I just had to say something in this thread. This will also be my first post. There is no money in bulk trucks like that. Nor, is there anyway I believe you were doing 130 stops in a bulk truck. I see you wrote you drove a W700. There is no consistency in your story. For your contractor to make $2500 in profit every week while paying you $600.00 weekly would require his gross settlement to be almost $4k. We get paid poorly for p/u's. What is this "bonus" your contractor gets for picking up more than 75 packages? The only bonus he gets for doing more than 50 is that he gets paid considerably less for each package. Even more so, when you get over 100, 250 and 500.
The margins in this business are terrible if you aren't an inhuman bastard. However, if you can go a solid month without any major maintenance issues, accidents, tickets or service hiccups. You might make a little less than your driver does. I regret the decision I made buying my routes. I got antsy and bought a very high growth area that was being serviced by aged, poorly serviced vehicles and extremely overworked employees.
Since taking over, I have been forced to add trucks the business can't afford. I came in with a war chest, thankfully. I have been forced to put it to use early and often. There is no possible way with my current growth (including the recent walmart spike), my route will ever make enough money in the short term to pay for the trucks I need in the near future. So, I am forced to be a supplemental sucker. Do the work for Ground at a reduced cost to them. All while I am promised that carrot at the end of the stick (PSA). It's amazing, it really is. Name a single business where the the owner fears more work. Hates new customers and fights tooth and nail to shed the ones he has. This system is truly broken.
The FXG Contractor or CSP (or whatever they are calling us this week) has the weakest position of power in the entire terminal. We are beholden to our drivers, hoping beyond hope every morning that they show up to work. We get yelled at by QA, Belt Managers, P&D Managers, Terminal Managers, Security Managers, Service Check-in and Senior Managers. Oh and let's not forget those wonderful customers we get to deal with on a daily basis. I forget, someone remind me who the window is for again? I speak to contractors in other places and they all seem to have it a lot better than I do. New trucks, happy employees and their own office space.
Being in (arguably) the most expensive city in the world, imagine trying to employ a staff of employees at $700 a week? or $400 a week for a helper? Very few can afford a life at those numbers. NO one would work the 60 hours a week for that either. Nor would I want them to. Tickets at $150 a pop. Exorbitant workers comp and liability costs. Only way to make money in this business is get PSAs and sell them to idiots like me.
/rant
