The Historical Reason Why We Are Paid Cents Per Mile

At that time, the reasons why Drivers were paid in Cents per Mile broke down into two reasons:

First, Drivers of the 1930s could make way more money having their paid directly tied to how many miles they drove than the minimum wage at the time. Because of how good the money was, how few distractions existed on the road, and how few regulations existed, Drivers were more inclined to drive to the point of exhaustion to receive a bigger paycheck to take care of their families.

Shippers and Receivers were all too happy to tie a Driver’s pay to how many miles they could drive in a day because there were no refrigerated trailers and companies needed those goods as soon as possible to prevent supplies from going bad. This was the second reason why the precedent of Cents per Mile was established for Drivers during the start of the industry.

For a very long time this was a winning strategy for both the Drivers and their clients.

However, due to stricter regulations, changes to hours of service, and stagnating wages, Drivers have become short changed when it comes to earning a fair wage for hard work.

One of the biggest challenges Drivers have been forced to reckon with is how the most recent Hours of Services changes and use of ELDs have impacted their wage.

Seeing the writing on the wall, in 2015 that ShipEX found the key to delivering what mattered most to Drivers: providing financial stability.

Any Driver with at least a year’s worth of experience knows that being paid per mile these days can be incredibly frustrating.

Everyone has had a magical few days where you receive an incredible tail wind, there is no traffic, sun is out of your eyes, and you have nothing but a cup of delicious coffee and the open road. If you manage a few days like that in a week, your paycheck is going to be incredible.

But the next week you deliver to a string of receivers that could not care less that you have a schedule to keep and they manage to run all your hours out and make you resort to personal conveyance just to find the nearest safe parking spot.

Or you become stuck in such terrible weather it is safer to park on the side of the road for a few days rather than continue to drive with chains on. At that point you might as well just shred your next paycheck because it will be worth less than the paper it is printed on.

All these factors play into the paycheck roller coaster that most Drivers are forced to live with.

The financial stability that ShipEX provides comes in the form of our Salary Pay.

Salary is defined as “a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a monthly or biweekly basis but often expressed as an annual sum, made by an employer to an employee, especially a professional or white-collar worker.”

All of that is to say that if you drive for ShipEX, you will make no less than $1154 a week, $60,000 a year no matter what before taxes.

Stuck in Wyoming and cannot drive faster than 30 mph and you only manage a few hundred miles? You are not going to have to worry about starving because you are still going to earn your salary.

Shipper runs your hours out and you manage only a few miles in a day? You and your wife will not have to worry about paying your bills this month because your pay stays the same.

But say you run into a few days where you really manage some great miles and at the end of the month you’ve driven for 14,000 miles, what happens then? Not only are you still paid your salary, but you will also earn a HEFTY bonus for every extra mile you drive.

Salary means you drive safer, you earn more on average, and you can start meeting your financial goals.