Sorry but it seems off. I don't include self-earning wages as wages, I am not my employee but the owner. I have to pay taxes on everything and everything over cost are treated as profit.
The net per mile is what I worry about, pre-taxed net that is. It may seem I am losing money but I am not by any means and I can take the lower rates without worrying about "losing" money (this includes maintenance fund, food, fuel at $3.50 a mile and so on). My net averages 60% for all miles above what the industry average for OTR top earners get, which is the only numbers I can use to judge how well I am doing - because this business is all screwed up with rates and there is no accurate measurement made.
I don't see any improvements in the near term for rates, they have gone up but I don't think enough to really say for sure they are going to stay up. This coming year with all these changes may tank the economy, it is teetering on falling off the edge now. FedEx may be testing the waters for something they plan to change (shhhh.....) or they may be trying to cover freight without going external - who knows - but they seem to start trends when there are a lot of people complaining about it.
Money management is key, a lot of these guys out here seem to not to know how to budget, how to actually set aside money and how to fix things that they can fix themselves so even at $1.75 a mile, they are living on the edge. I understand someone who has a capital investment of $300,000 with a solid contract that will allow them a ROI on that investment within a quick period having a higher costs and demand higher rates but not some of these $45,000 trucks with H/W owners running expect these rates all the time and then complain about it when they are seeing lower rates because they get trapped with high truck payments because of their rush to get into their own truck.
IMHO, your thoughts are exactly why this business generates the slogan, 'it's not a job, it's a lifestyle'.
The different ways in which people calculate their financial success in this business varies WIDELY.
Of course you are absolutely correct in that your profit is your pay since you are self employed, however, that's a narrow vision (IMHO).
Some may be able to take a lower rate for reasons such as 'my truck is paid for', 'I have a very low truck payment', 'a friend sold me his truck for peanuts', 'I can save piles of money doing my own repairs', 'I can eat dogfood instead of peoplefood and save thousands per year', 'I can go without bathing and save on shower costs', you name it, there's a way to save money.
Saving money is different from profitability, (again IMHO).
If a truck fell from the sky as a gift from God, one should still incorporate the cost of said piece of business equipment into their expenses, if not for THAT particular piece of equipment, then for the next one.
If someone wins a lottery and chooses to purchase a truck outright with the money, it's still a cost of doing business.
If one happens to be able to save thousands of dollars doing their own truck repairs and maintenance, that should be a bonus, and not an integral part of their profitability.
If one eats weiners, he should be able to bank an even more substantial savings, but it shouldn't affect his profitability.
If you look at the fleet owner.. they MUST incorporate the cost of the driver when figuring out their expenses. Why should it be different just because the truck owner happens to also
drive the truck? And why should a spousal codriver not consider their 'pay' on their own merits, as opposed to making one income seem more profitable than if it were as a single?
It all depends on how you look at 'your business'... whether it is a real business, or just a way to get by in life, support yourself, have something to do with your time, be able to say you're working as opposed to being unemployed, etc. The problem with the latter way of thinking in many cases however, is that if something happens where an OO is no longer able to drive for any given reason, or he wants to retire, or whatever, that's all there is folks.. what next?
Real business owners need to generate profit on top of paying their labor and expenses, to remain in business and make their investment worth their while.
Real employees need to earn wages for their time to make it worth waking up to go to work every day.
In both of these cases, there is money generated to pay household bills, support families, buy toys, save for retirement, etc.
Some expediters it seems, may fall into a separate category unto themselves where it's good enough just to be able to afford to eat every day.
I'm not knocking the different ways in which people choose to support themselves. Whatever floats one's boat is all good, it's just difficult to compare success/profitability/earnings, when everyone thinks in different terms.
