I have a question that I hope someone here can help me with. I have been given the opportunity to independent contract as a delivery driver for a medium size delivery company. I am very interested by this opportunity but I have some questions, and I hope to gain some insight on this forum, I know that it is not the same as expedited freight but I hope someone could help never the less. The question I think is rather basic but some how for the numbers to seem to workout. I will have to buy my own 12’ cube truck, rated for 10,000 lbs., and my daily mileage would be about 200 miles per day and the weekly settlement is told to me at about $1,200.00 on the low end. That comes out to over $1.00 per mile, that seems doable but I must be missing something because as I figure it, between fuel, license, insurance, and maintenance, there is nothing left. What am I not getting? A little background, I have no debt, no payments, and own my own home, and I am able to buy the truck out of my savings with ease. Is there anything that I’m missing I guess is my question. Any help will be much appreciated, and I will be in contact with the company soon, but I will accept advice from anyplace I can get it. Thank you in advance for you help.
Advice needed
- Thread starter GMC2011
- Start date
Some of the van operators will chime in with specifics, but I think you should be able to get by on .50/mile for expenses and probably .40/mile.
Those numbers would give you $1.20/mile gross. Minus .50/mile gives you .70/mile for 1000 miles a week. You should be able to scrape $700/week out of what amounts to a part time driving job.
The big "IF" is whether or not the numbers their showing you are accurate and whether or not the miles are there consistently. If you can get minimum 1,000 miles/week and more on occasion, you could have a decent deal there. If it were me, I would be hoping to double those miles at that rate...but I'm kinda greedy I guess.
Be very careful of what these companies tell you. Verify what they say by any means you have available to you. Talk to others who are working for them or who have worked for them in the past. Do ALOT of research before you spend your money unless you have other uses for the truck.
Those numbers would give you $1.20/mile gross. Minus .50/mile gives you .70/mile for 1000 miles a week. You should be able to scrape $700/week out of what amounts to a part time driving job.
The big "IF" is whether or not the numbers their showing you are accurate and whether or not the miles are there consistently. If you can get minimum 1,000 miles/week and more on occasion, you could have a decent deal there. If it were me, I would be hoping to double those miles at that rate...but I'm kinda greedy I guess.
Be very careful of what these companies tell you. Verify what they say by any means you have available to you. Talk to others who are working for them or who have worked for them in the past. Do ALOT of research before you spend your money unless you have other uses for the truck.
200 miles a day. How many days a week? 5, 6, 7,? Google Eagle Cost Calculator. You should be able to come up with a figure.
I think you got a pretty good grip on the situation. If you can live on nothing then go for it. This sounds to me like a regular delivery route. You are a wee bit short on details for most here to offer any valuable insight. You really should talk to some other contractors who have been with this company for more than a year. Care to offer the name of the company? Dunham Express perhaps?
Brisco
Expert Expediter
Two things.....
One...Yes, his description as to what he will be doing is vague as mentioned above...and Two....he didn't tell us where's he from and didn't put it his profile either. (I think that ought to be a registration requirement)
My opinion, he's probably in a large metropolitan area (DFW-Chicago-Miami-LA-etc) My bet, he's been offered either an auto parts route, a tire route, or a pharmaceutical route delivering to pharmacies and such. Or he could very well be talking with a "Courier Service" in his local area that is needing either Hotshot drivers to do timed deliveries within the city or that needs drivers to deliver for a big account of theirs, ie-Office Depot or something.
If it's either of the above, take that $1200 earnings quoted to you and cut it by 50%. Are they offering "commission" as a pay scale at say, 60%??? Are they saying their lowest earning driver is averaging $1200 a week??? If yes to the last 2 questions, RUN, run like hell. Where did you find this job at?? Craigslist??? If so, have you been watching this same job being posted over and over on your local Craigslist for the last 27 months??? If yes again, then why have they been running that same ad for 3 years now?? Seems like if drivers were averaging $1200 a week on the low side, then no drivers would be leaving, right?
Too hinkey and vague of a question right now. Fill in more details, ie-what are your expenses going to be to get the job done, are you required to carry your own commercial/liability insurance, what deductions are going to be taken out, etc.
I'd take a $1200 a week/200 miles a day "Delivery Route" here in the DFW area in a heartbeat. 10 years ago they were easy to come by here. After fuel and other minor expenses, a $700-$900 a week income working just 40 hours or so was easily doable. Fuel was .99 cents a gallon. New vehicles(Vans) could be bought for $12.000. Traffic was light, commission was at 60% still. One could easily do 20-30 deliveries a day in this area.
Today....commission still at 60%. There are probably 250-300 more courier/delivery companies operating today than there was 10 years ago, thus leaving rates stuck in the 80's-90's era when it comes to what customers are being charged and are willing to pay due to all the competition. Fuel is close to $4.00 a gallon. New vehicles(Vans) are in the $30,000 range. Traffic is at a standstill all over the metroplex, even the Ft Worth area, from 6:15AM til 7:20PM, thus making it hell to even get 5-10 deliveries done a day.
BUT YET!! The same companies are still advertising every single week on Craigslist trying to find drivers and offering $900-$1200 a week on average. In this job market right now, they would not be needing drivers like this every week, believe me. Hundreds of People would be jumping on that $900-$1200 a week and be happy. Reality, they're putting in 70 hours a week, spending $300 a week on fuel, doing maybe 25-40 deliveries all week because of sitting in traffic for hours and hours, getting a commission check for $576, and bringing home $276 a week.
Just be leary is the only advice I can offer. Shoot me a PM as to what company is offering you this and I will look in that cities area to see if they're worth it or not for ya, OK.
One...Yes, his description as to what he will be doing is vague as mentioned above...and Two....he didn't tell us where's he from and didn't put it his profile either. (I think that ought to be a registration requirement)
My opinion, he's probably in a large metropolitan area (DFW-Chicago-Miami-LA-etc) My bet, he's been offered either an auto parts route, a tire route, or a pharmaceutical route delivering to pharmacies and such. Or he could very well be talking with a "Courier Service" in his local area that is needing either Hotshot drivers to do timed deliveries within the city or that needs drivers to deliver for a big account of theirs, ie-Office Depot or something.
If it's either of the above, take that $1200 earnings quoted to you and cut it by 50%. Are they offering "commission" as a pay scale at say, 60%??? Are they saying their lowest earning driver is averaging $1200 a week??? If yes to the last 2 questions, RUN, run like hell. Where did you find this job at?? Craigslist??? If so, have you been watching this same job being posted over and over on your local Craigslist for the last 27 months??? If yes again, then why have they been running that same ad for 3 years now?? Seems like if drivers were averaging $1200 a week on the low side, then no drivers would be leaving, right?
Too hinkey and vague of a question right now. Fill in more details, ie-what are your expenses going to be to get the job done, are you required to carry your own commercial/liability insurance, what deductions are going to be taken out, etc.
I'd take a $1200 a week/200 miles a day "Delivery Route" here in the DFW area in a heartbeat. 10 years ago they were easy to come by here. After fuel and other minor expenses, a $700-$900 a week income working just 40 hours or so was easily doable. Fuel was .99 cents a gallon. New vehicles(Vans) could be bought for $12.000. Traffic was light, commission was at 60% still. One could easily do 20-30 deliveries a day in this area.
Today....commission still at 60%. There are probably 250-300 more courier/delivery companies operating today than there was 10 years ago, thus leaving rates stuck in the 80's-90's era when it comes to what customers are being charged and are willing to pay due to all the competition. Fuel is close to $4.00 a gallon. New vehicles(Vans) are in the $30,000 range. Traffic is at a standstill all over the metroplex, even the Ft Worth area, from 6:15AM til 7:20PM, thus making it hell to even get 5-10 deliveries done a day.
BUT YET!! The same companies are still advertising every single week on Craigslist trying to find drivers and offering $900-$1200 a week on average. In this job market right now, they would not be needing drivers like this every week, believe me. Hundreds of People would be jumping on that $900-$1200 a week and be happy. Reality, they're putting in 70 hours a week, spending $300 a week on fuel, doing maybe 25-40 deliveries all week because of sitting in traffic for hours and hours, getting a commission check for $576, and bringing home $276 a week.
Just be leary is the only advice I can offer. Shoot me a PM as to what company is offering you this and I will look in that cities area to see if they're worth it or not for ya, OK.
Oooh, oooh, Moot wins the prize! GMC2011, I have never worked with Dunham, but have shot the breeze with some drivers over the years. You should really talk to as many drivers as you can before signing on. One's with at least a year with the company should have the most valuable information. Be wary of drivers that want you to use their name as a contact or reference with the company. I believe there is a recruiting incentive.
Dunham is a diversified courier. One of their large customers is/was a discount store chain where Dunham serviced their pharmacies. Is this the route opportunity you are seeking? Chances are newbies get the less desirable routes to start with and can switch routes after being with the company for awhile.
Thanks for all the help so far. I know I said that I would post some numbers later today, but as of yet I am waiting on more precise numbers from the company, who by the way is Dunham Express. I asked them questions about insurance, and about the miles that I can expect consistantly. I do have one thing perhaps somone has some insight to, the company said that I could expect to make between 50 to 70 stops a day. That seems high, considering the route is in a very rural area in central Wisconsin. Is 50 to 70 deliveries realistic? And also, what kind of real life fuel mileage can I expect from a 12' cube van on a route like this.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for your time.
miguy1957
Expert Expediter
Just do the math, average 60 stops / day over a 10 hour day is 6 stops / hour or 1 every 10 minutes. If you can get to those stops every 10 minutes. Stopping that often and it would probly be city miles not Hwy, IMO you might get 8-10 Mpg. 200 Miles at 10 mpg is 20 galllons X 3.50/ gal= 70.00/ day X 5 days=350.00/ week for fuel.
Brisco
Expert Expediter
Sounds to me like they have the contract with FedEx Home Delivery or FedEx Ground Delivery for that region.
If so......no way in hell would I sign a contract with them.
Just my insight, I could be wrong, but I'm bettin' that's it. (Type of truck required, number of stops for a rural area, miles, etc)
Brisco
Expert Expediter
Well.....just a few clicks of the mouse and I ran across this:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Save-Mone...rs-Instead-of-UPS-and-FedEx-Ground&id=4310208
Looks like Dunham Express, which owns DunX Delivery, is actually a knock off of FedEx and UPS parcel delivery services. They have their own customers for that region up there.
Read the article carefully. It shows UPS rates compared to the knock off companies rates. The example they listed showed a rate quote from UPS for a certain delivery at $14.33. Same area, same parcel, same delivery rate quote from one of the knockoff companies, $6.84.
Now, how is your pay going to be set?? Commission?? Piece Meal??? I know some of the FedEx Contractors here in the DFW area average $1.70 per delivery for "Ground Deliveries". What possible kind of commission or piece meal pay could be generated from $6-$7.00 delivery rates?????
Be leary.............research your local Craigslist, Oodle, and other online Job Market venues to see how long they've been running ads looking for drivers. If you see a long history of the same drivers wanted ads being placed in your area, like I said above, driver turnover for that place is probably very very high, just as it is here in the DFW area when it comes to both FedEx Home and FedEx Ground delivery contract driver opportunities.
Good Luck.....
http://ezinearticles.com/?Save-Mone...rs-Instead-of-UPS-and-FedEx-Ground&id=4310208
Looks like Dunham Express, which owns DunX Delivery, is actually a knock off of FedEx and UPS parcel delivery services. They have their own customers for that region up there.
Read the article carefully. It shows UPS rates compared to the knock off companies rates. The example they listed showed a rate quote from UPS for a certain delivery at $14.33. Same area, same parcel, same delivery rate quote from one of the knockoff companies, $6.84.
Now, how is your pay going to be set?? Commission?? Piece Meal??? I know some of the FedEx Contractors here in the DFW area average $1.70 per delivery for "Ground Deliveries". What possible kind of commission or piece meal pay could be generated from $6-$7.00 delivery rates?????
Be leary.............research your local Craigslist, Oodle, and other online Job Market venues to see how long they've been running ads looking for drivers. If you see a long history of the same drivers wanted ads being placed in your area, like I said above, driver turnover for that place is probably very very high, just as it is here in the DFW area when it comes to both FedEx Home and FedEx Ground delivery contract driver opportunities.
Good Luck.....
miguy1957
Expert Expediter
Just my guess that after its all said and done you would be running your truck with all the responsibilities for less than $9 or $10 or less/ hour worked. I think it would take you 60 to 70 hours / week to do that kind of route. Who loads the truck?? and how far do you have to go to pick up the freight?? or pick up the truck where it is loaded?? How far to your fist stop when you leave the terimal??
I had no idea that I would find this much help and advice on this forum, I am ever so grateful. The advice and experience that you all have provided has and is more than useful. Just by using the information that everyone has given, this deal doesn’t seem as good as it did a few days ago. That’s not to say that I am done with the deal, just a whole lot more able to make a good informed decision. I’m not one to jump into a business deal blind, and now thanks to everyone here I can see things a whole lot more clear.
I will still be working on some numbers later, and I will post them, but just off the cuff, it isn’t looking to good right now. Just given the fact that to get loaded is at least a half hour from my home, and the delivery area is at least another half hour away, that’s one hour driving, and it doesn’t include loading time. Looks like extremely long days, for not enough pay.
Again I say thank you.
I will still be working on some numbers later, and I will post them, but just off the cuff, it isn’t looking to good right now. Just given the fact that to get loaded is at least a half hour from my home, and the delivery area is at least another half hour away, that’s one hour driving, and it doesn’t include loading time. Looks like extremely long days, for not enough pay.
Again I say thank you.
Brisco
Expert Expediter
OK GMC.....
I just did some quick mathetimattics
here at my desk and have probably figured out what your pay scale may be at.
I'm guessing they will have you on a 60% commission pay scale.
Came to this figure from what they have told you, from what you have told us they told you, and figuring some rate quotes off that article I found earlier.
They told you low end pay of $1200 with a low end delivery count of 50 stops a day.
Now let's say they are charging whatever customer/customers they have that need deliveries in that area just $8.00 per delivery.
At 50 stops a day times 5 days a week, that comes out to $2000. Take that $2000 and multiply by 60%, you come to the quote of $1200 a week minimum.
Now let's say you hit that 70 stops a day, every day at $8.00 charged to the customers. That comes out to $2800 to the company and $1680 to you at 60% commission.
These figures, commission and number of stops, are basically an industry standard in the delivery business when it comes to this type of work, so I'm probably pretty close here with my simple mathetimmattics.
In a sense, that's not that bad. BUT, your route is going is to be stretched out over a 200 mile area. (probably a "Right Hand" turns route being 100 miles out and 100 miles back) That, My Friend, is what is going to be death of you real quick when it comes to the expenses you are about to incur and the time you are about to put in to get that route done every day of the week. If this would be like a "FedEx" home delivery route serving 3-4-5 Neighborhoods/Communities, or in a little town that's like 10-15 square miles in size, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat for $4.00 something a stop. But it's not, and that I would be leary of.
Plus, you haven't said what you're deductions will be. I am quite sure they use those little handheld thingies UPS drivers use, that will be a deduction. They will probably add you as a Contractor onto their Cargo Insurance binder at $50 a week or so. They will probably require you to carry Commercial Insurance for your Truck, cost undetermined. (Most require a $300,000 policy - ??? $280 a month maybe ???) You will have deductions for uniforms. I've already ran across a website that supplies Uniforms to Dunham Express drivers. You have to have an Employee ID # to get pricing. There's just going to be a lot of deductions taken out of your check with companies like this. Again, Industry Standard.
In another sense, you may squeak by earning half-way decent money for the next few months, but what's it going to be like during the 5 months of winter you guys have up there when you'll only be able to get like 20 deliveries done in that 100 mile radius due to road conditions??? Your checks may be cut in half because you're not getting the deliveries done, but all your other deductions/expenses will stay the same.
Again....Good Luck.
I just did some quick mathetimattics
here at my desk and have probably figured out what your pay scale may be at.I'm guessing they will have you on a 60% commission pay scale.
Came to this figure from what they have told you, from what you have told us they told you, and figuring some rate quotes off that article I found earlier.
They told you low end pay of $1200 with a low end delivery count of 50 stops a day.
Now let's say they are charging whatever customer/customers they have that need deliveries in that area just $8.00 per delivery.
At 50 stops a day times 5 days a week, that comes out to $2000. Take that $2000 and multiply by 60%, you come to the quote of $1200 a week minimum.
Now let's say you hit that 70 stops a day, every day at $8.00 charged to the customers. That comes out to $2800 to the company and $1680 to you at 60% commission.
These figures, commission and number of stops, are basically an industry standard in the delivery business when it comes to this type of work, so I'm probably pretty close here with my simple mathetimmattics.
In a sense, that's not that bad. BUT, your route is going is to be stretched out over a 200 mile area. (probably a "Right Hand" turns route being 100 miles out and 100 miles back) That, My Friend, is what is going to be death of you real quick when it comes to the expenses you are about to incur and the time you are about to put in to get that route done every day of the week. If this would be like a "FedEx" home delivery route serving 3-4-5 Neighborhoods/Communities, or in a little town that's like 10-15 square miles in size, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat for $4.00 something a stop. But it's not, and that I would be leary of.
Plus, you haven't said what you're deductions will be. I am quite sure they use those little handheld thingies UPS drivers use, that will be a deduction. They will probably add you as a Contractor onto their Cargo Insurance binder at $50 a week or so. They will probably require you to carry Commercial Insurance for your Truck, cost undetermined. (Most require a $300,000 policy - ??? $280 a month maybe ???) You will have deductions for uniforms. I've already ran across a website that supplies Uniforms to Dunham Express drivers. You have to have an Employee ID # to get pricing. There's just going to be a lot of deductions taken out of your check with companies like this. Again, Industry Standard.
In another sense, you may squeak by earning half-way decent money for the next few months, but what's it going to be like during the 5 months of winter you guys have up there when you'll only be able to get like 20 deliveries done in that 100 mile radius due to road conditions??? Your checks may be cut in half because you're not getting the deliveries done, but all your other deductions/expenses will stay the same.
Again....Good Luck.
Briscoe:
I don’t know what to say. You have put it all into clear perspective, your numbers are right on, all the way from the hand held thingy being deducted, to the way the winter will wreak havoc on the driving. Your last post saved me hours of research, and for that I am thankful, and I am lucky to have you and all the others who posted here on my side, you people do a great service.
I don’t know what to say. You have put it all into clear perspective, your numbers are right on, all the way from the hand held thingy being deducted, to the way the winter will wreak havoc on the driving. Your last post saved me hours of research, and for that I am thankful, and I am lucky to have you and all the others who posted here on my side, you people do a great service.
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