Owners paying the 60/40 split.
- Thread starter Bruno
- Start date
Yesteryear
Expert Expediter
Your right Davekc! I will be in the right profession when we OWN our own truck! Just get tired of the way some truck owners begrudge drivers the money they earn! After 2 bad truck owners not much patience on the subject! Everyone that owns a fleet needs to have to drive one of their trucks for at least a year! That way they will see we do earn what we make out here! Yeah, I like being out here and can't imagine going off the road but I will say at times I miss my previous life, I would be lying if I said I didn't! I use to love working in my garden, going to the country club with my friends, taking a day and going to Castle Rock with the girls to shop, what woman out here doesn't miss those things. I miss my son when I am out here, or even the simple things like just soaking in a bathtub! That doesn't mean I don't want to be where I am, I still love the freedom of the road, but because I like being out here does not mean it is not a hard life at times or that I don't deserve the money I make. It is a hard job, especially when sitting and waiting to be dispatched. It does irk me to no end when truck owners act like drivers don't deserve the money we make! I work harder at this job then when I spent 14 hours a day in the salon on my feet working on snippy gossipy old ladies all day long (Don't get me wrong, I loved my clients, and yes I miss them). There is a lot of stress factor to this life style! Heck I think I might even have a grey hair or two since I started this 5 years ago AND 50 ISN'T THAT OLD! LOL
I understand the truck owners want to make more, so do we drivers. 60/40 0r 40/60 IS fair on both sides!I don't begrudge truck owners their fair share, so don't begrudge me my fair share!
Well, I wouldn't be one to deny you anything, but I believe you need balance which based on your post is lacking. If accurate and only being home 8 days for the year would be a problem.
I would shut your truck down and send you home to recharge.
I think that is the source of your problem verses who owns the truck.
I would shut your truck down and send you home to recharge.
I think that is the source of your problem verses who owns the truck.
Yesteryear
Expert Expediter
That is true Greg, but if you want quality drivers that take care of the truck and take responsiblity, then as an owner you have to be fair and not try to pennyanany drivers and begrudge them their share of the linehaul or cheat them. If you do (not you personally, but speaking in general) then you deserve to have the crappy drivers that don't take care of your investment! I haven't known an owner yet that does not charge the driver if there is an accident where the truck is off in the ditch somewhere. We pay the out of pocket expenses for accidents. Breakdowns are not our fault and should be the owners responsibility! Not everything is profit. If, as an owner you are allotting a percentage for break downs then you should be covered! I do that now even though we do not yet own a truck. I started a maintence account aside from our personal savings 1 year ago for when we do finally find a truck we want to buy. In one year, just being a driver at 40% of linehaul I already have 13,000.00 in that account. So if you are doing the same you should have no problem covering breakdowns! If you don't want to be bothered with a driver calling you then hire a fleet manager. Dragonladytn is an excellent fleet manager for one and I am sure there are others. I am sure they also more then earn the money they are paid.
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Yesteryear
Expert Expediter
So then your drivers are employees and not independent contractors? As an independent contractor it is my choice how long I stay out. Is this not correct?
It doesn't matter how much home time one has, the bottom line is this is a different life style from any other. It has it's pro's and con's. I love the trucking industry and i love being on the road and seeing the different states but I think that any woman out here that says she doesn't miss her home at times is not being truthful. But that isn't the issue anyway. The issue is weather drivers deserve the money they make. I say we work very hard and deserve every penny.
Gee...I must be the only one? If a truck is in a accident and is not at fault, I don't charge the driver. If it is the fault of another driver, the fleet owner sure recover their losses via the insurance carrier. If it is the driver that ran it in the ditch, then they should be responsible for the insurance deductible.
That would be deemed as unsafe driving by most standards.
Nothing complicated.
That would be deemed as unsafe driving by most standards.
Nothing complicated.
So then your drivers are employees and not independent contractors? As an independent contractor it is my choice how long I stay out. Is this not correct?
It doesn't matter how much home time one has, the bottom line is this is a different life style from any other. It has it's pro's and con's. I love the trucking industry and i love being on the road and seeing the different states but I think that any woman out here that says she doesn't miss her home at times is not being truthful. But that isn't the issue anyway. The issue is weather drivers deserve the money they make. I say we work very hard and deserve every penny.
You can't have it both ways. You complain about not being home, followed by it is your choice to stay out.
It is not a employee/contractor issue. It is a response to your posts. For some reason, you come across as if you are unhappy and getting screwed? No one is saying you don't work hard and deserve every penny.
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Yesteryear
Expert Expediter
Exactly Dave, if I am driving and it is blowing snow and the roads are covered in ice, I hit a patch of ice and go into a skid ending in the ditch, by law, I am at fault because I lost control of the vehicle, therefore the deductible is mine to pay. I don't disagree with the paying the deductible part. If you pay the deductible for your drivers you are the only one I know of that does do this and it is admirable of you. From being on EO I know you are one of the good fleet owners but that don't mean others practice the same ethics as you do. Good truck owners are hard to find. We got very luck to get the one we are with now and will continue with him until we buy. Still shooting for 2013 to have our own truck and maybe a few extras eventually. Like I have said in the past I am a procrastinator and need to know we are totally prepared for all eventualities before taking the plunge.
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Yesteryear
Expert Expediter
If that is the case I am coming across wrong. I am not un-happy with the job. I actually like the job, but , yes I also miss my home. That is not saying I want to be home just that I do miss it. I love this job.
What I don't like is truck owners that begrudge drivers the money we earn or think we are over paid and don't deserve what we are being paid.
tenntrucker
Expert Expediter
To be a successful team, the us vs them needs to go. It takes both working together to win.
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Sent from my DROID X2
Most drivers can't be trusted. I know that now that I am running my own small expedite company. If I get into the fleet business next year, i'm going to put a device on the truck that will automatically shut the truck down if it runs low on oil, water, overheats, or throws an engine code. I'm not gonna just trust drivers to do what they are supposed to do because the world is not that simple. When a fleet driver is in a truck, they have no real vested interest in that truck. If the engine blows or if the truck goes into the ditch, they can just move on to the next fleet owners truck. I am not saying all drivers are bad, but you get a lot of crackpots calling you when you are trying to hire people.
I don't know about Dave, Bruno, Or Greg, but I have gotten some weird people sigining up with my company and it takes a lot of work to recruit prople. Hours on the phone, tracking down paperwork, making sure the drivers are on the up and up, and this is just to hire O/O's with their own truck. I can't even begin to imagine the wriedo's that call in to work for fleet owners. I had one guy hire on with me last week (my partner had berakfast with the guy, I spent 2 hours on my time on the phone with him and another hour getting him set up in my system) and the guy quit after his first road. I got this driver a short load that paid really well because I cut mu profit down and gave him most of the money (I only made 16 bucks off the load) paid the guy the same day he delivered and then he quit.
Needless to say, I was very upset and as a consequence i'm restructuring the way that I do business. No more quick-pay as I need to hold some money back in case a driver screwes me over, and I'm just going to pay what everyone else pays. The driver can either take the load or reject the load, that is how it is now. I can see why some fleet owners get cynical after dealing with a bunch of flake off's. I had 5 people send me resumes about becoming broker agents for my expedite company and all of them talked a big game and never came to work. They are whining about the economy and no work, but will not even accept a nice commission based job. Once again a bunch of crackpots.
As for the calls. If you are an owner of a company it is a 24 hour a day thing. The calls never stop and there are some drivers who call you at 12 at niht for no other reason but to ask you some stupid questions. It was much easier to just drive on down the road listening to my serious satellite radio, but that is the choice I made. I wanted to own a company and so did Greg, Dave, and Bruno. Sure, they do not spend their lives on the road but do not think for a minute that their job is cushy. I have more stress when on of my contractors is under a load than I did when I was the driver. I cannot control somone elses truck and someone elsed work ethic. I know what I can do and how I operate my business, but when they have your load and your reputation in their hands, one wrong move can cost you your entire business. You will not realize this until you own your own truck! Any how, I hope you all find a balance somewhere.
I don't know about Dave, Bruno, Or Greg, but I have gotten some weird people sigining up with my company and it takes a lot of work to recruit prople. Hours on the phone, tracking down paperwork, making sure the drivers are on the up and up, and this is just to hire O/O's with their own truck. I can't even begin to imagine the wriedo's that call in to work for fleet owners. I had one guy hire on with me last week (my partner had berakfast with the guy, I spent 2 hours on my time on the phone with him and another hour getting him set up in my system) and the guy quit after his first road. I got this driver a short load that paid really well because I cut mu profit down and gave him most of the money (I only made 16 bucks off the load) paid the guy the same day he delivered and then he quit.
Needless to say, I was very upset and as a consequence i'm restructuring the way that I do business. No more quick-pay as I need to hold some money back in case a driver screwes me over, and I'm just going to pay what everyone else pays. The driver can either take the load or reject the load, that is how it is now. I can see why some fleet owners get cynical after dealing with a bunch of flake off's. I had 5 people send me resumes about becoming broker agents for my expedite company and all of them talked a big game and never came to work. They are whining about the economy and no work, but will not even accept a nice commission based job. Once again a bunch of crackpots.
As for the calls. If you are an owner of a company it is a 24 hour a day thing. The calls never stop and there are some drivers who call you at 12 at niht for no other reason but to ask you some stupid questions. It was much easier to just drive on down the road listening to my serious satellite radio, but that is the choice I made. I wanted to own a company and so did Greg, Dave, and Bruno. Sure, they do not spend their lives on the road but do not think for a minute that their job is cushy. I have more stress when on of my contractors is under a load than I did when I was the driver. I cannot control somone elses truck and someone elsed work ethic. I know what I can do and how I operate my business, but when they have your load and your reputation in their hands, one wrong move can cost you your entire business. You will not realize this until you own your own truck! Any how, I hope you all find a balance somewhere.
I can tell you as a fleet owner that has over 2 million miles over the road. I understand that you may feel your worth what your getting paid. But, not everyone should start out at the same a driver who has been doing it for 15 years with no accidents. Drivers that get out of truck driving school and want the best of everything and want paid the same as a 10 year driver I don't agree with. You have to prove yourself first. I had a driver that we put in a new truck that we just paid $90,000.00 for and the first load he did he hit a bridge. The truck was down 45 days with no income. We still had to make truck payments. You as a driver can walk away anytime. Owners can't, they either find another driver or hop back in the truck. Like Greg said owners are on call 24/7 365 days a year.
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Nope your not, I do the same thing as you Dave. I leave it up to my carrier to say if it was a preventable accident or if it was a non preventable accident. If the drivers fault then they pay the insurance deductible.
If that is the case I am coming across wrong. I am not un-happy with the job. I actually like the job, but , yes I also miss my home. That is not saying I want to be home just that I do miss it. I love this job.
What I don't like is truck owners that begrudge drivers the money we earn or think we are over paid and don't deserve what we are being paid.
Who said you was over paid? Your getting paid the same way our drivers do if you get 40% and your owner pays for the fuel, tolls, and everything else. Have fun and be safe on the road.
Yesteryear
Expert Expediter
Comdata or fleet fuel card. Sure wouldn't be giving my credit card to anyone. That is asking for trouble. There are both bad owners and bad drivers. We have seen both out here. Protect yourself with a fuel card. It is not a sure thing the driver won't figure a way to steal from you but at least make it hard for them to do. I have heard all kinds of stories out here that people have done. Seems there is not much honor left in the world anymore. Shameful!
Most carriers have fuel cards set up threw Comdata. Some advance you money once you pick the load up which can be 45% to 55% of the load. It just depends on the carrier. Some carriers have fuel cards set up where the truck can get so much fuel every 24hrs.
ChrisGa23
Expert Expediter
When I was doing the 60/40 split in a van I just wasnt to happy with the pay. In my opinion it should be closer to 65/35. You can make decent money if you keep rolling but once you idle to stay warm/cool thats where your money goes out the door fast and your weekly earnings drop to hardly nothing. I could see if the van had some type of espar or whatever and I could see 60/40 being ok. But sleeping in a un-insulated van with no espar you sometimes got no choice to idle like I had to do often. Just something to think about for the fleet owners of cargo vans. Giving your drivers a few dollars more for idle purposes will go along way for them. Havent drove straight truck or t/t so no idea how that goes.
It's the same in any vehicle,cold is cold and excess idle means your broke. I bought a elec. Blanket that is great on colder nights.
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