Question about fuel surcharge

[paullud]

Why should a driver pay fuel for someone else truck???Its like having an employee pay your business licence,worker's comp ins,business ins,etc.

You will mostly likely not be an employee, you will be an independent contractor. If you want to make money in the transportation industry you need to be in a business owner mindset. If you can make more money by paying for fuel why wouldn't you? It is the steering wheel holders that don't want to pay for fuel because they idle all the time and drive as fast as possible, these types usually won't last.

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[armin88]

You will mostly likely not be an employee, you will be an independent contractor. If you want to make money in the transportation industry you need to be in a business owner mindset. If you can make more money by paying for fuel why wouldn't you? It is the steering wheel holders that don't want to pay for fuel because they idle all the time and drive as fast as possible, these types usually won't last.

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Correct independent contractor but only if I own the truck.Any how this owner is still a rip off,45% is just a rip off.Personally that just me,if drivers are happy paying fuel then that fine but I feel that the owner should pay the fuel.

 

[paullud]

Correct independent contractor but only if I own the truck.Any how this owner is still a rip off,45% is just a rip off.Personally that just me,if drivers are happy paying fuel then that fine but I feel that the owner should pay the fuel.

You can be an independent contractor and not own the truck. I agree with you that owner is looking to take advantage of the poor job market.

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[LDB]

As I said, the smart driver will always go for 60% plus fsc and pay for the fuel if the truck has an apu and if the carrier pays a fair fsc. The smart driver will drive for mpg not mph.

A fair fsc will make the net cost of fuel $1.25 a gallon. A good driver in a decent truck will get mpg equal or better than the fsc calculation number on a regular basis. The extra 20% in pay will more than cover the net cost of fuel.

To be blunt, why should I pay for fuel or anything else for someone else's truck is the exact question a driver asks whereas a business person researches why and how one option is better than another.

 

[armin88]

As I said, the smart driver will always go for 60% plus fsc and pay for the fuel if the truck has an apu and if the carrier pays a fair fsc. The smart driver will drive for mpg not mph.

A fair fsc will make the net cost of fuel $1.25 a gallon. A good driver in a decent truck will get mpg equal or better than the fsc calculation number on a regular basis. The extra 20% in pay will more than cover the net cost of fuel.

To be blunt, why should I pay for fuel or anything else for someone else's truck is the exact question a driver asks whereas a business person researches why and how one option is better than another.

Ok so here my question,IF I consider driving for owner who pays 60% to driver(s),how much would I get at $1.30 per mile on truck that gets 10 miles to a gallon?And what is fsc? How does that work???

 

[paullud]

Ok so here my question,IF I consider driving for owner who pays 60% to driver(s),how much would I get at $1.30 per mile on truck that gets 10 miles to a gallon?And what is fsc? How does that work???

Well 60% of $1.30 is .78/mile and let's say you get 9 MPG instead of 10 and pay $4.00/gallon that means your fuel costs are .44/mile. You take the .78-.44=.34/mile but then you add in a fsc rate of say .30/mile which when added together equal .64/mile instead of the .52/mile you would get at the 40% rate. The difference there is .12/mile which if you were to run 70k miles which I would think it would be more than that you would make an extra $8,400. The more you drive the higher that number goes which at 100k miles that's $12,000, come to think of it if you want your fuel paid for I maybe interested.

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[golfournut]

60% and 100% of fsc is a good deal. As with any business, you have to use business sense. Like drive smart, be patient (keep your DH low around 15%, 10 or 12% is better). Don't go by your carrier numbers for mileage. They don't add in the DH after delivery to layover. When you add that in, that has a huge impact on your overall DH and cpm. Keep your own records off of the OD to calculate cpm and DH percentages. Just because you have a fuel card at X, doesn't mean you can't buy fuel at Y if it is less expensive. You have to do the math. You have to be proactive.

No one wants to be micro managed, great, then do your work. Once again, be proactive. If all you want to be is meat behind the wheel, your no good to yourself or any vehicle owner. You'll do better at McDonald's.

 

[LDB]

Ok so here my question,IF I consider driving for owner who pays 60% to driver(s),how much would I get at $1.30 per mile on truck that gets 10 miles to a gallon?And what is fsc? How does that work???

Let's do the simple arithmetic first. At $1.30 at 60% you get 78cpm loaded. At 10mpg you spend 1/10 the cost of fuel per mile making it simple as well. If fuel is 3.799 it's 38cpm. If fuel is 4.099 it's 41cpm. If fuel is 3.949 it's 39.5cpm. At 3.949 using the fairly standard 9mpg and $1.25 fuel formula the fsc is 30cpm so your actual cost for fuel at 10mpg is basically a dime a mile.

FSC varies by company. Some pay a flat rate. Some pay differently on each job. Some pay only loaded miles, some pay all dispatched miles and some pay all miles. That's where you have to be careful. If you only get fsc on loaded miles you must be careful of deadhead miles and drive for best mpg, especially when not loaded.

So now you are getting 78cpm loaded plus 30cpm fsc minus a dime a mile net fuel cost for a bottom line of 98cpm in your pocket per loaded mile. Now let's say you get a 500 mile load with 60 miles to the pickup. You get $490 in your pocket on the load and you pay out $25 for fuel to the pickup and $50 for your net fuel cost loaded. That means $415 in your pocket when allis said and done. Your other option is to think like a driver and take 40% which is 52cpm with no fuel expense and puts $260 into your pocket after the load. You do have to buy the fuel to get to your layover and power the apu out of the $155 extra you make but it shouldn't be anywhere near that much.

$415 or $260, the choice is yours. Now, those numbers are hypothetical of course and depend on which carrier, how they do fsc, weight, terrain, weather, speed (smart, or fast), and other factors but the principle is the same and the results are similar.

 

[cheri1122]

Why should a driver pay fuel for someone else truck???Its like having an employee pay your business licence,worker's comp ins,business ins,etc.

Why should an owner pay for something over which he has zero control? It's the driver who decides when and how far to DH, and how fuel efficiently he chooses to drive.
I'd never want to drive for an owner who paid for fuel, myself, I'd feel guilty every time I want to go home, or went a few miles out of route for whatever reason.
And why is my text aligning right now?!
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[LDB]

And why is my text aligning right now?!
[/RIGHT]

Because the aliens who go crazy clicking on fonts and colors and sizes and whatever whenever you post decided to also click on alignment in this post.

 

[Phoenix4774]

So if each carrier pays a different amount of FSC, what is it based off of? Is it about the same for each carrier? What would a good rate be now?

 

[Pilgrim]

Some carriers might pay a percentage of linehaul, others might pay cents per mile. There can also be contracted customers that have their own fsc matrix. Just make sure you're getting ALL of the fsc if you're having to buy the fuel.

 

[BulldogsLady]

here is the offer 45% up to 3000 miles over 3000 is 55% but dont think ill get 3000 by myself. This is only for 3 weeks then i team up. Then its 55% up to 3000 miles and over 3000 is 60% not sure if thats a little more fair.

Hmmm.. I run cargo vans w/ Panther. I pay out 60% of load, 100% fuel surcharge goes to driver. No minimum miles or anything like that..

 

[ttruck]

dp\o not drive that trk for 45%if you are paying for fuel 60% is where your cut should be plus surccharge.

 

[mcavoy33]

Rip off if it is as it sounds. The typical split is 60/40 with the 60% side getting 100% of the fsc and paying for the fuel. You would be better off getting 40% and not paying fuel than the deal you mentioned. I'd look for an owner offering more. That one is a rip off.

I'm curious, in this scenario, would you pay 60% + fsc to someone with no expediting experience and no recent CDL experience?

If I ever become a fleet owner, I'm not going to pay inexperienced drivers the same as I pay a driver who's been with me for 3 years and is reliable.

There is recruiting costs, there could be dead head costs if the driver doesn't like expediting (very real possibility).

I just think its a mistake to tell noobs that they should 100% get the standard rate for experienced drivers. I agree that 45% is a big rip off but for someone with no expediting experience, he should be in the 52-55% range imo

 

[mcavoy33]

hell i just quit a job in a wharehouse bringing 294 a week home so if i can average that 3 times a week ill be ok.

OK why did you quit a job which many of us wouldn't mind having to take a BIG chance on this business.

Times are getting hard for newbies again, maybe some have sold on the idea that it will save their butts but in reality it is a crap shoot.

If you want, I can get you the choice of 10 factory jobs that pay $294 a week. I highly doubt many "expeditors" would give up their lifestyle for being chained to a factory job for $294 a week.

Times might be tough and many people are hurting for jobs but I don't think many experienced expeditors would trade in their lifestyle for a factory job.

I agree it was probably a mistake for him to quit his job but your making it sound as if a $294 a week job is the cat's ***.

My van has had mechanical problems for 3 weeks that the company I work for doesn't want to fix so I've lost a load a week so they can bring it in to the shop and I still make $294 a week even with losing a 600-800 mile run per week.

I am starting to wonder where most of you 'experienced' guys spend your money. Do you scrimp and save $20 fuel mileage on each trip to pay a $800 mortgage for a house that you never see plus another $500 car payment? Where does all your money go?

My cost of living on the road is pretty damm low, next to my cell phone and groceries, I have maybe $500 a month in fixed expenses (2nd car, ins, rent etc...)

 

[LDB]

It depends on how long and how significant the reduction in pay. You get what you pay for.