Most percentage pay for drivers is based on gross of the load, fuel economy and DH really don't matter. With that said DH miles will basically be free miles but fuel economy doesn't matter.

 

Thats how this company pays, 25% of gross. DH miles are basically free (which stinks). They tell you what your pay for the load is before you take it (no forced dispatch-how nice is that). They have 3 loads a week going to FL (either Tampa or Orlando depending on the day) that they bring back empty. During produce season they will haul melons or something back, but its usually empty. They reason they do this and drivers agree is that it pays the $1.02 per mile loaded to go to Florida. If you DH home and figure all your miles together, you are still making .51 a mile. Not every load pays this good (but they don't deadhead back on most of them).

I like the fact that its not forced dispatch. They don't hardly run NYC or New England because of freight coming back out.

Truck I'll be driving is a '97 Freightliner COE with a 425 Cat and a 13 speed Eaton Fuller. I drove it last night and its a pretty sharp truck. It has 350,000 original miles on it. They bought 3 of them from ABC Sports network, all have the same motor and tranny and are well taken care of trucks. Every screw that went loose they took it to either the Freightliner or Cat dealers for service. Most guys probably balk at driving a cabover, but I love em. They had another truck I coule have drove, a 97 FLD condo, but I'd rather drive the COE. Its the medium sized sleeper. You have to remember I'm not going to be OTR in that sense either. I should be home a couple times a week and on the weekends. Its eventually going to get where I'm home more and more.

I'll probably go with them, but I'm not 100% either way. Can anyone give me insight in to crossing the border? They have good paying freight going and coming. Any help would be appreciated. I've never been to Canada so I know absolutely nothing.

 

I hate to disagree with you there, Mike. But many of the smaller O/O and small fleets( for example: Flatbed company out of Harrison, Ar(forgot the name) they pay there COMPANY DRIVERS on Percentage AFTER expenses.

Owner/Operators & Lease operators get percentage of the load- because the fuel and all the other tractor expenses come out of their pocket.

Finding a company that will pay you(the driver) first! a percentage before taking out cost of operation-- WoW that would be kinda sweet. Though I doubt that company will be in business long. Because, see if you did that- there would be no economic incentive to induce your DRIVER to run the truck economically.

Sometimes referred to as NET PERCENTAGE PAY... as opposed to GROSS PERCENTAGE PAY.

Here's a link to an interesting story: Read about How "Keith" has been paid different ways.

http://www.lifeasatrucker.com/trucke...-comments.html

 

There's some big flews there PA!

Let's say it's Knoxville, Tn- (Homestead, FL)-- I couldn't think of any town more "south" than that in Florida.

1.02 per mile loaded to homestead, fl= 859 HHG miles x $1.02=$876.18 gross and your 25%= $219.05 = 25.5cpm Loaded. But now since you got to DH back to Knoxville for free! 12.25 cpm for total trip.

Sorry Charlie... now that assumes you weren't suggesting that your 25% of the total (to the truck) was $1.02 per mile-- cus that would mean the entire load was actually paying $4.08 per mile(freight to the truck).

 

I don't know HB, I don't want to argue with you about it. I do know I just talked to the guy and fuel milage has nothing to do with the pay to the driver. I've talked to drivers who get paid percentage before and I have personally never heard of one who the fuel milage effected the pay to the driver. Maybe I misunderstood when I've talked to other drivers, I don't know. Also, how could you tell the driver what the load pays to them before they take fuel milage out?? Each load would be wildly different pay. If you have a load of bottles, your fuel milage would be better (and your pay also) that a load of roll stock paper or something. Weight would have a lot to do with it.

I don't know how it all works, there are still some questions I have that need answered. Got a call today from my dispatcher in Kingsport. I was supposed to deliver this load I'm under tonight by midnight north of Nashville. He informs me that the delivery time has been pushed back to noon on Monday and he has me a reload going to Maryland Monday. Pretty good. Whether I quit Heartland or not I want to get a good week in so I don't miss a paycheck if I move. Right now I'll have about 1400 miles when I get to Maryland sometime Tuesday.

 

Almost everyone I have ever talked to or worked for paid on percentage before expenses. I did work with a guy who was paid 50% after fuel, his pay worked out almost exactly the same as mine at 23%.

 

I didn't write that to "argue" with you either.. but I'd hate for you to quit Heartland paying .40+?? cpm and 34hrs a week at home for a company/ operation where you get a shinny truck( which you can't eat) and .25cpm. but home every other night. ( Unless you're ok with that).. it's just the idea that someone is gonna pay you $1.07 a mile to drive THEIR truck is kinda insane- I've talked to several drivers since I've read that-- and we all agree-- other than "show freight" or other "sensitive cargo" there's nothing going into Florida paying $4.00 + a mile. If this guy is really going to pay you THAT much- you better keep quiet about the name of that outfit before you get jumped and someone grabs your job out from under you.

Welcome to trucking-- where different cargo/loads DO pay wildly different rates- where weight does make a difference both with how much a load pays & costs to move. When they tell you what the load pays per mile they are usually talking in terms of what the broker is paying or what the customer is paying to the TRUCK(Them)- they expect you to do the math and figure YOUR 25% of that.

When companies pay a company driver % of the NET. All this really means is they take out the fuel before giving you YOUR cut. It's not a true % of the NET because they don't take out for maintenance, permits, truck payment etc. Just the usual & customary expenses that are VARIABLE on that particular load. Except for certain cases: Like if you curb a tire, bend a rim. You know the owner isn't gonna swallow that expense- it's coming out of YOUR percentage. Or damages to the truck. Or another big example: Lumper Fee. If the owner can't get the Broker or Shipper to pay it as a "accessory charge" -- and you still don't want to unload it YOURSELF-- guess who's % that will come out of?

After consulting with several driver friends of mine-- we've concluded just about the only trucking areas we can think of that still pay company drivers % is mostly flat bed & bulk hauling. These areas have the least amount of variable expenses( no lumpers, no reefer fuel ) so drivers can more accuately predict what their bottom line is going to be.

I don't know if you can do this- as you're hiring on as a 'hand' but if you were going to sign on a lease or lease YOUR truck to a company-- you could ask to see their Freight RATES- their books-- to get an idea of how much certain loads are going to pay- as well as get an idea of where you want to run to- to be in a position to move their better paying freight. Otherwords, find out up front what markets are "backhaul" markets and what regions to avoid.

 

I haven't read the whole thread, and maybe i missed this info. on the new job, but another thing you have to consider is if it's a 1099 job, just by the little bit i've read, with the percentage pay, small company atmosphere, and some of the other policies, it seems to me like this is the type of company to offer that kind of work. In the end it's ultimately your decission, but like i said in an earlier post, i've come across the "grass is greener" type job in the past, that notion bit me in the ass and i had to struggle through a lot of hard times because of it, just my 2 cents........

 

Howdy y'all,sitting in another truck stop and been reading all I could about Heartland,seems like they have a decent SE regional out of Atlanta,GA(I live out of Augusta,GA).P A's experience doesn't seem to be a bad one and I'm tired of not going home for 3 weeks at a time.Some of the things that I didn't like was them searching trucks,would really like to hear from some others that know about Heartland,got over 6 years good clean driving,got Hazmat,tanker,hauled gas local for a year,then decided I wanted to be back on the road,now,I need(more than want)to be home or close to home more often.Hey someone give me a shout,be safe and God bless.

 

hey, where did all the heartland drivers go? need some updates of how things are going lately. just curious.:thumbsup: