Time for Prime.....

Although I cannot speak to anything having to do with Prime Inc., I do feel that I am qualified to discuss cost per mile.

No matter what some of you may think, health insurance, although vital, is NOT a business expense. It is a personal expense and should therefor be removed from a calculation of cost per mile.

Most of the items that you have broken down are all over-estimated.

The cost of maintenance is so variable that without details of the equipment that you are going to be running it is not quantifiable. For example, I buy new trucks and have 500,000 miles of warranty. Due to this fact, my maintenance costs are very low(around .05 per mile). However, someone running a 5-7 year old truck with a million miles on it may be spending .15-.20 per mile for maintenance.

To get to the true point; I run a fleet under my own authority and have numerous associated costs that you will not incur(i.e. general liability insurance, trailer acquisition and maintenance, an attorney on retainer, an accountant and payroll service on retainer, and other misc. administrative expenses). Even with these added costs, my cost of operation per mile is less than what you are quoting. My cost per mile last month was $.9375 per mile including fuel but not including driver pay.

Those who lease to a company should be able to run for $.80 or less per mile if the have even a remote amount of business sense and discipline not to drive the wheels off of the truck. If they can't do it for that then either they are leased to a BAD company, or have no business being in business.

My final criticism(I promise); If you only plan to work 40 weeks per year, you really should consider a different profession. Perhaps teaching? Ask any owner operator on this forum how many weeks a year they work and you will find that most of them work pretty hard.(more like 48-52 weeks annually)

 

Hmmm... at one time I had slightly high blood pressure. I dont know anymore. I work in the oilfield now hard work. I enjoy it but im used to making 1400 every 2 weeks but lately Ive only been gettin 600 2 weeks.... I have to make 20,000 in the next 3 months to get me where I was at last year.

 

PS whats qualquam or water ever?

 

thanks a whole lot for the comments, i appreciate it very much......as to lease payments, i dont know, as i said in my post, i will buy, not lease......as to how long i'll stay out on the road, i think my estimate is reasonable.....their is no trucker i know of anywhere that will stay out 48 to 52 weeks at a time, further more if you count up the days, if i'm home for a full week a month, I'll be working more days out of the year than if someone were home every weekend....anyway, i'm loving this discussion with all of you guys....very informative.....

anyway, i dont want any of y'all to get jealous, but i've got to go work in my father in-law's hay field........loads of fun, just kidding....but we do get paid in the form of free beef every year

Later,
toe

 

eskimo,
i appreciate your point of view and value your comments; however, concerning health insurance, i'm looking at it from a 1 truck operation (me). I suppose if I were looking at it from a multiple truck operation, I would whole heartedly agree with you. Since I will be the only "employee", and since i want my health premiums to be taken from pretax dollars, i think I'll leave it the way it is for now.

Since were talking health insurance, let me get on my soapbox for just a second:

I think that in this country, we have a distorted notion about health insurance. I believe everyone should take an "ownership" approach to their health. For instance, the 500lb guy that eats all the wrong things, smokes, doesn't exercise, then expects everyone to contribute to his health expenses(insurance) when things go wrong. Which increases everyone's premiums.
Don't get me wrong, i'm a big guy, and i love to eat like any red blooded redneck, but i do believe in an individuals responsibility for their own health.....(sorry for the wild tangent....i'll get off my soapbox now)

later,
toe

 

Tommy....Hope the hay went well.....Better you than me...been there done that and don't wanna do it again. You can't figure your health costs in your costs for the truck.....the two have nothing to do with each other. Also....like eskimo said....the cost of maintenance is dependent on the truck. I know that we have a 600k mi warranty on the trucks that we lease.....front to back.....only wear items aren't covered. Also, the leasing company takes out 1.4 cpm and puts it in a tire fund.... and 2.0 cpm in a maintenance fund....any remaining balance at the end of the lease.....you get back. I also know that one of the drivers on here... Slick50...was doing good enough with Prime that he went and bought a new truck and leased it right back on with Prime....last I heard he was doing great. They also have what is called the ACE Lease program where the driver pays a certain amount down and you get to set up the truck of your choice the way you want it.....sign either a 3 or 4 year lease/purchase agreement....and at the end of that time depending on how you set up the payments either get your title or have a payoff. Last time I was in the yard @ Springfield....one of the guys got his title after 3 years of paying and he only had 420k on the truck....still has 180k left under warranty! AND.....NO TRUCK PAYMENT.....that should last him over a year before he even has to think about any major maint. issues....and the difference will be enough to nearly pay for a new truck when he trades it in @ 600k. Also, eskimo wasn't saying that people stay out for that length of time solid.....but, most don't take off more than a couple of weeks a year. If you want to be home a lot.....get a local job.
PERIOD. Most here will tell you the same thing.


Bso....you really need to talk to someone. C-Seat co-drivers are guaranteed $600 wk here. And, as long as your BP is less than 140/90 you won't have any problems with the physical. I sent you a PM last night.

And Qualcomm is a computer system that allows you to stay in contact with the company......It also allows them to track your truck....tell how fast you're going (not that that matters here.....they could care less what you're doing as long as the freight gets there on time), and lets them monitor the trailer to see if there are any problems with the load. It sure beats using your cell phone and sitting on hold.

 

I didn't get the PM. They are talking about starting me out B1. I'm not sure what to do. They are talking about getting me a promotion. Bad thing is I will be in charge of 2 man crew and driving a pickup. Being 22 and in charge of people twice me age doesn't sound to much fun

 

hey steve,
its been awhile since you last posted, i hope everything is going OK.....

let us know how your doing....doing without your post's is like missing my fav. tv show

later,
toe

 

Seconded!!

 

Sorry for the lapse guys! We've been a little sick the last few days.....or, I should say....the boss has been feeling poorly! LOL Well, this past week we started out emptying in North Platte, NE.... Had to deadhead 450+ miles to Des Moines, IA to pick up a frozen load going to Jersey (Yuk) City, NJ....1500mi....$2250.82....emptied out 9/27... Couldn't refuse. Reloaded right around the corner for Bedford, PA....273mi...$522.44....Delivered 9/27....Cool, so far....next load....Deadhead to Martinsburg, WV (87mi) to pick up Newspaper inserts (0200 P/U time) going to Pittsburgh, PA (182mi) for SATURDAY.....$542.96....Called my Dispatcher...."Hey man....you know how much I love sitting on these short loads....Is there any way we can get this off tomorrow(Friday)"??? He says...."Let me see"....then I hear nothing else.....Until around 7pm.....New appt time 0900...FRIDAY...!! Well, my wife says....you need to be careful what you ask for.....LOL....Great gal....always there to help me out! Well, we got it there about 30 min early because we didn't get loaded until around 0400! Not to mention....Pittsburgh morning traffic on I-279!! I never knew the Post Office could work so fast....took them about 12 min to unload the trailer from the time I bumped the dock and took in my paperwork.... Soooo, we're empty in Pittsburgh....Mama's sick... I call my man in Springfield....tell him we want about 1000 miles for the weekend......He says...."I'll see what I can do." We wait about another 12 minutes.....We're on our way to Parkersburg, WV....150mi Deadhead....then to.....you guessed it....one of my all time favorites....MASS....Worcester, to be exact.....655 miles....$1299.00....Including Deadhead....totalling 808mi dispatched....848mi actual.... So, for the week.....around 2900 mi.... $4615 GROSS... Right @ $1.57mi. Gotta get Mama trained!!!