I seen some companies paying 88% to the owner operators

Some pay 90% but after every thing is figured in you still get about the same as a company that pays 75%.

 

Focusing on the percentage is the wrong way to go about it.

 

You need to be worried about how much the truck gets paid. Not the percentage. 88% of $2 is less than 80% of $2.50. That’s what I’m getting at. Don’t write off a company just because they might keep 20% instead of 12% or whatever the percentage is. You need to figure out what their owner operators average for all miles to their truck after the percentage.

 

Need to know what other charges there are with the percentage.

 

After all, every one has to make a buck, truck running profitable would be more interest then the actual percentage to me

 

Not to advertise here but the one I'm leased at is 87% if you own your own trailer and 77% if you pull one of theirs. They pay 100% fuel surcharge on all direct and brokered freight. Currently I think it's at 34 cents a mile.

Accessorial stops pay is broken out at 100% you'll get $50 per stop not counting the first and last. Detention is paid to you at 100% regardless of the rate there. Layovers are paid at 100%. Current fuel pump full price at the pilot in Birmingham, AL is $2.999 but with the company discount I'll get it for $2.5059 so none of that lousy 10 cents off the pump price BS and no swipe fees for using the fuel card to fuel.

Now for the finer details of what they charge beyond that 13% or 23%. Reefer fuel is reimbursed to the operator pulling their trailer at 77% but not the one with his own at 87%. If you run their Qualcomm ELD you'll be charged $30 and some change per month for that. If you have a 1999 or older truck you can avoid that ELD charge and run paper logs but you will not have access to company dedicated direct freight and will be working brokered freight only.

They will figure your IFTA every quarter and you are responsible for any cost there. With me usually that is minimal and sometimes I even get a credit there instead of a charge (how's that for honesty? most companies use IFTA to extract extra revenue, sometimes to an extreme degree, from their operators). If you use their fuel card to load up an EFS check to cover the lumper fee they will deduct a $1.50 fee from your settlement for that. To avoid that you can use your own cash or credit card to cover lumpers. Obviously lumpers are always reimbursed as long as you do your paperwork correctly. Settlements are per load and if you turn in your paperwork on a completed load early enough in the morning you normally see that money in your bank account the next day (except for Fridays and weekends).

That's it. That's everything they charge back above and beyond the 13% or 23%. Most 85-90% companies charge back outrageous fees of several hundreds or even thousands of dollars monthly above and beyond that 10-15% for cargo insurance, trailer fees, etc, etc making your settlements 70%+/-. Where I'm at you will actually make a tad more than 77% or 87% on your settlements (obviously I pay for the fuel). My settlements rarely have any deductions. The last one I remember was chump change for IFTA. I have my own bobtail policy that's about $1700 a year and I have to carry i think it is $100,000 or maybe $150,000 of OCC/ACC that cost about $1800 a year. I pay for my own IRP about $1400 a year.

These are the kind of things you need to look for in a company advertising 90%+/- because a vast majority of them aren't anywhere close to 90%.

The last company I was leased to before this one paid 90% (when they felt like paying!!) with me owning the trailer but charged back multiple different things my settlements there and I had all sorts of deductions.

 

CST Lines

 

My last settlement was over $7500 after the company deducted 35% plus insurance. That was for one week of pulling dryvan on an ELD.