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| 03 Sep 2008 07:11:05 pm |
 In the end, Truck drivers are paid by the hour, not the mile |
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I heard a driver complaining the other day about being told to drive a different, longer route than he would have chosen to drive if it was up to him. He was saying that he got screwed out of some pay because the miles he was paid to drive were less than the miles he was told to drive. This part of his complaint I understood. It sucks to get paid for less than you drive. This is, and always has been, an unfortunate downside of paying drivers based on miles listed in a mileage guide instead of the actual odometer. Industry reports say that drivers get short paid about 5% of the miles they actually drive. But when you account for the miles that most drivers put on the truck running errands, going home for the weekend, etc, it just about comes out even.
So, back to the whiner. He was told he would get paid 500 miles but was told by the company's fuel optimizer to drive a route that took 550 miles. The catch is, the 550 mile route was 1/2 hour faster than the 500 mile route. The driver said he wanted to drive the 500 mile route cause that's what he was going to be paid for. At first glance, this makes sense. But does it really?
The driver was going to be paid for 500 miles, no matter which route he drove. It would take him 8.33 hours to drive 500 miles at an average speed of 60 miles per hour, or he could average 70 miles per hour for 7.86 hours to go the 550 mile route. The different average speeds are because of the speed limits, stop lights, and stop signs, and ability to pass slower vehicles. The driver was NOT paying for the fuel in the truck, the company was, but he was still complaining about having to drive 50 miles further, even though it took him 1/2 hour less.
So I ask all the other truck drivers out there.... If you get paid per book mile (not odometer miles), would you rather drive less miles for a longer time, or more miles in a shorter time, all for the same pay?
Every OTR truck driver gets 14 hours to work, and 11 hours to drive every day. If a driver's goal is to make as much money per day as safely possible, they should be asking themself, "How quickly can I drive these miles safely?", not "Does my pay stub match my odometer?" Because in the end, when we look at our pay stubs, the most important number is the dollars, not the miles. |
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Category : Trucking Jobs
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