Calculating Hourly Rate

So I'm a newbie here. Going to school hopefully Nov. 16 - Dec 16th.

Late career change from tech and accounting.

I'm just looking at rates per mile for company drivers. So if the maximum speed you can cruise at is say 60 mph (55 here in So Cal) then if we take rate X speed that is the maximum hourly rate you will earn. allowing for stops to refuel etc. rate drops significantly the more you start and stop.

So say starting out you are offered .33 per mile and you can maximally drive 60 mph your rate is 19.80/hour

What are you realistically going to average over the course of a day 50 MPH? So 18.00/hour?

Just curious as I'm trying to re adjust life style costs!

...rate drops significantly the more you start and stop.

This is the exact reason they pay CPM instead of hourly. They want to ecourage you to keep that door shut and keep those wheels turning. This will keep both you and the company more profitable!

Just kind of interesting that a company doesn't pay a little more to a driver it entrusts a 100,000.00 tractor, 20,000.00 trailer and cargo worth $$???? to. Seems like there is really good upside potential as the industry tries to attract drivers and realizes basic economic theory, such as supply and demand!

Just starting out you can estimate to drive around 2,500 miles a week and make somewhere around $35,000 your first year.

Just starting out you can estimate to drive around 2,500 miles a week and make somewhere around $35,000 your first year.

That makes pretty good sense. I calculated 37,500.00 but I had forgotten to back out the first month at a training rate.

I try not to look at it in terms of an hourly rate, I think of it more as a salaried position. I look at the big picture from month to month. I've pretty much figured out what my average income is usually going to be. This helps alleviate some of the frustration when waiting on shippers, receivers or dispatchers because it all balances out into my expected averge in the end.

I try not to look at it in terms of an hourly rate, I think of it more as a salaried position. I look at the big picture from month to month. I've pretty much figured out what my average income is usually going to be. This helps alleviate some of the frustration when waiting on shippers, receivers or dispatchers because it all balances out into my expected averge in the end.

Totally agree. Some days, the hourly would look great, some days you'll be really ticked off lol

I prefer to look at my miles and my cpm because as far as work load, it's a bit more accurate but all in all I don't care about the hours, I care about my paycheck at the end of the week and know that some weeks will be harder work worse than others. That's just the reality especially with the winter months upon us.

Yep.. keep the wheels rolling and the door shut. My stepfather used to pay his drivers by the hour (local rock haulers) out of a quarry we owned and consequently had to spend quite a bit of time, running up and down the highway to make sure they weren't sitting parked somewhere when they shouldn't be.

All through high school, my summers were spent cruising in our parts truck checking on drivers part time and the other half working in the office. Relaying info on our 2-way radios.

"My stepfather used to pay his drivers by the hour (local rock haulers) out of a quarry we owned and consequently had to spend quite a bit of time, running up and down the highway to make sure they weren't sitting parked somewhere when they shouldn't be."

Today's technology makes it possible for a dispatcher , from the comfort of his cubicle, to check if a driver is loafing...

Tom, take what you'd expect from most 'normal' careers and throw it out the window. There's a reason why they say trucking is a lifestyle, especially in the truckload sector. I can appreciate your background, but trying to force cpm into an hourly rate will only frustrate you. Unless you're comparing trucking gigs that actually do pay by the hour, it's better to keep in mind what these drivers are sharing and to think in terms of miles, averaged out by the week or the month. I think in monthly terms. There is flux in trucking that you'll have to account for when budgeting and planning.