that they keep x% of what thier truck brings in.

 

Simple, YOU pick and dispatch the loads. If they don’t like it, there’s always another in line to do the job. Act like a company/boss.

 

You allowed them to run your business.
You are right in short runs like that. But nowadays you can't find those prices. At least not in the Midwest.