People come to EO for many reasons. The newbies usually visit here to learn how busy different carries are in their chosen area and the pay structure(s) available at the different carriers.
As a group, we are not particularly helpful in the pay category because none of us, it seems, wants to share our income or the pay structure at our carrier. If the truth be known, I fall into this group as well. Typically, our membership will share the approximate revenue on a load that paid very well and we will complain about the load offers that were at the bottom feeder rates. When people ask for average mile or average revenue available at a carrier, we will say something like “we average between 1000 and 3500 miles per week and earn between $1000 and $7000. Those types of numbers are not averages they are ranges. An average is a specific number.
When we were with FedEx Custom Critical, our run offer mileage included deadhead miles to the pickup and miles from shipper to consignee. Our total run pay included deadhead money and run revenue. So, a well-paying load for our straight truck might have been $2.00 per revenue mile, but with a deadhead equal to the loaded miles our pay might be only $1.25 a mile. The $1.25 figure is only meaningful if the reader knows what mileage is included.
Now that we are at Landstar Express America, our loads are offered many different ways and we have to figure out what we are looking at. Sometimes the load is offered out at the agent rates, we have to figure out our percent, and other times the load is offered out at the truck pay. The load pay though is only on the loaded miles and often that looks really good till we figure our dead head into the load. So, a $2.00 a mile to the truckload looks pretty good but, we are not usually offered deadhead money. Once again this figure is only meaningful if the reader knows what is included in the offer.
It is easy to see how new people get confused because we all talk differently of how we are paid, some are flat rate, some are percentage, and others are on loaded miles, while others are paid on all miles. When we have been here for a long time we know how other companies pay or when someone posts what pay plan they are on. Over the years I have seen people post very low numbers and also very high numbers without enough details to decide what plan the truck is on or how many miles where involved.
In both instances the dead head makes all of the difference if we are able to accept the load or not.
As a group, we are not particularly helpful in the pay category because none of us, it seems, wants to share our income or the pay structure at our carrier. If the truth be known, I fall into this group as well. Typically, our membership will share the approximate revenue on a load that paid very well and we will complain about the load offers that were at the bottom feeder rates. When people ask for average mile or average revenue available at a carrier, we will say something like “we average between 1000 and 3500 miles per week and earn between $1000 and $7000. Those types of numbers are not averages they are ranges. An average is a specific number.
When we were with FedEx Custom Critical, our run offer mileage included deadhead miles to the pickup and miles from shipper to consignee. Our total run pay included deadhead money and run revenue. So, a well-paying load for our straight truck might have been $2.00 per revenue mile, but with a deadhead equal to the loaded miles our pay might be only $1.25 a mile. The $1.25 figure is only meaningful if the reader knows what mileage is included.
Now that we are at Landstar Express America, our loads are offered many different ways and we have to figure out what we are looking at. Sometimes the load is offered out at the agent rates, we have to figure out our percent, and other times the load is offered out at the truck pay. The load pay though is only on the loaded miles and often that looks really good till we figure our dead head into the load. So, a $2.00 a mile to the truckload looks pretty good but, we are not usually offered deadhead money. Once again this figure is only meaningful if the reader knows what is included in the offer.
It is easy to see how new people get confused because we all talk differently of how we are paid, some are flat rate, some are percentage, and others are on loaded miles, while others are paid on all miles. When we have been here for a long time we know how other companies pay or when someone posts what pay plan they are on. Over the years I have seen people post very low numbers and also very high numbers without enough details to decide what plan the truck is on or how many miles where involved.
In both instances the dead head makes all of the difference if we are able to accept the load or not.
