Running with JCT

While I was taking a break at the Loves in Skippers, VA today, a driver came up to me to talk about JCT. His personal situation reminded me of a very early post that I made about who is the best potential JCT driver. This guy says that he makes $.35/mile (If you found your way to this thread, Hi Mike!) and has to help unload pallets at small grocery stores. The work is very physical and he says he clears just $650/week or so. He's talked to friends and other drivers who have been in some bad lease programs, and his biggest concern was whether or not we can make any money with a lease. Well, absolutely!

When I write my essays on here, my target demographic is a company driver with one or two years experience as well as current lease operators. (Personally, I had almost four years experience when I joined JCT) A lot of the mega-carriers pay a two-year driver something near what Mike said he makes. For example, I was making $.34/mile with W/S plus some unload pay and bonus. I just finished an elog week (e.g. an actual week, not trips turned in) running over 3,500 miles at 6.8 mpg. I calculated that I profited $1,525, or $.42/mile for the week (Plus two cents per mile safety bonus). No, I don't usually run that many miles in a week! I count on running 3,000 miles per week and getting 6.8 mpg at minimum (7.2 mpg in summer) which would net between $1,100 and $1,200 depending on whether I bought fuel at an average of $3.90/gal or $3.70/gal.

One factor for lease operators that a company driver might not think of is that while we're taking time off, our average CPM goes down! Now of course, we all have to take some home time. But my typical 40-42 CPM that I make running all week drops below 37 CPM for all the miles that I run in a year because of time off. BTW, if I keep this truck, I will soon finish paying off my APU which will add about 3 CPM to my profits. Which reminds me, I'm paying off a truck as I go too. So just how much value is there in leasing to own a truck? Short answer: five cents per mile. This number may vary a penny or so depending on circumstances and resale value, but it's my best guess. With the miles that I drive and the time off that I take I figure that I'm earning $.44/mile including safety bonus and equity gain on the truck, but excluding extra stop pay. (And yes, I believe that a five cent raise is WAY overdue!)

So there you have it. A company driver making $.36 CPM or so, can confidently move over to JCT and AT LEAST make the same weekly paycheck while paying off a truck and enjoying more freedom on the road.

 

It's updated every Monday. This week it's $.44/mile and that's on ALL dispatched miles, loaded and empty.