wirenutz wrote:
just doing some math on this....
Was just doing the same math when I read your post. Don't forget that the $526 you earned for 8 days work has to cover truck maintenance too. So on the trip in this example, you drove 4,000 miles, or about 1/2 of an oil change. I'll guess that an oil change on a diesel if you have it done somewhere is $80? Let's say you get 80,000 miles from a set of tires, so this 4,000 mile trip just used 5% of the tread. Tires are $200 each and you need 6 for your dually, so a set is $1200, and 5% of that is $60. So your $526 is now $426 when you factor in tires and oil changes. Then there's the rest of the maintenance and insurance. Forget about health care, just plan on dying young behind the wheel....
This isn't a living wage mo matter how you slice it. They need to be up around $2.50/loaded mile at a minimum...
The issue with picking up the trailer is that the factory relies on the dealer to do the PDI. You would have to sign the final papers with the dealer to "own" the rig, so you could get insurance on it, so you could drive it back. Once the paperwork is done and you own the trailer, you would need to get it back to the dealer for the prep work. If anything is wrong, of course you are gonna say it was like that when I picked it up.
NuWa is a high end mfr that caters to full timers, no doubt they would do the prep and PDI right at the factory for you. Most factories aren't set up to do that.