just curious as to how you are able to do that? Ive read that some CV drivers will deliver the load and rather than waiting for another load (for days on end) will return home. I don't need to make a lot of $$$ , as I am lucky enough to have another part time job w/ flexible hours. Can you guys give me some tips on how to accomplish this ...thanks!!
For guys that turn around and come back.....
- Thread starter RDC
- Start date
I think it's called paid sightseeing. You don't actually make any money but in your mind you think you are making money. If one has a paid for, reliable van then there may be a happy meal or two in profit. That might not be the case with a handful of carriers that may be paying better rates still.
My former carrier, that used to be the gold standard, paid very well for vans when I signed on. Some runs could have been round trip and still paid enough, albeit marginally. A few months later they went to flat rate like most of the other carriers, although at about 10-15% higher rate than the rest. Now that they've completed their restructuring to convert from the gold standard to the tarnished brass standard they pay similarly to all the rest.
If you get a load of 500 miles paying 80cpm plus 20cpm fsc then you're making $1 a mile obviously. If you turn around and go home you're making 50 cents per mile. Worse than cheap freight level. There are probably some who would take a van load for 50cpm but unless you are in West Podunk and the load practically takes you home when you must go home there's no reason to take it.
Expediting is a tough career for those who can and will leave home for up to a few weeks at a time. Otherwise, unless you live in the center of the freight zones so your company gets you toward home all the time by default, there just isn't that much money in it. You can make as much or more saying "Hi, welcome to Walmart" as you can doing round trips all the time.
My former carrier, that used to be the gold standard, paid very well for vans when I signed on. Some runs could have been round trip and still paid enough, albeit marginally. A few months later they went to flat rate like most of the other carriers, although at about 10-15% higher rate than the rest. Now that they've completed their restructuring to convert from the gold standard to the tarnished brass standard they pay similarly to all the rest.
If you get a load of 500 miles paying 80cpm plus 20cpm fsc then you're making $1 a mile obviously. If you turn around and go home you're making 50 cents per mile. Worse than cheap freight level. There are probably some who would take a van load for 50cpm but unless you are in West Podunk and the load practically takes you home when you must go home there's no reason to take it.
Expediting is a tough career for those who can and will leave home for up to a few weeks at a time. Otherwise, unless you live in the center of the freight zones so your company gets you toward home all the time by default, there just isn't that much money in it. You can make as much or more saying "Hi, welcome to Walmart" as you can doing round trips all the time.
75$-85$ in gas gets me 550-600 miles, when really taking it easy @ 65mph with 1600rpms. So you can still make money like that. It just hurts putting empty miles on the vehicle, when they could be loaded.
edit:/ and of course you have to run for the right rate, not no 80-90 cents per mile...
not saying this is the right way of doing things, because you dont want to keep putting on empty miles, but every once in a while, It is more than ok to deadhead back into the freight zone n get yourself going again, instead of sitting for days and spending money on living expenses.
edit:/ and of course you have to run for the right rate, not no 80-90 cents per mile...
not saying this is the right way of doing things, because you dont want to keep putting on empty miles, but every once in a while, It is more than ok to deadhead back into the freight zone n get yourself going again, instead of sitting for days and spending money on living expenses.
Last edited:
Just to note, one of the biggest (and most common) mistakes that people make out here, especially in vans, is to figure out what it costs them in fuel to deadhead, and then stop figuring. What they should be doing instead if using their Cost Per Mile (CPM) to figure out what it costs them to move. The CPM can vary wildly from one driver to the next, but if you are honest and include everything you pay for that comes from your revenue, then your CPM in a van can easily top 45 cents, considerably more if you include your own salary in that. Even if the van is paid for and you don't include your own salary, you're still looking at 30-35 cents a mile in most cases, with fuel being about 20 cents of that (in a van). Suddenly that $75 to $85 becomes $150-$200. It may be only a small cost out of pocket, but you still gotta pay the rest of it with something.
On another note, I spend the same amount on living expenses whether I'm rolling or sitting still, and I spend more on food and other things when I'm at home than I do on the road.
<EDIT: xiggi beat me by mere seconds>
On another note, I spend the same amount on living expenses whether I'm rolling or sitting still, and I spend more on food and other things when I'm at home than I do on the road.
<EDIT: xiggi beat me by mere seconds>
"I spend more on food and other things when I'm at home than I do on the road."
Really? We find the opposite. We can prepare our own food to a much greater degree than we can on the road, which always costs less than eating in a restaurant or buying packaged, prepared foods.
Really? We find the opposite. We can prepare our own food to a much greater degree than we can on the road, which always costs less than eating in a restaurant or buying packaged, prepared foods.
xiggi your right, but if you do 2400 miles in a week and 1700 of them are loaded, than doing 700 a week all loaded
Last edited:
The outfit I drive for is out-and-back. I'm expected to head back home after the delivery.
Of course there's no money in empty miles, and if this outfit were set up so I could get runs by staying out I might do that. But, it's not. So I go home.
The reason I stay with this outfit is because they've been honest with me. No game-playing with my pay, for example. I can tell you to the penny what I will get paid two weeks from now for the run I do today, and it will be spot-on. I find on reading other posts here that this is not a common as it should be, so I would have to take that into consideration before moving to another outfit.
I seem to have a good relationship with dispatch too. I get the job done, and don't have to put up with a lot of static like I did in the outfit I worked at before this one. That counts huge, so once again it makes me think a bit before heading elsewhere. More money at the expense of constant troubles is no bargain.
So-- how do I turn around and head back home after a run? Like Turtle said-- just point your wheels in the general direction of "home" and head back. If it's a weekend or a slow time and I know I'm not likely to get another run right away, maybe I'll do some sightseeing on the way back. Might as well enjoy the ride.
Of course there's no money in empty miles, and if this outfit were set up so I could get runs by staying out I might do that. But, it's not. So I go home.
The reason I stay with this outfit is because they've been honest with me. No game-playing with my pay, for example. I can tell you to the penny what I will get paid two weeks from now for the run I do today, and it will be spot-on. I find on reading other posts here that this is not a common as it should be, so I would have to take that into consideration before moving to another outfit.
I seem to have a good relationship with dispatch too. I get the job done, and don't have to put up with a lot of static like I did in the outfit I worked at before this one. That counts huge, so once again it makes me think a bit before heading elsewhere. More money at the expense of constant troubles is no bargain.
So-- how do I turn around and head back home after a run? Like Turtle said-- just point your wheels in the general direction of "home" and head back. If it's a weekend or a slow time and I know I'm not likely to get another run right away, maybe I'll do some sightseeing on the way back. Might as well enjoy the ride.
Generally speaking, home prepared meals are cheaper than restaurant meals, especially meal-for-meal, side-by-side. But when I'm on the road I don't eat as high quality or as high dollar as I do at home. Not even close. When at home I don't skimp on high quality (high dollar) ingredients.
Every operator is different, every one has a different budget and different needs....you take from this business what you need and leave the rest....there is no set rule or operating manual or one size fits all...what works for one, does not work for another.....to get into a debate about what is right or wrong is futile at best.....for someone to say you don't run right is a pretty good indication of someone not matured enough in this business....given enough time they might "Get it"
IMO of course
IMO of course
I haven't seen any right or wrong debated basically just facts
Sent from my Fisher Price - ABC123