Overdrive

November 2015

Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info

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PULSE November 2015 | Overdrive | 5 By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com I f you've noticed some of the truck driver income numbers in the news, you might be scratching your head. Especially if you're a struggling owner-operator, wondering if you'd earn more and stress less by going back to the company driver ranks. The California Trucking Association and an- other group with an interest in maintaining the independent contractor status of port owner-op- erators released a survey last month that says in California, owner-operators earn $17,400 more than company drivers. The study listed a median $59,478 income for owner-operators in 2013 and a $42,078 median for company drivers in 2015. That spread grows to $20,000, based on the U.S. Department of Labor's nationwide com- pany driver median wage of $39,520 for 2014, also cited in the California report. Enter an Oct. 14 Wall Street Journal story, "Truckers Haul Home Big Increases in Pay." It says company drivers this year are earning $57,000. That's based on the respected survey of medium and large fleets done for two de- cades by the National Transportation Institute. NTI Principal Gordon Klemp told me the federal median pay relies on survey results trans- lated to hourly earnings over a 40-hour week, which doesn't reflect the way long-haul trucking compensation works. The numbers also don't account for accessorial pay. The reality: "aggressive changes" in company driver pay over the last18 months, Klemp says. Many fleets have been reporting year-over-year increases as high as 12 cents per mile. "We've never seen a 12-cent change before," he says. "We're used to seeing 2-cent changes." As for owner-operator earnings in 2013, the California groups' $59,478 is notably higher than the $52,406 reported by financial ser- vices provider ATBS for that year, though the first is the median (mid-point of the group) and the second is an average. ATBS clients are on track to earn an average $60,000 this year. It's hard to argue with the ATBS numbers. The company processes thousands of own- er-operator tax forms, so there's no derivation of earnings from gross revenue, as in the Califor- nia report, and no error from incorrect survey responses. The bottom line: It looks like the California report's spread of $17,400 between company driv- er and owner-operator earnings is overstated, at least as applied on the national scale. Instead, the $50,000-$60,000 range is now commonplace for many employed and leased long-haul truckers. Klemp's take is that owner-operator earnings have enjoyed three strong years of increases, and company driver compensation is playing catch-up, narrowing the gap with owner-operators. Most owner-operators proba- bly don't care if company driver earnings are on par with theirs. You love being more in control of your equipment and your career. You're willing to bet your hard work and smarts will get you through the bad times and pay off handsome- ly in good times. Paycheck checkup Trucking income figures released in a sur- vey related to California port haulers vary from income data tracked by other sources. one to put it in the car and unload it when you get home? Same principle, isn't it? "Bill": Although I'm not in favor of ELDs, I've been saying all along that they will assist us in growing a pair. The time will come when $100-an-hour detention pay will be manda- tory. "If not, then get another truck" should be our answer to brokers who won't pay. This year, I have flat-out left shippers and have threatened receivers to put their loads in storage. We simply can't put up with the laziness of others that costs us revenue. Travis Handleson: I had one broker not include any detention clause, so I penciled a simple contract: "Detention is started at two hours, paid in 15-minute blocks, rounded up. Rate is $75 per hour for the first four hours. If load/unload is not complete by the fourth hour, subsequent detention pay is $3.50 per minute. Carrier reserves the right to void this entire contract if detention reaches the fourth hour; however, payment shall still be due from broker for accrued detention." Via Overdrive's Facebook page: Chuck Guintard: It's a race to the bottom [for low-balling de- tention pay]. Everyone thinks they can do it cheaper and end up working for free. Dean M. Habhab: Deten- tion should be what you make if driving down the road. $100-plus. Donna-John Poole: $75 to $100 per hour after two is fair. David W. Elwin: How can you calculate fair when some- one takes six hours to unload, then you miss your reload and have to sit for a day looking for another load. $64 an hour, no! Try $500 an hour, and that would guarantee you're out the door promptly.

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