Drivers for Owner Operators

[drivingmecrazy]

My question is for drivers who are on a 60/40 split and who pay for the fuel. We pay fuel, and tolls- and get 100 0/0 F.S. When we first started a year ago diesel was 2.79 a gallon, and our average F.S. was around .34 a mile... So here we are a year later average diesel now 4.39 a gallon and really not that much more in F.S maybe .38 ??
We have tried our best to stay in freight lanes, even when it makes our acceptance rate take a dive. But when we are offered a load with a large deadhead to pick up.. (and even when they offer full deadhead) by the time you split with owner and they get there 40 0/0 of it- it does not cover fuel cost for us. So what I am asking is: Are more of the drivers on this pay plan finding it to be a hardship now like we are?
Also our truck is not equipted with a generator- and summer heat is coming! Winter is okay- we can always cover up- but can't take the heat- so it's idle air (expensive) hotel- or idle where it's legal. We are a team in a straight truck and we love what we do- just coming out of our paycheck to run each week, and especially when you do get stuck somewhere and have to sit... would really like to hear from other drivers how they are handling it out there! Oh -and thats not to mention the miles we give up to get to truck stops after delivery, the free miles we give up to go pick up loads.

 

[jaminjim]

Try to remember that the FSC is only meant to cover the cost of a part of the fuel cost. Also you can stay closer to some of your delivery and hold off heading to the truckstop, until you actually need to go to it.

 

[Crazynuff]

I can't really judge whether your FSC is adequate without knowing your fuel mileage but you can determine that yourself using this formula FWCC, Inc. Fuel Surcharge .

 

[drivingmecrazy]

Thats good advice- but the problem with that is.... You don't know how long you will have to wait for a load, and if it is awhile and you need a shower, or fuel, or facilities you will have to move - and we will lose our board position when we move! Well that is how it is with our carrier- maybe with yours you can move around freely and keep your board position?

 

[jaminjim]

If your a good team you might be able to negotiate with your owner to allow you 100% of the DH, you could offer to give up a portion of the detention pay. Most owners know that DH is killing the profitability of their drivers.

I'm not a big fan of the Walmarts, but if you can manage to get showers en-route, it will help you keep from running to the truckstop

 

[davekc]

With your pay plan, the biggest issue I see is no generator if you are doing a lot of waiting. I would also minimize any movements. Not sure if the FSC is adequate without knowing the rate your moving at, and whether any other miles are compensated outside of the loaded miles.
Any excessive idling is brutal. At roughly a gallon per hour, that can be a nasty number.

 

[Jack_Berry]

one of the things that kills me is when the fuel receipts get totalled and put to the settlement. one week there is 1400$ in receipts for 1700 miles and the next there is 74$ for fuel over 1000 miles. seems to be no consistency in applying the fuel used to the settlement period. makes for great weeks and awful weeks.

you might discuss with the owner about running per mile instead of percentage. that way you know what the take home will be. maybe then have the owner pay fuel. you may have to work out the math before presenting this to the owner.

 

[LDB]

My teams are on the 60% side and pay fuel and tolls. Obviously they get 100% fsc. I also give my team 100% of empty move and deadhead pay because that's meant to offset fuel expenses of those moves. We split detention/layover 50/50 because all our minutes are the same size/length. I also have an APU on each truck. That's a big thing for them but it's also a big thing for me in that my engines have a single digit idle time percentage, not 40-50% idling. I go longer between PM's without worry and I expect less maintenance/repair/rebuild costs.

 

[davekc]

One thing I am seeing an increase in as fuel prices rise is the fleet owners that pay fuel and have no generators on these trucks.
I have received several calls over the last several weeks from owners trying to sell their trucks.
I would attribute much of it to excessive idling, poor driving and maintenance habits, increased oil changes, driving longer distances for layover, poor fuel purchasing habits, and drivers taking low FSC offers because they aren't paying the fuel.
So...it begs the question of how are fleet owners that pay for fuel on a 40/60 split fairing? I am beginning to wonder based on these several calls I have had.

 

[LDB]

With an APU on the truck and with operators who choose runs wisely and plan ahead rather than just driving, the 60% should usually always come out ahead.

 

[jaminjim]

The Owners that are paying 40% should be in my opinion be VERY active in the management of the fleet of trucks, after all it is their bottom line that is affected by run acceptance.

Just as there are the dreaded steering wheel holders, there is unfortunately the dreaded Call me if there is a problem owners.

 

[fastrod]

Using the link supplied by Crazynuff your fsc for fuel at $4.39 per gallon would be 64 cpm. Any less than this and your are being shortchanged.

 

[iceroadtrucker]

Is this crazy or what I ran across a Driver that had a Generator on the Truck but said the OOP refuesed to let it get fixed. Any case he said he repatedly asked the OOP to get it fixed but the was told each time NO. No monie no funds available. I asked if it was under warrenty he said nope over a year but less than 1200 hours on the unite. I said that guy must be a fool he said Yup sure is.

 

[pjjjjj]

Can you experienced folks recommend an apu/generator which would be good enough for a 16' straight truck (C Unit)?
Also Dave, when you mention 'wise fuel purchases'.. what would an unwise fuel purchase be?
I know this doesn't make sense.. I don't know enough about the truck/fuel/equipment side of the biz.. but seems our fuel tanks are awfully small.. and can't go very far without needing fuel.. so basically, husb is constantly getting topped up.. he will top up if he knows he will be close to running out of fuel by the time he reaches the next fuel stop, so he'll get fuel even tho he doesn't need it.. yet.. and it just seems to make soooooo many fuel stops.. that it makes me wonder if he had bigger tanks, and made fewer fuel top-ups, if he'd be getting better mileage.. or is that just an illusion?
Sorry if this doesn't make sense

 

[iceroadtrucker]

A very good Generator for the Truck is Pro heat by Carrier. RIg Master is another good one.
The tanks on your Truck 95 gallons tanks are small two 150 gallon tanks wont make U better fuel milage just more miles between fill ups. How one Drives if the tac has a sweet spot then keep the truck at the RPM on the tack. Other wise listen to the sound of the Engine and get the feel of it. To slow the Engine Lugs and bad fuel milage U will see. To fast Then Ur burning it uslessly. Each truck is differnet at 55mph my Tractor lugs even with out a load . At 63mph is the sweet spot in RPM and I get the best fuel milage. Slow take offs, and cut the idel time will lower Ur fuel bill. If U think about it a truck who runs 75 in the 75 70 in the 70 may get there first but if you run the 60mph Ull get there ahead of time as long as your steady and ull save depending how much depends on the distance. But if one can save 600 bucks on a 2400 mile trip hey thats a fill up when U get there or money to Dead Head Home.

 

[davekc]

You situation may be slightly different as you are running ONLY in Canada. Multiple stops for fuel may hurt a little, but it would depend more if he is purchasing at the lowest price available.

With regards to trucks in the US, knowing the fuel tax imposed by states and then finding and plotting the best purchase price is important.
Many times there is a wide difference in price, even within the same state.
A lot of what I see is many drivers that aren't paying for fuel, base their decision on convenience with little understanding on where the best place might possibly be along their route.

 

[pjjjjj]

Thanks for your replies. How much would an apu/generator cost (in USA) of the size we'd need? Any recommendations of a good place to buy one? New? Used? Ebay? Camping store? I assume there are different sizes? Or are they all the same? What size would be needed by a C unit with a tiny sleeper, or even a van?

 

[iceroadtrucker]

Good luck
You might expect to pay in the neighborhood of 6-8 thousand pending on the one U want.
Dont get one thats an off brand remember Maitnence if Ur a reefer truck then get the one that the same as your reefer Pro heat Carrier and Thermoking has theirs. If you hang out at Freightliner all the time Alliance (JYD) Rig master offers a good one as well. Dependes on what it is U want. Do ur self one favor think of Maintence and ask where how many states how much coverage before U invest in one. U dont want to be sorry. Warrenty is another factor how long and how many hours???? Practability serviceablity Maintence ect.

 

[LDB]

The 16' C unit part makes no difference, it's the size of the sleeper that matters since that's what you have to heat/cool. Most likely your sleeper isn't so large that any of them will be overkill so I'd look for the longest interval between services and the largest number of service locations. Another option is an Onan generator and Coleman rooftop unit from Camping World. That combo will probably run about $5k installed so it's less than the APU systems. The down side is the interval between services is shorter than the dedicated APU systems.

 

[Jack_Berry]

i've driven trucks with both proheat and carrier units. to me its the same unit. only problem i had was filters. had to go to different auto parts stores to get 4. best to have spares as speedco does not alwyas have them on hand.