Our reports measure a wide variety of driver pay, bonus, benefits and driver policies. Below you will find the elements we measure and a concise explanation of how we measure that category.

Qualifications

(1) Minimum Age - This is the minimum age of drivers required by a carrier.

(2) Experience - This is the minimum amount of OTR experience (in months) required by a carrier to start driving without going into their training program.

Starting Base Pay for Solo Drivers

(3) Students - Amounts given are in daily, weekly or cents per mile. Student pay typically lasts for the first few months an inexperienced driver is with a carrier.

(4) One Year - This is the minimum starting pay level for drivers with one year of OTR experience. Amounts are shown as cents per mile or, in a few cases, percentage of revenue.

(5) Three Years - This is the best starting pay level for drivers with three years of OTR experience.

(6) Maximum - This is the maximum starting pay level for the safest and most experienced drivers.

(7) Years to Maximum - This refers to the years of driving experience required to earn the maximum starting pay listed in column six.

(8) Per Diem - This refers to the amount of driver's pay offered as non-taxable income. Amounts are shown as cents per mile, dollars per day or percentages.

Longevity Increase / Solo Driver Base Pay

(9) Per Year - This indicates the amount a driver’s cents-per-mile (or percentage) wage automatically increases each year.

(10) Cap - This is the maximum wage drivers will earn with longevity increases. For carriers having no official pay cap, we calculated a cap after 10 years and noted “no cap” in the Years-to-Cap column (11).

(11) Years to Cap - This is the number of years required for drivers to reach a carrier’s maximum pay, if they started at the minimum entry level. Some carrier's longevity pay-increases are not automatic but depend on various safety and performance factors. In such cases, “varies” appears.

Starting Base Pay for Team Drivers

(12) Students - Amounts given are in daily, weekly or cents per mile.

(13) One Year - This is the minimum cents-per-mile starting pay for a team driver with one year of OTR experience. Carriers that split team miles are noted with “s/m” following the amount. Those that split team pay are noted with “s/p.” All other entries are noted with “ea,” indicating the amount each driver earns.

(14) Maximum - This is the maximum cents-per-mile starting pay for a team driver. Carriers that split team miles are noted with “s/m.” Those that split team pay are noted with “s/p.” All other entries are noted with “ea,” indicating the amount each driver earns.

(15) Years to Maximum - This is the number of years required to earn the maximum starting pay listed in column 14. Some carriers consider several factors, including length of previous employment, when determining starting pay. These carriers are indicated with the word “varies.” The numbers below refer to column numbers in the spreadsheets. Cells colored gray indicate categories that do not apply to a carrier. For example, if a carrier offers only mileage-based pay, the percentage-pay cells on that row would be gray. In cases where a category applies to a carrier but is unpaid, a zero appears. This is true in all categories except company driver's health insurance costs, where the opposite is true. In cases where an item is not easily quantified, we have used key terms to capture the essence of the offering. Refer to the entries below for explanations of those terms.

Longevity Increase / Team Driver Base Pay

(16) Per Year - This is the amount a team driver’s cents-per-mile wage automatically increases each year. Teams that split miles are indicated with “ s/m.” Those that split pay are indicated with “s/p.” Individual member pay is indicated with “ea.”

(17) Cap - This is the maximum wage team drivers will earn with longevity increases. For carriers having no official pay cap, we calculated a cap after 10 years and noted “no cap” in the Years-to-Cap column (18).

(18) Years to Cap - This is the number of years required for team drivers to reach a carrier’s maximum pay, if they started at the minimum entry level. Some carriers’ longevity pay-increases are not automatic, but depend on various safety and performance factors. In such cases, “varies” appears.

Mileage Based Bonuses – Maximum Amounts Possible

All figures are in cents per mile, percentage of revenue or lump sum payments unless otherwise noted.

Safety Bonus

(19) Solo - This is a bonus for accident-free miles driven during the period specified in column 21. The figures are either cents per mile, lump sums or percentage of revenue. The notation “CU” indicates cumulative amounts that increase with a driver’s longevity. Safety bonuses often include other requirements, such as fuel efficiency or productivity. Normally, mileage-based bonuses apply to all miles driven during the period, but sometimes they apply only to miles exceeding a certain threshold.

(20) Team - This is the safety bonus paid to teams. Amounts are cents per mile, except for lump sum and percentage payments. Individual earnings are noted with “ea.”

(21) Paid - This indicates the safety bonus pay frequency.

Performance Bonus

(22) Solo - This is a bonus for meeting a carrier’s performance goals, such as on-time deliveries or prompt log and paperwork completion.

(23) Team - This is the performance bonus paid to teams. Amounts are cents per mile, except for lump sum and percentage payments. Individual earnings are indicated with “ea.”

(24) Paid - This indicates the performance bonus pay frequency.

Fuel Efficiency

(25) Solo - This is a bonus paid to drivers for meeting a carrier’s fuel efficiency goals. Carriers generally base this bonus on idling time, average speed or overall MPG.

(26) Team - This is the fuel efficiency bonus paid to teams. Again, figures are in cents per mile, except for lump sum and percentage payments. Individual earnings are indicated with “ea. ”

(27) Paid - This indicates the fuel-efficiency bonus pay-frequency.

Productivity Bonus

(28) Solo - This is a bonus for meeting a carrier’s mileage targets for a specified period. Amounts are cents per mile unless otherwise noted. Many times, these bonuses include a safety requirement.

(29) Miles Paid On - This is the miles needed for the bonus and if it is paid on a portion of miles or all miles.

(30) Team - This is the productivity bonus paid to teams. Typically, the mileage thresholds for teams are almost double that of solo drivers. Individual earnings are indicated with “ea.”

(31) Miles Paid On - This is the miles needed for the bonus and if it is paid on a portion of miles or all miles. (32) Paid - This indicates the productivity bonus pay-frequency.

Vacations

(33) Basis - This refers to the method of determining vacation pay. “Flat” means drivers earn a flat amount for each week of vacation. “Avg” means drivers earn an average of their normal weekly mileage or income. A few carriers pay an “hourly” rate (times 40 hours) for each vacation week. One or two carriers base vacation pay on the “miles” driven during the year, usually paying between $.005 to $.01 for each mile.

(34) First Year - This is the amount of vacation time (in weeks) drivers receive after their first year. In cases where carriers pay drivers a flat amount, the actual dollar figure has been shown.

(35) Cap - This is the maximum amount of vacation time (in weeks) drivers can earn. In cases where carriers pay drivers a flat amount, the actual dollar figure has been shown.

(36) Cap Year - This is the number of years drivers must spend with a carrier to earn the maximum amount of vacation time shown in column 35.

Holidays

(37) Days per Year - This is the number of holidays for which carriers pay drivers each year.

(38) Amount - This is the money value carriers pay their drivers for each holiday. The notation “CU” indicates cumulative amounts that increase with a driver’s longevity.

(39) Basis - This refers to the method of determining holiday pay. “Flat” means drivers earn a flat amount.“Avg” means drivers earn an average of their normal daily mileage or income. A few carriers pay an hourly rate (times eight hours) for each holiday. They’re indicated with “hourly.”

Additional Payments

(40) New York City Pay - This is additional pay carriers offer drivers for going into New York City and surrounding boroughs.

(41) Layover - This is a payment for time spent sitting without a load. Typical wait is 24 hours for free.

(42) Stops - This is the amount carriers pay drivers for each extra stop on a load. The vast majority of carriers pay nothing for the first and last stop. Several carriers pay more for each stop as the number of them on a load increases. These have been noted with “CU” (cumulative).

Loading and Unloading Pay

(43) Minimum - This is the minimum carriers will pay drivers for handling freight. Amounts shown are per hundredweight, per case, per hour or, if not otherwise noted, per load. “Cust” means that drivers receive 100 percent of the amount customers pay. “Neg” means freight handling is paid on an as-needed basis.

(44) Maximum - This is the maximum carriers will pay drivers for handling freight. Amounts are shown as dollars per load, based on 45,000 pounds or 3,000 cases times the rates paid.

(45) Lumper Policy or O/D Payment - “Yes” means carriers will pay for most all lumpers. “P/A” means lumpers must be pre-approved. “Limited” means that they’ll be used on an emergency basis only. And “no” means no lumpers. Lists extra payment on over-dimensional loads for flatbed carriers only. If a range, based on width of legal to ten feet.

Orientation

(The following is for experienced drivers going through a carrier’s orientation program.)

(46) Pay - This is the amount carriers pay drivers for completing orientation.

(47) Meals - A “Y” means carriers provide, or pay for, most or all meals during orientation.

(48) Lodging - A “Y” means that carriers provide, or pay for, lodging.

(49) Travel - A “Y” means carriers provide transportation or reimburse travel costs.

Recruiting Bonus

(50) Maximum Tuition Reimbursement - Highest dollar amount carriers will reimburse driving-school graduates for tuition costs. Full means entire cost.

(51) Sign-On - This is the money experienced solo drivers receive for signing on with a carrier. Often, these bonuses are paid in installments during a driver’s first year.

(52) Referral - This is the money drivers receive for referring another experienced solo driver to their carrier. Amounts shown are cents per mile or lump sums.

Company-Paid Insurance

(53) Life Insurance - This refers to the value of the life insurance policy carriers provide drivers for free. In many cases, this amount doubles for an accidental death on the job.

Health Premium

(54) Single - This is the weekly amount single drivers pay for a carrier’s lowest price health plan. Zero means that carriers pay all health insurance premiums for their employees.

(55) Family - This is the weekly amount drivers with dependents pay for a carrier’s lowest price health plan. Zero means that carriers pay all health insurance premiums for their employees’ families.

401K

(56) Matching Contribution - This is the portion of drivers’ contributions eligible for their carrier’s matching funds.

(57) Match - This is the percentage a carrier will match. At some carriers, the matching amount is capped at a certain level. In those cases, a dollar amount is shown. Other carriers base their contributions on profitability. This is shown as “profit.”

(58) Vesting Years - This is the number of years until a carrier’s matching contributions are fully vested. It only applies to carriers that contribute to 401K or profit-sharing programs.

Rider Program

(59) Minimum Age - This is the minimum allowable age for riders. If limited to spouses, “spse” is shown.

(60) Days per year - This is the number of days a year drivers may take a rider. No limit is indicated by “365.”

(61) Cost per Occasion – This is the amount drivers must pay to take a rider. Amounts are shown as daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

Operating Statistics

(62) Number of Full-Time Experienced Drivers - Current number of drivers not including students.

(63)Average Length of Haul - This is a carrier’s average length of haul from original pickup to final delivery.

(64)Practical Miles - Identifies carriers who pay drivers based on pratical miles.

Projected Annualized Earnings

(These are the projected annualized values for a solo driver’s wages and benefits. They’re based on the following assumptions.)

(64) First Year Wages - This is the amount newly hired drivers with three years of experience would earn during their first year with a carrier. This figure does not include bonuses or fringes, but it does include pay for stops, unloading, tarpping, vacation and holidays.

(65) Bonuses - This is the maximum amount drivers could earn in bonuses.

(66) Fringe - This is the value of a carrier’s fringe benefits, such as life and health insurance. The annual value of a life insurance policy was estimated at $5 per thousand. Health insurance was valued at $400 per moth for single coverage, minus a driver’s premium payment for single coverage.

(67) Expected - This is a driver’s projected first-year income with a carrier, including all fringes. One-half the bonus amount listed is also included.

 End: Explanation of Terms - Company Drivers