How does "Practical Mileage Pay" work?

[Spartan718]

Are you paid the miles you actually drive?

 

[Rigjockey]

Are you paid the miles you actually drive?

Never! You usualy get shorted about 25 to 30 miles.

 

[jaiart]

Are you paid the miles you actually drive?

Used to be a few that paid "hub mileage" but most paid practical miles or book miles.

 

[Spartan718]

So no matter what you are only paid the miles "the GPS" says it will take from point a to b?

 

[Micabay]

So no matter what you are only paid the miles "the GPS" says it will take from point a to b?

Not with Swift... But I'm usually within 5-8%.

 

[Rigjockey]

Not with Swift... But I'm usually within 5-8%.

5% on a five hundered mile run is 25 miles, 8 percent is 40 miles.

 

[Micabay]

5% on a five hundered mile run is 25 miles, 8 percent is 40 miles.

Also, that truckstop just on the other side of the highway may be over half a mile away. And if ya loop it twice for a spot, you just added 1.5 mmiles onto your trip.

 

[Duck]

Are you paid the miles you actually drive?

Practical miles is a clever term to use because it all depends on whose definition of "practical" they're referring to.

Usually they use PC Miler and just type in the names of the departure & arrival cities. They won't go from the actual addresses because it takes them too much time when they're getting the miles for lots of trips when they're processing payroll. It doesn't have to be PC miler, but it's modern software that's more realistic than the old HouseHold movers Guide (HHG) which gives the short miles, from city limits to city limits. Companies that use HHG mileage are stealing from their drivers every day & some have been successfully sued over it before.

When I drove for Covenant Transport in 2004 I was given the mileage with the load info on the Qualcomm. When I compared it to the software on my computer, and even programmed the actual route that came over the Qualcomm that they wanted me to follow, it was always a LOT longer. I'd say I was ripped off about 50 miles a day, on average. One one trip, which was an empty run from some Denver suburb, to some little town in southwest Kansas, I drove the exact number of miles the Qualcomm said it was, following the routing they gave me, and I was about 40-50 miles short of the destination. I sent a QC message to dispatch saying I can't find the shipper. A few minutes later I got a message saying that the QC was showing me being about 40 miles from the shipper. I replied "Load info says it's XX number of miles, I've driven that many miles, why am I not there yet? There's a huge difference between the mileage I've been given and the actual distance" The only reply was "Call Rand McNally".

I quit about a week later.

 

[jaiart]

Practical miles is a clever term to use because it all depends on whose definition of "practical" they're referring to.

Usually they use PC Miler and just type in the names of the departure & arrival cities. They won't go from the actual addresses because it takes them too much time when they're getting the miles for lots of trips when they're processing payroll. It doesn't have to be PC miler, but it's modern software that's more realistic than the old HouseHold movers Guide (HHG) which gives the short miles, from city limits to city limits. Companies that use HHG mileage are stealing from their drivers every day & some have been successfully sued over it before.

When I drove for Covenant Transport in 2004 I was given the mileage with the load info on the Qualcomm. When I compared it to the software on my computer, and even programmed the actual route that came over the Qualcomm that they wanted me to follow, it was always a LOT longer. I'd say I was ripped off about 50 miles a day, on average. One one trip, which was an empty run from some Denver suburb, to some little town in southwest Kansas, I drove the exact number of miles the Qualcomm said it was, following the routing they gave me, and I was about 40-50 miles short of the destination. I sent a QC message to dispatch saying I can't find the shipper. A few minutes later I got a message saying that the QC was showing me being about 40 miles from the shipper. I replied "Load info says it's XX number of miles, I've driven that many miles, why am I not there yet? There's a huge difference between the mileage I've been given and the actual distance" The only reply was "Call Rand McNally".

I quit about a week later.

Gotta love that! Spartan718 Basically as a newbie it seems you're getting boned but you really aren't. You're getting your CDL, a job and experience so just keep that in mind when these glaring and obvious inconsistencies crop up. When your contract is paid up you can walk away to much better companies.

 

[Mike]

Are you paid the miles you actually drive?

With "practical miles" you are going to drive a few miles more on some trips, and a few miles less on others. It's basically figured with actual truck routing, rather than the shortest possible route.

 

[Spartan718]

Gotta love that! Spartan718 Basically as a newbie it seems you're getting boned but you really aren't. You're getting your CDL, a job and experience so just keep that in mind when these glaring and obvious inconsistencies crop up. When your contract is paid up you can walk away to much better companies.

Yep, I know. I have my CDL already, so no contract with them, fortunately. I will be starting my training with Roehl on Sept 3rd. I know I have to "pay my dues" and will have much better options after my first year. I am planning on them being my "starter company" and hope to get into a better paying carrier asap.