CPM or Percetange?

roadrunner · Sep 23, 2003

Trying to find a company that is best for me, but I need advice on what pay is best. Cents per mile sounds good, as long as the wheels are turning. Percentage is the amound of the freight. Can someone provide some info on the disadvantage/advantage of the two? Thanks.

teacel · Sep 23, 2003

The Archives are full of threads on this subject. You may find the answers you are looking for in there.

Bigtyme · Sep 23, 2003

Hi Roadrunner, In my opinion getting paid per mile is the way to go because you know what your gonna get.. I was on with HELP and they paid percentage and I always felt as if I was getting ripped, and I was... Well good luck roadrunner, Andy

davekc · Sep 23, 2003

CPM is more exacting. But also consider how it is caculated. PC miler, HHG miles ect. Certainly makes a difference. Percentages are just that, percentages. Remember, 100% of nothing, is still nothing.

vernon946 · Sep 24, 2003

I guess I'd better understand what you are asking, because in a sense, they're the same.

Example: Your company pays 58% for the run. This is based on the cents per mile they charge the customer. You're getting 58% of those cents. Some companies charge the customer more than some others, so the size of the 58% varies by companies.

The bottom line for you, is not whether you call it cents per mile or percentage, but how much money goes to the truck for the job. Using an example with some money plugged in; a load offer says we have to deadhead 75 miles to pickup, then deliver the load 300 miles to the customer. The customer in turn is 75 miles away from the nearest location you could expect to find work, meaning you have some more deadhead after getting empty.

Your total miles here (deadhead 75 + Load 300 + deadhead 75) = 450 miles. They offer a pay of $350 to do this job. At this point, the question about cpm or % doesn't matter. You're looking at $350, so do the math. How much is this per mile for you to run your truck doing this job? If you said $.77 per mile, you got it. You'll find many messages discussing the pay per mile.

Now that you know the pay, you'll have to decide whether you can afford to take the run, or sometimes, whether you can afford to turn it down as that is the only offer today and its late. For this, you have to know what it costs you to run your truck per mile and also what it costs per day to sit in a truckstop without working. Lots of messages are in the archives on these subjects too. Good Figuring.

Vernon

roadrunner · Sep 25, 2003

Excellent information Vernon, I thought for sure percentage per load meant just that. Example, you hauling a load which is valued over
$1K, so of course you gross will be about $580.00 for one load at 58%, it doesn't matter if its 300 miles or 3 miles. But if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Thanks again for the info.

Dreamer · Sep 25, 2003

RE: CPM or Percentange?

Roadrunner,

As Vernon said, all you have to do, is a little division! Now, I'm a bit one-sided, I suppose, since I've only ever RAN on percentage. The thing I liked is higher pay per mile for short runs, if you divide it out. I've talked to many drivers, mad because they're not getting 'miles', they ran short runs all week, at 'per mile' rate, and had half the money I did for similar miles.

Now that I'm looking at new companies, one of the questions I ask is what is the 'lowest rate' per mile that is given. If I can run for that, the rest will be a plus. Now... I actually talked to one recruited who didn't KNOW how much the runs paid... How can you recruit drivers, if you don't know how much your company pays? I moved on quickly, after talking to a few drivers, and finding van loads running for 47 cents, and D loads going for 75 cents a mile. No WONDER he didn't wanna tell me.

My rule of thumb over the years has always been, if I was in a truck, nothing under $1.00 per mile, and van, nothing under 75 cents a mile... NOTHING! But.. I ran many, many of those short runs for $1.50-$2.00 plus a mile. One of my highest grossing weeks EVER I was home 3 times during the week, and never got more than 1 state away! Loved it!

But... that's just MY experience, with ONE company (tho they did change names on me)

Dreamer