Fuel surcharge question for those who deliver RV's....again

[DHayden]

Ok, I asked this question before and the way it was explained and made plenty of sense is that when fuel gets so high the company pays you an extra 10 or 13 cents per mile (whichever it may be) to cover the high cost of fuel.



I was looking at Horizon's web page and on the pay table chart, the fuel surcharge is SUBTRACTED from the gross pay. Then on another page showing load origins it says (some town) Florida 75 cents per mile + Fuel surcharge.



Please explain this for me again

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Horizon sucks.



I used to work for Quality Drive Away, Goshen, In. They have backhaul terminals in Perris, Ca. and Harrisburg, PA. I used to 'cheat' and work for Southeastern Trailer Transport at the same time. Quality out, Southeastern back to Elkhart, take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, and do it again.



Quality and Southeastern didn't know about each other. He He. Was making about 3000. 00 a week until 2 things happened. Southeastern stopped paying for BOTH trailers being towed and went to a flat rate of . 95/ mile. And then Quality put a flat rate on all freight to CA. I was like ,Huh? See, Southeastern pulls 2 trailers at a time, but they want to pay the same for a single unit! But I digress, I apologize, I was only trying to give you an overview of the industry.



As far as your fuel surcharge question goes, the shipper sets the surcharge rate. Translation, they will screw you if you let them. That $1. 00 a mile to the truck is FOR YOU. For YOUR business. If the price of fuel goes up, THEN THE FUEL SURCHARGE GOES UP! Or else they will make you swallow it.

The CONSUMER is supposed to pay for the increase in the cost of fuel. NOT THE TRUCKING COMPANY (you)

See, Horizon IS NOT a trucking company. They ain't got no trucks. They're basically a broker. DHayden Trucking LLC is the trucking company. DHayden OWNS the power unit. Without the power unit, them trailers just sit there. Will the broker find another power unit? Sure. But will HE run into the same high cost of diesel fuel? Yup. Will he need a higher fuel surcharge?



Yup.



I wouldn't hook my Dodge to Horizon's trailers for . 90/ mile let alone . 75



Classis Transport is paying . 99 cents a mile...

 

[DHayden]

Ok but... on the main page it says 98 cents to 1. 02 per mile, then in the other column they have fuel surcharge subtracted from your gross pay. I don't understand why they show it subtracted when it should be added.

The . 75cents + surcharge is listed on another page and is for loads originating out of a different city.

 

[KBalzuweit]

Actually Classic is paying 1. 04 out of Middlebury now. But things are slow, I called in yesterday at 8:30 am and then all day long and I am still waiting for a load. I would not go the Classic route, until they get more freight or less drivers it is really starting to suck there(middlebury). I am sure if you want to work for less and pull out the Elkhart or Goshen terminals you can stay busy.



Before you dive into this business, DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND MATH!! Unless you run the wheels off the truck and do not mind being away from home a bunch,(unless you live close to the terminal and can make a quick stop) it may not be something to get into.



I have been doing it for 2 years and like the job, but its getting harder and harder to make a living. With fuel, maint. , truck, and about everthing else going up in price, the costs of being in business are tough.



Also if you call Horizon you will find they are also over a dollar with the fuel surcharge. Heck with the surcharge most companies are atleast . 95.

Good Luck,

Karl

 

[HBarlow]

DHayden:



The answer to your question is the fuel surcharge is added to the basic per mile rate. Horizon's basic rate is about $0. 80/mile. With fuel surcharge added the amount paid to the driver is about $1/mile.



I agree with Karl's comments above. I've only been doing this for a little over two months and enjoy pulling trailers for Horizon but for me it is an adventure and a way to earn extra income. I don't have to do it to make a living, I put more than 27 years in the Navy. As I've said before, I would not recommend someone do it unless his wife has a real job or he has other income. Many do make a living pulling trailers but it requires living in your truck. I was talking with a fellow Horizon driver last night at a Flying J in Davenport, IA. He has been pulling trailers for about 2 1/2 years and runs 200k miles/year. That means approximately 100k paid miles. Lots of the drivers I've seen or talked with are older, like me. My guess is that most of them are retired, semi-retired, or have income from other sources.



Harvey

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Heh Heh :-laf



You guys are rolling 200K a year and your only getting pay for HALF of that??!!



Read my post again until you get it. Stop working for free. This is America.

 

[KBalzuweit]

Well if you are suggesting that we all be leased on to 2 companies to get backhauls, its illegal. If you have a secret we are all missing please fill us in.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

illegal? What do you call 200,000 miles a year?



Like I said before, Classic, Quality, Horizon and Hoosier ain't got no trucks. Set up your business where you drive for YOU. Check the FMCSR. Use the LEASING company as a BROKER...



But if you don't wan't to go through all the trouble, Quality will let you backhaul with whomever, as long as they get their cut...

 

[NIsaacs]

DHayden,



I think Horizon's pay table chart that you refer to, is talking about your fuel cost, not fuel surcharge cost. Your total fuel cost, based on days and miles traveled per week, is subtacted from your gross pay. They use 10 miles per gallon as an average for Diesel pickups.



The fuel surcharge pay is in addition to the base rate of pay. It looks like the only good haul is out of Indiana, with the other hauls and states paying a lot less.





"NICK"

 

[DHayden]

Thanks Nick, I think thats what it is. It was bothering me to no end.



Throttlejockey, I was only considering getting into this right now because my truck is an 01 and it can't be more than 5 years old to sign on. You only have to do one haul a month to stay a contractor so it would be a decent source of extra income if I needed it. Granted it is a spendy proposition but I already have everything I need except for some straps so it wouldnt cost me much in that department.



I think Horizon lets you get loads from other companies as long as they get their cut also. This may have changed but that's what their site said not to long ago.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Sure DHayden,



I just didn't want you to haul outbound and deadhead home.



That's ridiculous.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Deadheading sucks. I drove for a year on my own but not correctly. I flew by night for . 60-. 75 a mile, deadheaded 95% of the time on the way home.



I would be interested in doing trailer transport but it looks tough to not deadhead.



How does insurance work... do they pay primary liability and you just pay collision and comprehensive and bobtail?



I am also interested in hauling cars with a 3 car hauler with my truck... Insurance is EXPENSIVE ($10K a year but I haven't hit 25 years old yet).

 

[KBalzuweit]

Patrick,

Most companies will require you to be either 23 or 25. As for insurance you carry bobtail, comp and collision. Do you have a CDL? If so companies like Bennett, Star Fleet, and others do wedge or flatbeds with multiple units. If you can get in with an auto transport broker, you could always try to get some backhauls that way. But you will not be able to run a 2500 hauling a wedge. The companies will not lease you on and the dot will get you. I have a couple friends in the car business that have been busted pulling a wedge with a 2500. Heck out west even w/ a 3500 its getting tough. They seem to be getting tough on us little guys, and you do not want to be in a scale with an overweight truck and a dot officer that has a bug up his a** about writing tickets, it makes for a really bad day.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

I haven't found anyone who will talk to me until I'm 25.



I don't have a CDL. I was thinking I could stay under 26,000. I think with 3 cars it'd be possible. Over 26K not only means a CDL but IFTA paperwork that just sounds really annoying. Do the trailer haulers require it?



The Kaufman car hauler trailers are supposed to be pretty light (honestly not sure if thats a good thing though). They changed their diamond plate to this mesh stuff.



As for being legal or overloaded, the GVW is calculated by taking the GVW of the truck + trailer. So if my truck is 8800, I would have the trailer maker set the trailer to 17200. With 19. 5" wheels and Load range H tires (This is what I had on my old truck before it got stolen) I would be way under the rear axle and tire limits. I may have to take off the bed and register it as a "tractor" in order to be under length limits which limit the trailer to 48 ft in some states.



But of course, like you said maybe nobody would want to put their trailer or car on my truck anyway



Then, there's the fact that I don't live in Indiana and while I wouldn't mind moving there, I know my girlfriend would never. My likely locations seem to be the Phoenix area or NYC area.



I will wait until I am 25, then I can more seriously to companies and figure things out. I am working a very good desk job right now but I can't handle this forever.

 

[KBalzuweit]

Quality Driveawy in IN will take 23 and up.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Do you find that you are delivering to many different places or often the same region. I. e. can you haul trailers for a living and not live in Indiana?

 

[KBalzuweit]

Patrick,

The states that have more "retired" people, AZ,TX, FL are the hardest to get loads to. With so many retired guys in this business, they all seem to get them. I am moving to Florida myself and will be getting out of this, just to hard to get there. Right now I am in IL and its pretty easy to get home. If I were you and had a good job I would not even consider getting in this business. I can say if you do not want to go way out of your way to get home, plan on spending couple weeks at a time on the road.



Not sure obout the rest of the guys out there but Classic is sucking lately, in the last 8 days I have only been able to get 2 loads with a total of about 900 miles. Can't make a living that way. Today there was about 30 guys waiting at the terminal and they only got in 19 trailers and they were all short trips to WI and MI.



Karl

 

[PatrickCampbell]

That sucks to hear. It's hard to believe there is a driver excess and a shortage of loads?

 

[GAmes]

I was looking at Horizon's web page and on the pay table chart, the fuel surcharge is SUBTRACTED from the gross pay. Then on another page showing load origins it says (some town) Florida 75 cents per mile + Fuel surcharge.



Please explain this for me again

Here's another angle. Each manufacturer negotiates a base mileage rate. This is the taxable income that is shown on your 1099 at the end of the year. In addition to that a mileage surcharge is negotiated. This money does not show up on your 1099. Added together is the gross pay per mile. Both rates can change overnight. The company I drive for was getting 15 cents per mile surcharge from one company until a competitor said they would do it for 5 cents. Guess what, all of a sudden we were getting 10 cents per mile less while the price of fuel went up. In addition, not all loads have a mileage surcharge, depends on where it originates and how the contract was set up.



Does that help any?