Over time pay

[Willis Bushogin]

This is probably a funny question, to be asking, with the economy like it is. I just started a job and it looks like we will be working about 60-70 hours a week. Me, as an employer, now is faced with less money off the job, because of the long travel time, to the job and back (there is no place to leave the trucks) and there is sitting time that I dont get paid for. SO, the drivers are the only ones making out and the bottom line is getting too short, to be worth it.
I have asked several people about this and this was their replies
1. dont work no more than 40 hrs
2. hire another driver and let him work anything over 40 hours
3. pay the drivers a percentage (like contract labor)
This is going to be a lengthy job and it be going through a bunch of tires and fuel (more so than a local job) Not trying to take anything away from the drivers, but trying to make it fair for me also

 

[dayexco]

no chance of just hiring needed owner op trucks/drivers on a per ton/mile basis?

 

[JDOFMEMI]

I think Willis is in the trucking business, so that would defeat the purpose.

I would talk to the drivers about a percentage deal. They should be happy to still be employed in the current market.
Hiring another driver and swapping seats will probably not save you any $$ in the long run.
Working only 40 will lead the customer to get a new hauler pretty quick if they need the work done.

I would be happy to be getting 70 hrs on anything.

 

[willie59]

What about finding a business in the area that has a secure lot that you could arrange parking the trucks overnight and commute in smaller vehicles. That would save you a ton of fuel.

 

[kthompson]

Before you go with contract labor you talk with your accountant and be sure no problems with government. In SC they watch that very carefully (I KNOW) and you could be made to come back and pay all of their taxes even years later.

As to ATCO suggestion there are a lot of secure lots in my area due to business closings.

 

[roddyo]

What about finding a business in the area that has a secure lot that you could arrange parking the trucks overnight and commute in smaller vehicles. That would save you a ton of fuel.

Real estate agents or bulk fuel suppliers would be a good place to look for a secure lot to park at. At least in my area.

 

[heavylift]

Wal-marts... you see tons of truck parked there overnight....
there are at least a half dozen here every night...
Fedex uses it to swap trailers....
check with the store manager....

 

[Groo]

technicaly, drivers don't have to get overtime, or the straight time pay can be raised above 40 hrs a week. My last job set it at 45. In my opinion, doing so is a good way to **** off your drivers and have them quite, so expect to have to hire new ones if you go that route.

 

[surfer-joe]

Put them all on salary. Then you can work them like dogs and pay them with peanuts.

Good Luck!

 

[digger242j]

Now, understand that this was 30 years ago, and in PA, so your situation might be different...

I worked for a concrete contractor that had a couple of his own mixers. He'd pay his mixer drivers on salary 12 months per year, but they'd get lots and lots of days off in the winter. Somebody (a laborer he'd fired, I think), turned him in for not paying overtime. He had to pay back overtime to the drivers for all those summer weeks they'd worked over 40, even though he'd payed them for sitting at home in January.

(BTW, I'd only been there a month or so when this happened. I got a check for back pay too. I think it was $7...)

This may not be the same, but it's possibly similar--Another guy I worked for, on a prevailing wage job, had several guys that would bring trucks from his yard to the job each day. They were getting 40 on the site, plus a couple of hours extra each day going back and forth. He paid them minimum wage for the round trip, (at time and a half), and prevailing wage only while they were on site...

 

[Willis Bushogin]

Overtime pay

This is probably a funny question, to be asking, with the economy like it is. I just started a job and it looks like we will be working about 60-70 hours a week. Me, as an employer, now is faced with less money off the job, because of the long travel time, to the job and back (there is no place to leave the trucks) and there is sitting time that I dont get paid for. SO, the drivers are the only ones making out and the bottom line is getting too short, to be worth it.
I have asked several people about this and this was their replies
1. dont work no more than 40 hrs
2. hire another driver and let him work anything over 40 hours
3. pay the drivers a percentage (like contract labor)
This is going to be a lengthy job and it be going through a bunch of tires and fuel (more so than a local job) Not trying to take anything away from the drivers, but trying to make it fair for me also

Well I have it worked out, I have hired extra drivers to cut down on the overtime pay. To reply to some of the post, I dont have any place to keep the trucks, there is no place big enough to park them. Then its the security thing. I can see where this may rub some people the wrong way, but the thing is, how to make the bottom line (profit) larger, to make it profitable. Paying overtime, for a 70 hour week, is not the answer, except for the drivers.
Thanks for all the input

 

[willie59]

To reply to some of the post, I dont have any place to keep the trucks, there is no place big enough to park them.

Where ya working, on the Blue Ridge Parkway???

 

[Willis Bushogin]

atcoequip, I am real surprised that it would be you with a a smart remark, you have always seemed to be more professional.
I posted this thread for suggestions. I stated in my first reply that I didnt have a place to park the trucks. Again there is no secure lots on this route. Im not parking 2 $40,000 trucks in a rest area or in someones field, to have fuel stole tires slashed, etc.
Thanks for all the replies, negative or positive. I wont be replying to anymore questions, on this thread

 

[willie59]

atcoequip, I am real surprised that it would be you with a a smart remark, you have always seemed to be more professional.
I posted this thread for suggestions. I stated in my first reply that I didnt have a place to park the trucks. Again there is no secure lots on this route. Im not parking 2 $40,000 trucks in a rest area or in someones field, to have fuel stole tires slashed, etc.
Thanks for all the replies, negative or positive. I wont be replying to anymore questions, on this thread

Easy bro...it wasn't a smart remark, just one of experience. I've worked on the Blue Ridge in NC and there are areas that there is literally nothing for miles. I was just curious if that's where you were working.

 

[Red Bank]

Atco-if it helps I did not think your comment was out of the way, but from Willis's other posts I think he is located down in the eastern part of the state. Willis- it seems that most of the replies can't believe you can't find a suitable place to park the trucks, which would help you out with time, fuel and tires. My boss has an incredible knack for going into areas where we work and finding lots, or sites to stage our equipment and it is always secure and close to the jobsite. We work primarily for local governments and have parked our equipment at their yards if we can't find somewhere else. Assuming you are working down east, there are a lot of farms down there, could you find one that would let you park your equipment there? I would get in the truck and drive around and ask. You could park on my farm for a couple loads of gravel, that would not be too much to ask for you or me, would it? But I am near Winston-Salem, if you working around the Triad area I could definitely find you places to park that are safe and secure.

 

[Turbo21835]

Not trying to take anything away from the drivers? Then drive both trucks yourself since you are worried about your bottom line. You took the job knowing what was going to be involved, and now you are worried about your bottom line. Doesnt seem right to me. The sad thing is, there are plenty of contractors out there like this. Just remember, you get what you pay for, and reap what you sow, good luck.

 

[qball]

you would be better off parking the trucks if you can't afford to run them, pay a decent wage, and make profit. it is easier to go broke at home than working.

 

[dozerdave]

Hi Guys,

Sounds like a short fuse, low rates,70 hours a week and a long drive home can do that. I hope you get it worked out and make a profit Willis.

 

[digger242j]

Not trying to take anything away from the drivers? Then drive both trucks yourself since you are worried about your bottom line. You took the job knowing what was going to be involved, and now you are worried about your bottom line. Doesnt seem right to me. The sad thing is, there are plenty of contractors out there like this. Just remember, you get what you pay for, and reap what you sow, good luck.

You know, one of the definitions of "Low bidder" is "the contractor scratching his head wondering what he left out". And yes, you're right, there are plenty of contractors out there who get into the job and realize that they may not have left anything over for themselves. That sounds like the situation here.

That doesn't make it wrong for the contractor to then try and figure out how to keep the job in the black. And as far as the drivers go, if the contractor doesn't make any money, the end result is they're out of a job. That's called a lose/lose situation. If qball's suggestion was taken, the drivers would be sitting at home anyway. It seems as if Willis can afford to run them at straight time, but can't afford to run them at 30 hours a week of time and a half. There are lots of guys working on pretty thin margins already.

Willis' solution in this case could just as easily be interpreted as doing what's necessary to keep the current drivers from losing their jobs altogether, rather than taking away their overtime.

You need to be able to see things from both sides...

 

[dayexco]

heavyequipmentforums.com needs a "thanks for the post" tab...well said digger. there are small if no margins in jobs anymore....willis is just trying to figure out a way to keep all the pieces together.