Why Paying Truckers By The Mile Is Unfair And Dangerous

Ive been following this post and feel I agree with both sides of the story. Your right, hourly employees are trying to do as little work as possible for as much pay as possible. Your right, Truckers should get paid for having to keep guard on the trailer. Your right, people need to stop complaining about the pay and just work harder to get more. Your right, you should be paid for everything you do. Personally I think the problem lies with the term cpm (cents per mile). The term alone tells someone they only get paid to drive and that all other work is unpaid. If companies were smart theyd realize that they can pay exactly the same and not hear people complain if they would just change the cpm term. Instead of saying they pay per mile they can say they pay per load. Instead of telling someone they get .40 per mile to take a trailor from a to b (600 miles) and drop off, have someone add the miles ahead of time and tell the driver they will pay them 240$ to pick up and drop off from a to b. Doing this, the driver wont be able to say they arent getting paid for there work because they were told a specific price to pick up and drop off so everything that happens in between is part of that price. Problem solved!

This has been very interesting to read. How do you guys feel about being paid a % per load? I'm hauling scrap steel and being paid that way. So many, sooo many things can boof up my schedule and I don't get the runs in that I need to make it a good pay day. I sort of feel like a log truck driver now. Except I refuse to drive like a lunatic. When the gods shine in my favor, I can gross $1200.00/wk. Otherwise it's anyones' guess. I think I agree with Old School about the gist of the whole thing; you simply MUST be willing to embrace the lifestyle. Mine is a local job; yet feels like 12 on 12 off. It will pay and it will not pay. You simply have to accept that and be grateful for the opportunity to live/work in an environment that fits certain personality types to an absolute T. And you trucking personality types know who you are! In the whole ridiculous scheme of things, the whole absurdity of humanity and western capitalism, it is a glorious job. I must say; if you feel compelled to wrangle and fight it, it's not for you and you should search for a better fit because you deserve a good fit. Life is short. :)

As a side note, I know I am new to this but I do agree, truckers are underpaid. When I first started looking into becoming a trucker I thought Id be making great money to start 60k +. I was shocked when I fist spoke with prime and heard .26 per mile. My grandfather became a trucker in mid 80s and started making 35k. When he retied in 99, note at that point he was part of teamsters, he was making 70k and home every night. So when I started looking into this I was completely expecting 50-55k for starters. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the starting salaries hadnt really changed in 30 years. I plan on pushing hard this year and making myself clear 50k, I quit a job making 33k to start this career so I feel that if Im going to miss my family Id better be doing it for something.

I agree with Sam C. You will do this run for this amount. Take it or leave it.

I agree with Sam C. You will do this run for this amount. Take it or leave it.

You know it would be a great idea. Reality would kick in. The lazy people would drive that idea right into the river. LD "If I'm getting payed for the load, I'm just going to take my sweet time."

I agree with Sam C. You will do this run for this amount. Take it or leave it.

You know it would be a great idea. Reality would kick in. The lazy people would drive that idea right into the river. LD "If I'm getting payed for the load, I'm just going to take my sweet time."

Not really. If they dont drop the load at the specific time they get penalized

Sam C just to give you some perspective on what has affected ALL workers in the US: If the minimum wage had kept pace with the general cost of living from the 1970s until right now; at this point in 2015, minimum wage should be sitting at $26.00/hr. To stay relative to the cost of living. So what does that tell you? We're ALL screwed. ALL workers. Not just truckers. Be grateful you found A WAY to do this job that you find joy in and survive. I think if we adjust our standard of living to the current economic environment we have been saddled with, continue honing our skill set and maintaining our professionalism, we are some lucky, lucky dogs.

I agree with Sam C. You will do this run for this amount. Take it or leave it.

You know it would be a great idea. Reality would kick in. The lazy people would drive that idea right into the river. LD "If I'm getting payed for the load, I'm just going to take my sweet time."

Sandman, I get what you're saying here. In our case here, if that person dragged his feet he would miss the chance to preload for the next day. For us it's deliver/ load/deliver/ load/deliver/ annnnnd,,, preload. If the slacker was dawdling all day he'd miss the preload because the mill would have closed for the night. Simply said, he's not performing and has no excuse; so he would be terminated.

I agree with Sam C. You will do this run for this amount. Take it or leave it.

You know it would be a great idea. Reality would kick in. The lazy people would drive that idea right into the river. LD "If I'm getting payed for the load, I'm just going to take my sweet time."

Not really. If they dont drop the load at the specific time they get penalized

I get paid by the load as a L/O. If there is any way possible to get empty early and get another load, I do it. I really like long loads for that reason. Usually if I get a load with four days on it, I can get it there in three or less and get another load that week. It's not a disincentive unless you're lazy. The exceptions are weekend loads, since very few receivers take loads on weekends and not many shippers load 24/7 in the flatbed world. The goal is to get empty as early as possible in the morning with as many hours as possible on the clock so you can get to the next load with time to drive after. There are drivers who take their sweet time, but they aren't making as much money as they could.

Personally I think the problem lies with the term cpm (cents per mile). The term alone tells someone they only get paid to drive and that all other work is unpaid. If companies were smart they'd realize that they can pay exactly the same and not hear people complain if they would just change the cpm term. Instead of saying they pay per mile they can say they pay per load. Instead of telling someone they get .40 per mile to take a trailer from a to b (600 miles) and drop off, have someone add the miles ahead of time and tell the driver they will pay them 240$ to pick up and drop off from a to b. Doing this, the driver wont be able to say they aren't getting paid for there work because they were told a specific price to pick up and drop off so everything that happens in between is part of that price. Problem solved!

That's essentially the same thing but worded differently. Say you have a load that pays the company $1000 and it goes 1000 miles. If you pay someone 25% of revenues they're making $250. If you tell them you'll pay 25 cpm on that same load they're still making $250. Same pay but a different way of wording it which leaves you with two problems:

1) How do you know the company isn't cheating you? They'll tell you what they're making on a load but you have no real way of knowing. It lends itself to cheating drivers out of revenues by claiming the load pays less than it does. With mileage pay at least you know you're getting paid what you deserve on every load.

2) You're still not paying people for specific tasks like filling out paperwork, fueling, and waiting on loading and unloading. That's the same complaint people have about mileage pay. They feel like they're getting paid to drive but not for everything else. They'll feel the same way with percentage. They're getting paid to haul the load but what about waiting at customers, fueling, and getting repairs done? They want to see money in their paycheck for that stuff too.

So I don't think paying percentage instead of by the mile would necessarily quell the complaints. It would just create a different set of problems.

I think I agree with Old School about the gist of the whole thing; you simply MUST be willing to embrace the lifestyle....And you trucking personality types know who you are! In the whole ridiculous scheme of things, the whole absurdity of humanity and western capitalism, it is a glorious job. I must say; if you feel compelled to wrangle and fight it, it's not for you and you should search for a better fit because you deserve a good fit. Life is short. :)

An amazing and enjoyable statement! I totally agree. And Old School is indeed totally right about embracing the lifestyle, as he always is with his advice.

In order to really thrive in trucking I feel you have to be ambitious and adventurous by nature. You have to willingly embrace one h*ll of a challenge every day you do this job. You're taking your life and the lives of countless others into your hands every day, in every decision you make, in every moment of attention or inattention. And there's nothing easy about it. Trucking is for guys and gals that who would rather try to ride a bull than to watch safely as someone else gives it a try. If you're looking for an easy payday, you're looking in the wrong place.

There are tons of respectable occupations for those who are less ambitious or not looking for risk and adventure. I've done phone sales and carpentry. I've delivered pizzas and I've worked on computers. I've been a Harley mechanic and a certified welder. But man that stuff gets boring! Seriously! Makes me want to jump off a building after a while. They can all be a great way to make a living but it's just too safe, predictable, and monotonous.

I want awesome challenges in my day to day life and I like taking a little risk once in a while. I want to see how good I can become at something difficult and I want to have the responsibility of making important decisions, even life and death decisions. I'm the type of person that jumped out of bed every morning knowing I was born for the trucking lifestyle. It was awesome. I come from a long line of old school, blue collar workers who value strength, toughness, and hard work. You work your *ss off every day is what you do. That's not an option. That's a given.

In trucking it's simple, really. You get paid when you complete the job that your company is being paid to do, hauling freight down the highway. They get paid to haul freight from A to B for X amount of dollars and so do you. But unlike most hourly workers, you're going to get paid exactly what you deserve for your productivity. If you're more productive than most drivers you'll get paid more than most drivers, simple as that. Exactly as it should be. It's more like giving the driver a small ownership of the company instead of just being a hired worker. Instead of just taking your time and milking the clock, trying to do as little as possible, a driver paid by the mile should want to run like crazy! Get out there and make some great money for yourself and at the same time you're helping your company thrive so you'll have a strong company to work for in the future. When the company makes money, you make money.