A Job or a Business

I started out after Thanksgiving on 12/1 and by the 6th I had 2718 miles. Then it stopped. In the last 4 days I’ve only had 464 miles. It is the seasonal slowdown combined with the winter storm that is really putting the hurt on me.

Here is a brief comparison to my ‘job’ and the business that Jim over at LeasePurchaseJournal has. First, I am paid OK for a company driver with just 15 months experience. I like the way Millis pays because, while the per-mile pay is competitive with others, they give some pretty good incentive pay in the form of bonuses. From 2000 miles to 2400 miles they pay an additional $.03 for all miles. From 2500 to 2999 miles it’s $.04 and over 3000 miles it’s $.05 for all miles. They also pay out a quarterly safety bonus of $.02 and a yearly of $.03. All of the bonus pay depends on me being on time and doing everything else that I am required to do properly and promptly. So for me to optimize my pay I have to get as many miles as possible every week and perform well in all areas but mostly, drive as much and as fast as I can. Don’t worry, I can’t go very fast, only 65 mph tops.
So I try to get 3000 miles per week if I can. Jim can drive quite a bit less being concerned with efficiency first. I fuel at terminals but will fuel at any TA, Pilot for or Road Ranger that I choose, Jim has to consider the price and plan fuels stops based on that. I have a nice truck but it still smells like smoke from the driver or drivers that put the first 400,000 plus miles on it. Jim got to set his truck up the way he wanted and it just smells like him. I can’t turn any load down and my home time and vacation are less than I would want. While neither of us can afford to sit much, Jim seems to be able to take more time than I can. I have to review my payroll recaps but Jim has to do detailed accounting, tracking and projecting costs and expenses. If I decide to give it up tomorrow I can but I expect Jim would find that hard to do.
This is just an off the cuff comparison but it is a few things that have noticed from reading his blog from my seat.
I guess the main two differences are; Jim nets quite a bit more than I do while being committed to quite a bit more financial risk. That is the difference between having a job or a business.