i am in the dark

[herronryan]

hello all. i have just passed my drug test and physical and all for fedex CC and will begin driving next week. i will be driving a cargo van sprinter. i told them that i needed to make a minimum of $30,000 per year to survive. they said there is no reason why i shouldnt make at least that. i have a 70/30 split and i pay for the fuel.

so here are a few questions please.

on an average, what is the yearly income of this type of driving job?

when are the slowest times? businest times?

at what speed is the sprinters fuel consumption the best?

here is one for ya! ummm how in the H E Double hockey sticks does the whole shower thing work on the road?

since i will be drivng a van instead of a tractor trailer, do i still need to use a log book?

i will appreciate all comments and thank you for your thoughts!

 

[Crazynuff]

You should have asked these questions and researched this site BEFORE committing yourself . If you haven't been to orientation yet most of your questions should be answered there . But for staters - on the income read reply #5 here . http://www.expeditersonline.com/dcforum/DCForumID1/5038.html . That's under $42,000 for a van solo. Take 70% of that and deduct fuel meals , etc. and you're no going to make close to your $30,000 . It has long been agreed here splitting income on a cargo van doesn't provide acceptable revenue for the driver or owner . Cargo vans are under 10,001 GVW and don't require a log book . I don't quite understand your question about showers but it's a sore point with van operators . Most fuel stops require a 50 gallon purchase for free showers . You can't put that in a van . Every truck is different but best fuel mileage should be around 60 m.p.h. . Your schedule will easily allow that . The slowest season is just ending but if you have read the forum there is a surplus of vans . Some carriers aren't even hiring them . Sorry I can't give a more optimistic picture but that's what you can expect . Take the time and really go through previous posts on this site .

 

[RichM]

Actually the owner of the truck should have able to answer these questions,If he/she is unable to or doesn't know, you should think about a diffeent owner. We constantly tell new folks to this business to have some type of written agreement with the owner covering basics, particulary who pays for what,performsnce criteria, and all road problems that may occur such as breakdown costs, etc.

 

[terryandrene]

I agree with all of the above and if you stay tuned, you'll get more opinions. There are too many variables in expediting to pin down a finite amount of money you or anyone else can earn in a cargo van.

A typical FedEx Custom Critical cargo van with a solo driver should be able to gross about $50,000. Your first year will likely be less because you haven't got a handle on all the decision making tools necessary for earning the top dollar. Time, experience, a good mentor and the will to succeed will work in your favor.

Your 30/70 split is better than most, but it's only better if you pay fuel and tolls only. You should easily gross your $30,000 goal, but with fuel being in the $2.50 range, you'll pay about $10,000 of that on fuel and another $500 or so on tolls. There's no free ride here so you'll have to drive hard and stay available to net your $30K. Ask your owner to show you records that justify his claims of earnings. You might get a good idea of expenses if owner will show you the data.

Showers will cost you upwards of $9.00 at Pilot and T/A truck stops. Flying J is a popular van hangout where showers are $6.50. If you have a truckstops frequent fueler card (get 'em all) you might get a break on the price. Fly J card gets you a half shower credit each time you buy a minimum of 20 gallons.

Good luck and enjoy the ride

 

[LDB]

You don't use a logbook in a vehicle less than 10,001# gvw so in the Sprinter you won't have logs. Any vehicle is going to get progressively better mpg as you slow down so the best answer to your question might be to drive no faster than you have to to still be on time. I try to stay at 60-62 max unless I have to run faster because of traffic holdups or whatever. At Flying J I believe you get 1/2 shower credit for 25 gallons of fuel purchased so you get a free shower every other fillup. I don't know about other places but suspect they have a similar program on their frequent fueler cards as well.

For the biggie, money, I strongly encourage you to read back through the last year of the general, newbies and recruiter forums. That doesn't mean read every post or even every thread. I mean go back a year reading the threads that catch your eye as potentially educational. You will find many threads where Terry has posted the actual numbers from Fedex. I'm don't remember them and am not going back to hunt them down since you need to read a bunch of that anyway. You didn't mention it in your 70/30 split arrangement but what about the fsc? 70/30 is a high split. The most common is 60/40 and 60 buys fuel and gets 100% of the fsc paid as well as the 60. Are you getting 70% plus 100% of the fsc paid or just 70%?

When you say you need $30k do you mean before or after taxes? When somebody goes to Acme Widgets to apply and says I need to make $xxK a year, that is the gross amount before taxes or anything else and the take home amount is less. For $30k gross at 70% split the van has to make $42.8k gross or $3572 a month. At 80cpm that's 4464 paid miles a month or right at 1000 paid miles a week. You need more than that to cover the portion of fuel the fsc doesn't cover and if you don't get the fsc then you need to cover all the fuel above that. You also have to figure in time off which means more miles during the weeks worked. If you go 4 weeks out then 1 week home the 1k weekly becomes 1250 paid miles weekly while out. If you run a Sprinter 2000 miles a week (paid plus deadhead) you'd probably use somewhere around 125 gallons of fuel at a cost of say $325 which requires $464 paid based on 70% which is 580 paid miles at 80cpm. That means you need more like 1750 paid miles a week to make your $30k gross. If you are getting 100% of the fsc money, and you should since you pay fuel, you don't need as many extra paid miles for fuel but you will still need some.

Go back and read through the last year or so of those threads. You will find numerous threads covering this in them.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.