Overdrive

26 | Overdrive | July 2018 I n May, 200-plus-truck flatbed fleet Smokey Point Distributing announced a base salary com- pensation structure for its over-the-road company drivers. The fleet, part of the larger Daseke Inc. group, started the program June 1, paying solo OTR drivers with flatbed hauling experience an annual salary of $65,000 and each qualified and experienced member of a driving team $75,000. The move was among the most recent in an accelerating turn toward minimum guarantees for drivers. North Charleston, South Carolina-based Bulldog Hiway Express, also part of the Daseke group, last November guaran- teed flatbed haulers a minimum $1,000 a week in its Salary Plus program. Monroeville, Alabama-based Hornady Transportation followed suit with a simi- lar plan. Around the same time, Sioux City, Iowa-based K&B Transportation committed to drivers 2,500 paid miles per week, or a $1,125 per week mini- mum. The trend responds to a chief chal- lenge in OTR trucking — how to fairly compensate drivers subject to unpredict- able income due to piece-pay structures such as per-mile and percentage of revenue. Lacking any minimum-pay backstop, most OTR drivers can suffer serious pay shortfalls due to detention, weather and other factors beyond their control. The largest share of Overdrive's natu- rally entrepreneurial owner-operator readers continue to prefer percentage pay for the opportunity it affords to use load-choice latitude to maximize profitability on the fewest miles. But for company drivers, fleets large and small are pitching guaranteed pay, recognizing that "stability needs to be added to the pay package," says compensation analyst Mark Murrell. For owner-operators, truckload car- riers "haven't figured that one out yet," but Murrell speculates that "in theory they could pay [owner-operators] a monthly retainer" of sorts that might function as a minimum. The idea also was floated in recent history by a party among the new crop of technology- enabled brokerages as a time-based con- Washington State-based Smokey Point Distributing in May announced a new salary-pay structure for company drivers. The move reflects a trend among top-performing fleets toward minimum guaranteed pay. Courtesy of Smokey Point Distributing Guaranteed pay Fleets are introducing plans that promise company drivers a minimum weekly pay. Will owner-operators be next in this growing trend? BY TODD DILLS

• Cover
• Good prep defuses Roadcheck worries.
• Pulse: Technology opens door for truck mayhem.
• Personal conveyance and “truck stop lawyers.”
• Bullying customer may be shipper of last resort.
• Traversing Georgia’s 190-mile parking desert.
• Freightliner debuts two electric trucks.
• Congress debates livestock/ag hours regulations.
• Bill would repeal excise tax on truck purchases.
• Payments may loom from fradulent services case.
• Brake inspection blitz set for September.
• Coverage from the 36th annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs.
• Hot pink 379 stays in the family.
• Reader Rigs: Heavy-hauling ’06 W900L; chromed-out 2000 379; ’16 Coronado glider carves its own path;’16 389 has Georgia power; Canadian reefer-hauling ’06 W900.
• EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHT Dashcams.
• GEAR GUIDE Window deflector, tires, tape, more.
• FLEET NEWS Carriers still hiking driver pay.
• BETTER HEALTH Knowing risk factors for diabetes.
• TURNING POINT Overdrive’s Dashcam Central shows a trucker’s questionable right turn on red.
• Business: Company driver pay swelling in 2018 Company driver pay per mile surged in the first quarter of 2018 from a year ago, with the refrigerated sector leading the way, according to a survey of mid-size to large carriers.
• COVER STORY: Guaranteed pay Fleets are increasingly introducing plans that promise company drivers a minimum weekly pay. Find out what’s driving the trend and what it could mean for owner-operators.
• Guarding personal data Because of their constant traveling, truckers can be particularly vulnerable to financial loss and a trashed credit rating from identity theft. The resulting legal complications also can threaten their livelihood.
• Talent finalists headed for Dallas James Nelson, Mandi Jo Pinheiro and B.J. Williams will compete next month at The Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, where the drivers have been invited to participate in the Overdrive-Red Eye Radio Trucker Talent S
• Mix business, pleasure at GATS A new tailored driver recruitment matchup at the Great American Trucking Show joins established highlights such as Pride & Polish show trucks, live music, business seminars and health screenings.