How Do You Deal With The Corporate Bs Long Term?

companies are able to get the actual mileage much more precise, but why should they change when the discrepancy is continually in their favor?

I can tell you how they reach these numbers.

When companies negotiate with shippers, they don't often negotiate the rate per mile. Instead, they present their rate per mile as a fixed number and negotiate the number of paid miles for the run.

For instance, it's about 140 miles from Toledo to Columbus. The company sets its rate per mile ahead of time, so the shipper might say, "We'll pay 125 miles for that trip," and the trucking company might say, "Make it 130," and they make the deal.

Now, the trucking company will get paid its rate per mile for 130 miles, and the driver will get his rate per mile for those same 130 miles.

I was told they do it this way for two reasons:

1. The pay rates for both the drivers and the trucking company are set ahead of time, so the trucking company knows what their gross margins will be. This is what I was referring to when I said they're only willing to pay you a certain percentage of the truck's revenues. This is how they achieve that. By fixing the rate per mile for both the trucking company and the driver, their gross margins remain fixed, regardless of the length of haul.

2. Companies are reluctant to lower their rate per mile because it's more difficult to negotiate a higher rate again in the future. It can be easier to negotiate the length of haul, while keeping your rates a little higher.

I'm not defending the practice. I'm just explaining how the system works. This is why they almost never quite pay the full mileage for a run. It averages around 5% - 10% fewer miles than you'll drive.

Old School was referring to this phenomenon when he said:

Now, I might consider it theft if they were charging the customer more miles than they are paying the driver.

So if the company charged 140 miles for the run, but only paid the driver 130 miles, that would be unfair to the driver. The driver is no longer getting his fair share of the revenues to his truck.

So it has nothing to do with the accuracy of GPS or anything like that. It's simply a matter of negotiating with customers in a way that allows the trucking company to keep predictable operating margins and to give the driver a consistent percentage of the revenues to the truck.

Thank you, Brett, I totally understand your explanation. But I’m still gonna play the devils advocate just for some mental exercise.

The company may charge for 130 miles and pay the driver for 130 miles. Or maybe they charge the customer for 140 miles but only pay the driver for 130 miles. They could do this and the driver would have no way to know because there is zero transparency. I’d be surprised if any of the drivers anywhere would trust their companies to be completely honest when there is no way for the driver to verify that the company was 100% honest with driver pay. Besides, as Banks has often stated, it’s not the driver’s responsibility to subsidize the company. Here is a photo of the company advertisement on the back of my trailer:

The company simply advertises .55 CPM. How is this not a “contract”? If, as in a previous comment, a driver ends up driving 13,000 more miles in a year than he gets paid for, how is that not a breach of the contract?

If the company makes a profit in a fiscal year, do they share the profit with the drivers? Of course they don’t. They expect the driver to goose step along with them on their mileage discrepancies. “Dear Driver: Share our losses but not our profits.” Not a very well defined system and one weighted heavily in the favor of the company.

If the company makes a profit in a fiscal year, do they share the profit with the drivers? Of course they don’t. They expect the driver to goose step along with them on their mileage discrepancies. “Dear Driver: Share our losses but not our profits.” Not a very well defined system and one weighted heavily in the favor of the company.

Very well said. You summed up my stance on this nicely.

If the company makes a profit in a fiscal year, do they share the profit with the drivers? Of course they don’t.

BK, I have great news! Some companies do offer this, and TMC is the first that comes to mind:

TMC Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

Follow that link for all the details, but here are some of the highlights:

What is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)?

An ESOP is a type of qualified retirement plan that buys part or all of a company on behalf of employees who are eligible to participate. It is similar to a pension or 401(k) plan, except that instead of being invested in stocks & bonds of outside companies, the ESOP owns the stock of TMC Transportation. The ESOP holds the stock in individual accounts that are set up for each eligible participant. Participants receive the value of their accounts after they leave the company.

When do I become eligible to participate in ESOP?

In order to become eligible for participation you need to meet the following requirements:

• 1 year of employment, and
• Complete 1,000 hours of service, and
• You are age 21 years or older

To be eligible to receive the annual allocation, you must meet the following requirements:

• 1000 hours of service that plan year (January 1 - December 31)
• Employed on the last day of the plan year (December 31)

Will I have to pay for this?

Nope! You do not have to pay for your shares. TMC buys them for you. Consider it a gift!

So that's a pretty cool setup. You have to work there for a year to qualify, but then you get shares every year after that.

TMC Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

If the company makes a profit in a fiscal year, do they share the profit with the drivers? Of course they don’t.

Here's some company malfeasance for ya...

I just did some looking into my company's contributions to me. These are in addition to what they've agreed to pay me in mileage fees. I didn't take the time to add up all my ancillary pay or x-pay that happens weekly. This week alone I had very close to $400.00 x-pay. I never asked for any of it, nor had to go to war with the corporation to get them to pay that. Those funds are over and above my standard mileage pay. Oftentimes, like this week, they just appear because my DM decided I should get it.

Since i started working here, they've contributed approximately $30,000 dollars to my 401k, and granted to me that much again in company stock. Knight has a program that grants company stock to their drivers based on their performance. So yes, I'd say they are willing to share their profits. That's 60 Grand given to me just for being here and contributing in a meaningful way.

What's also interesting is they still provided me with those funds this past year when profits were worse than pathetic.

Hmmmm! That's a head scratcher. Sometimes we are so bad about getting our mind set in a certain direction, we keep ourselves from seeing, and pursuing rewards from opportunities right in front of our face.

If the company makes a profit in a fiscal year, do they share the profit with the drivers? Of course they don’t.

Here's some company malfeasance for ya...

I just did some looking into my company's contributions to me. These are in addition to what they've agreed to pay me in mileage fees. I didn't take the time to add up all my ancillary pay or x-pay that happens weekly. This week alone I had very close to $400.00 x-pay. I never asked for any of it, nor had to go to war with the corporation to get them to pay that. Those funds are over and above my standard mileage pay. Oftentimes, like this week, they just appear because my DM decided I should get it.

Since i started working here, they've contributed approximately $30,000 dollars to my 401k, and granted to me that much again in company stock. Knight has a program that grants company stock to their drivers based on their performance. So yes, I'd say they are willing to share their profits. That's 60 Grand given to me just for being here and contributing in a meaningful way.

What's also interesting is they still provided me with those funds this past year when profits were worse than pathetic.

Hmmmm! That's a head scratcher. Sometimes we are so bad about getting our mind set in a certain direction, we keep ourselves from seeing, and pursuing rewards from opportunities right in front of our face.

I already backed out but really I’m just curious..

What’s the point of your post? To mock people who point out that the same company you’re posting about also employs practices that are unfair and in many drivers’ opinions, unethical?

Cool, some companies offer profit sharing. That’s great! No one is saying these companies are bad companies. But it’s like you and Brett can’t stand the thought that we might be a little ****ed about some of the little injustices we have to deal with. Even Brett admitted he doesn’t endorse HHG. I don’t get it.

Kool-aid, man. SMH

What’s the point of your post? To mock people who point out that the same company you’re posting about also employs practices that are unfair and in many drivers’ opinions, unethical?

I'm glad you asked! Since I have no history of mocking drivers in here, I'm very surprised at your response.

The point is that several drivers in this conversation are hell bent on acting like trucking corporations are determined to squeeze everything out of their drivers and then just expect them to take it with a smile. That's so far from the truth, but the average newbie coming into this conversation would never know it without somebody sharing the positive things these companies do. They do some really positive things for their drivers even during very difficult financial times.

I'm not sure what influences you guys have come under recently, but I can't recall a time when this forum was so full of complaints and sour apples.

It's all fine with me if you guys want to whine and complain and carry on about how bad these trucking companies are. I'd just like folks to know there's a path to being happy and successful in a truck driving career. I've never seen anybody guided there by the folks who constantly point out their issues with trucking. If you have that many issues, move on and make it happen the way you want.

I don't drink any Kool-Aid. I do experience a rewarding career. I just like to help other misguided newbies know there's a way to be both happy and successful while doing this.

It's all fine with me if you guys want to whine and complain and carry on about how bad these trucking companies are. I'd just like folks to know there's a path to being happy and successful in a truck driving career. I've never seen anybody guided there by the folks who constantly point out their issues with trucking.

This was exactly the reason I started this website. When I came off the road and looked around at what the Web had to offer new truck drivers, I found it appalling.

There were two big websites at the time. One was the most toxic group of terminal rats I had ever found in one place. I couldn't finish even a single page of any conversation in their forum because it was sewage.

The other website had a theme - trucking is a scam, and I'll help you avoid the scams if you'll buy my CD for $29.95. I counted one time and he had the word "scam" on his homepage 17 times! I guess he missed the irony of making money helping people get started in a world he considered one giant scam.

That was basically it. That's what people had to choose from. I remember saying out loud, "OMG! If this is the advice new drivers get, they have zero chance of success in this industry."

I absolutely loved my career, so I decided to help people understand the industry the way I did and teach them how to be happy and successful in this career, exactly as the trucking industry is today. I had no interest in attacking the industry I loved or becoming an activist. Hell, everyone was doing that already. I didn't want any part of it.

I knew there were people like myself who were ambitious, optimistic, and eager to make a go of it. That's who I wanted to help. Let the complainers go elsewhere.

On that note, I think some of you guys need to step away from here for a few days and gather yourselves while we focus on helping the new drivers. I'm not threatening or suspending anyone or anything like that. I'm just saying you guys have clearly gone off the deep end, and you need to gather yourselves.

You've lost the plot entirely when you start attacking Old School as someone who would mock and belittle you. We have never had a member who dedicated more time to helping new drivers make a go of this career. He has always been respectful, genuine, well-informed, and considerate. I have the utmost respect for the man, and I won't stand for anyone attacking him.

Some of you seem so broken you're beyond help at the moment, and you've made this place so toxic that I dread reading your replies. Unless you regroup and rethink your approach, you're no help to anyone, including yourselves.