Are your miles close to "their" miles?
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this is always one of my peeves with some of the expedite companies. I think they need to ban together and stop offering their accounts these rates. They are offered as HHG miles. They are essentially a joke. Short of account retention, I don't think any companies could defend using this system.
Currently, there are two lawsuits filed against Swift Transportation for using this method.
We used to be with a Toledo, Ohio company that hauled alot of GM freight. We left when we figured we were giving away over 1,000 miles a month. 50 miles on a load, 100 miles on the next, it starts to add up quickly. At that time we were only getting a $1.00 a mile, and every so often, 1 to 3 cents on a fuel surcharge.
That brings me to the second one. Companies that keep a portion of the fuel surcharge. With the high fuel prices ect, that issue is slowly surfacing to the top. I think carriers just need to practice alittle honesty with their drivers and eliminated the above game playing. As the driver pool keeps shrinking, the ones that address these issues, will be the ones that survive
Currently, there are two lawsuits filed against Swift Transportation for using this method.
We used to be with a Toledo, Ohio company that hauled alot of GM freight. We left when we figured we were giving away over 1,000 miles a month. 50 miles on a load, 100 miles on the next, it starts to add up quickly. At that time we were only getting a $1.00 a mile, and every so often, 1 to 3 cents on a fuel surcharge.
That brings me to the second one. Companies that keep a portion of the fuel surcharge. With the high fuel prices ect, that issue is slowly surfacing to the top. I think carriers just need to practice alittle honesty with their drivers and eliminated the above game playing. As the driver pool keeps shrinking, the ones that address these issues, will be the ones that survive
My understanding of my company's practice is the customer charge is based on Household Goods HHG mileage plus 5%. We are quoted an offer based on 58% of the customer's price for a run that is indicated to us as practical miles. This is closer to miles actually traveled. In reality we accept or reject an offer partly based on our pay and the miles to be traveled. So then, does it really matter how many miles the customer is quoted so long as the dollar per mile is within a range acceptable to you?
it depends on how your company is set up. I am assuming @58 percent you are with Fedex. On a percentage plan, if you are receiving what you think is a adequate rate to cover ALL your miles, then you are in good shape. The only other concerns would be that you are getting 58 percent of that run? The other would be are you receiving a fuel surcharge and are you getting all of it or 58 percent of it? We are paid milage, so a HHG rate would be different than a PC Miler rate.
You're correct in guessing my affiliation is w/ FedExCC. Yes we get 100% of the fuel surchrges when they are applied to the tariffs, Some companies don't pay it due to contractual agreement with the carrier.
I quess alot of this would depend on what are you really running at per mile. Our company on occassion will have a load that doesn't have a surcharge. I will run them but only if I am out west (slower area for freight), or it takes me in a direction I want to be heading. In todays climate I don't think anyone could afford to run these type of loads with any consistancy. As the driver pool, higher operating costs, and available of equipment becomes scarce, I think alot of these companies are going to have to pony up to the table.
Tri-State use to be one of the biggest abusers of using HHG miles. Because of that and a low milage rate, they lost a large percentage of their fleet. It is my understanding they changed their management, went to a flat milage rate, and base miles on PC miler. Recruiting section could probably tell you more of what they did and didn't change.
We've (wife and I) found that if we stick to the routes our carrier (FedEx CC) recommends, the miles work out pretty close.
Davekc mentions the "all miles" figure. That's the number that really matters. That would include deadhead to the load, out of route miles (due to construction or perhaps because you prefered a different route), and maybe a swing by the grocery store or a tourist attraction if the load allowed. "All miles" also includes any running around you do between loads.
From a carrier's point of view, it would be hard to charge a customer to deliver freight dock to dock and include extra charges because drivers run around out of route. If I was a shipper, I would not want to pay for more miles than it actually takes to get the truck from point A to point B. That's a fair expectation.
The 100% of the fuel surcharge to the driver was one of the reasons we selected the carrier we did.
Davekc mentions the "all miles" figure. That's the number that really matters. That would include deadhead to the load, out of route miles (due to construction or perhaps because you prefered a different route), and maybe a swing by the grocery store or a tourist attraction if the load allowed. "All miles" also includes any running around you do between loads.
From a carrier's point of view, it would be hard to charge a customer to deliver freight dock to dock and include extra charges because drivers run around out of route. If I was a shipper, I would not want to pay for more miles than it actually takes to get the truck from point A to point B. That's a fair expectation.
The 100% of the fuel surcharge to the driver was one of the reasons we selected the carrier we did.
My company, A. Blair Enterprises, uses PCMiler rather than HHG. With HHG, you are working city to city. With PCMiler, I think it is zip to zip. Every trip I make is very close, and, sometimes, using Route Tools from Rand McNally and Microsoft Streets and Trips, I drive less miles than what I am paid.
I'm very pleased with my pay.
I'm very pleased with my pay.
A good addition that I should have added relating to "all miles" are the specific out of route miles. What I am referring to is truck specific miles. We have had loads quoted to us that are PC miler but may be Haz-mat. Numerous towns require you to run their outer belt for example. Or a specified route may have a low bridge or weight restriction. In those cases we have to call in to get it adjusted. That is why it is good to have the right trucking software that will route to these conditions. Alot of dispatchers when booking a load may or may not be taking this into account. If you are provided routing via QC, you will know right away.
chetjester...I really hope you were smart enough to get away from Tom & Gay......think about it for a bit, you'll figure out who this is...and...NO...PC Miler isn't accurate, either. S&T is a lot more accurate, and they raised hell, every time you had to take a detour, etc.........screw them.
