As FedEx Custom Critical adds flat-rate straight trucks to its fleet (vs. percentage-paid straight trucks), people are re-thinking the FDCC contractor opportunity. Some are kind enough to share details here in the Open Forum for the benefit of others.
This presents an opportunity to gather enough information to complete a real-world business planning spreadsheet that can serve as a resource and model for all expediters to use. The opportunity comes from FDCC's stated flat-rate compensation numbers, and from expediter's who are willing to share their real-world operating expense numbers.
If members can work this through together, item by item, to provide the details, I will develop a spreadsheet and prevail on Lawrence to post it somewhere on EO as a resource for all to use.
Jim Joerger (jjoerger) has been kind enough to share some of the flat rate details as he moves from the FDCC percentage contact to the flat-rate contract. I'll start with those.
To keep things on track, I propose that we begin with a team-driven, D-unit, dry box truck (no lift gate, pallet jack or WG equipment) in that particular program. The online spreadsheet will be developed such that other people's particular circumstances can be plugged into the spreadsheet once it is complete.
For example, Jim says he gets 10 mpg with his truck and expects to run 13,000 dispatched (paid) miles a month. Obviously, other people's trucks will have different results. The beauty of a spreadsheet is that such assumptions can be easily changed and the results will instantly cascade through the page to show the new bottom line.
I don't know if a cooperative project like this will work here in the Open Forum, but it is worth a shot, so let's give it a try, shall we?
As the originator of this thread, and to help facilitate its success, I hereby claim ownership of it and ask that participants follow my lead as we move from one spreadsheet topic to another. The spreadsheet I will be developing will be a monthly statement of profits and losses (P&L statement).
The major spreadsheet chunks are (1) revenue and (2) expenses.
The fundamental formula is: Revenue - Expenses = Profit or Loss. As you will see, it gets more detailed, but that is the core.
Let's start with the revenue.
We are told that a FDCC flat-rate straight truck is paid $1.00 per dispatched mile plus fuel surcharge. That creates the need for three spreadsheet lines.
1. Dispatched miles (13,000 to use Jim's example)
2. Mileage revenue ($1.00 per mile x line 1 in this case)
3. Fuel surcharge ($0.306 x line 1)
Please note the difference between dispatched miles and loaded miles. We are talking about a flat-rate program here in which dispatch will pay $1.00 a mile to move (deadhead) an empty truck from one place to another. Expediters are accustomed to talking about loaded and deadhead miles. Please be aware of the new term, "dispatched miles," and its meaning.
At FDCC, the fuel surcharge changes weekly, but since we are doing a monthly P&L statement, the driver will have to compute the average over the month and plug that number in. For spreadsheet construction purposes, I will simply use the most recent number as provided by Jim.
We are told that the FDCC straight truck flat rate program also pays 60 percent of accessorial revenue to the truck. Accessorials include things like pallet jack use, inside delivery, detention time and a host of others. These vary among carriers and trucks (depending on equipment) and should be detailed according to each driver's individual experience.
For simplicity sake, I'll add just one line to the spreadsheet called "Accessorials" in which all items are lumped together. That gives us:
REVENUE
1. Dispatched miles (13,000 to use Jim's example)
2. Mileage revenue ($1.00 per mile x line 1 in this case)
3. Fuel surcharge ($0.306 x line 1)
4. Accessorials (zero assumed in this case)
Jim tells us that tolls are also paid where applicable to flat-rate trucks for all dispatched miles (note "dispatched miles"). That creates the need for a fifth revenue line to give us:
REVENUE
1. Dispatched miles (13,000 to use Jim's example)
2. Mileage revenue ($1.00 per mile x line 1 in this case)
3. Fuel surcharge ($0.306 x line 1)
4. Accessorials (zero assumed in this case)
5. Toll money paid to the truck.
Total monthly revenue will be the sum of lines 2-5.
Lines 2-5 do not cover all possible revenue sources to a FDCC flat-rate truck. In the interests of simplicity, I am leaving out things like product rebates (like the $0.05 per gallon fuel rebate Pilot pays FDCC contractors) and fuel tax credits that occasionally appear on contractor settlements. A more detailed spreadsheet would include such things but that is beyond the scope of this project, at least for now.
My next step is to get with Lawrence to work out a place online where I can publish and develop this spreadsheet as we go.
To those who wish to assist in this project, your next step is to share your real-world expense information. Jim mentioned several expenses in earlier posts. Let's start with those. Can you tell me please, what are good numbers to use for the following expenses?
1. Work Accident Insurance
2. Qualcomm Fees
3. Bobtail Insurance
I'll also open the floor to those who wish to share additional expense categories and numbers. Remember that we are talking about a team-driven, dry box, D-unit that is presumed to run 13,000 dispatched (paid) miles a month (156,000 miles per year).
We will presume that fuel costs $4.00 a gallon and that the truck on our spreadsheet gets 9 mpg (the presumed FDCC straight-truck fleet average). These numbers can be easily changed in the spreadsheet, but we need a place to start so I'll start with these.
This presents an opportunity to gather enough information to complete a real-world business planning spreadsheet that can serve as a resource and model for all expediters to use. The opportunity comes from FDCC's stated flat-rate compensation numbers, and from expediter's who are willing to share their real-world operating expense numbers.
If members can work this through together, item by item, to provide the details, I will develop a spreadsheet and prevail on Lawrence to post it somewhere on EO as a resource for all to use.
Jim Joerger (jjoerger) has been kind enough to share some of the flat rate details as he moves from the FDCC percentage contact to the flat-rate contract. I'll start with those.
To keep things on track, I propose that we begin with a team-driven, D-unit, dry box truck (no lift gate, pallet jack or WG equipment) in that particular program. The online spreadsheet will be developed such that other people's particular circumstances can be plugged into the spreadsheet once it is complete.
For example, Jim says he gets 10 mpg with his truck and expects to run 13,000 dispatched (paid) miles a month. Obviously, other people's trucks will have different results. The beauty of a spreadsheet is that such assumptions can be easily changed and the results will instantly cascade through the page to show the new bottom line.
I don't know if a cooperative project like this will work here in the Open Forum, but it is worth a shot, so let's give it a try, shall we?
As the originator of this thread, and to help facilitate its success, I hereby claim ownership of it and ask that participants follow my lead as we move from one spreadsheet topic to another. The spreadsheet I will be developing will be a monthly statement of profits and losses (P&L statement).
The major spreadsheet chunks are (1) revenue and (2) expenses.
The fundamental formula is: Revenue - Expenses = Profit or Loss. As you will see, it gets more detailed, but that is the core.
Let's start with the revenue.
We are told that a FDCC flat-rate straight truck is paid $1.00 per dispatched mile plus fuel surcharge. That creates the need for three spreadsheet lines.
1. Dispatched miles (13,000 to use Jim's example)
2. Mileage revenue ($1.00 per mile x line 1 in this case)
3. Fuel surcharge ($0.306 x line 1)
Please note the difference between dispatched miles and loaded miles. We are talking about a flat-rate program here in which dispatch will pay $1.00 a mile to move (deadhead) an empty truck from one place to another. Expediters are accustomed to talking about loaded and deadhead miles. Please be aware of the new term, "dispatched miles," and its meaning.
At FDCC, the fuel surcharge changes weekly, but since we are doing a monthly P&L statement, the driver will have to compute the average over the month and plug that number in. For spreadsheet construction purposes, I will simply use the most recent number as provided by Jim.
We are told that the FDCC straight truck flat rate program also pays 60 percent of accessorial revenue to the truck. Accessorials include things like pallet jack use, inside delivery, detention time and a host of others. These vary among carriers and trucks (depending on equipment) and should be detailed according to each driver's individual experience.
For simplicity sake, I'll add just one line to the spreadsheet called "Accessorials" in which all items are lumped together. That gives us:
REVENUE
1. Dispatched miles (13,000 to use Jim's example)
2. Mileage revenue ($1.00 per mile x line 1 in this case)
3. Fuel surcharge ($0.306 x line 1)
4. Accessorials (zero assumed in this case)
Jim tells us that tolls are also paid where applicable to flat-rate trucks for all dispatched miles (note "dispatched miles"). That creates the need for a fifth revenue line to give us:
REVENUE
1. Dispatched miles (13,000 to use Jim's example)
2. Mileage revenue ($1.00 per mile x line 1 in this case)
3. Fuel surcharge ($0.306 x line 1)
4. Accessorials (zero assumed in this case)
5. Toll money paid to the truck.
Total monthly revenue will be the sum of lines 2-5.
Lines 2-5 do not cover all possible revenue sources to a FDCC flat-rate truck. In the interests of simplicity, I am leaving out things like product rebates (like the $0.05 per gallon fuel rebate Pilot pays FDCC contractors) and fuel tax credits that occasionally appear on contractor settlements. A more detailed spreadsheet would include such things but that is beyond the scope of this project, at least for now.
My next step is to get with Lawrence to work out a place online where I can publish and develop this spreadsheet as we go.
To those who wish to assist in this project, your next step is to share your real-world expense information. Jim mentioned several expenses in earlier posts. Let's start with those. Can you tell me please, what are good numbers to use for the following expenses?
1. Work Accident Insurance
2. Qualcomm Fees
3. Bobtail Insurance
I'll also open the floor to those who wish to share additional expense categories and numbers. Remember that we are talking about a team-driven, dry box, D-unit that is presumed to run 13,000 dispatched (paid) miles a month (156,000 miles per year).
We will presume that fuel costs $4.00 a gallon and that the truck on our spreadsheet gets 9 mpg (the presumed FDCC straight-truck fleet average). These numbers can be easily changed in the spreadsheet, but we need a place to start so I'll start with these.
Last edited:
