Recruiters love to lead with cents per mile, because it is one clean number. It is also the easiest number to mislead with.
Why CPM alone lies
Two offers:
- Job A: 0.70 per mile, about 2,000 paid miles a week, no detention pay. That is about $1,400 in a good week.
- Job B: 0.60 per mile, about 2,600 paid miles a week, detention after 1 hour, paid stops. That is about $1,560 before extras.
Job A "pays more" in the ad. Job B puts more money in your account.
What actually decides your weekly pay
- Miles you really get, not "up to". Ask for the average weekly miles of drivers on that account over the last few months.
- How miles are counted. Practical miles (the real route) pay more than shortest-route (HHG) miles for the same trip.
- Paid extras: detention, layover, breakdown, stops, tarping, hand unload, orientation.
- Unpaid time: how often you wait, how often you sit without a load.
- Home time and deductions: a week at home is a week without pay on most mileage jobs. Benefits and other deductions come out of every check.
A better way to compare
Turn every offer into average weekly take-home over a month, including the week you are home. Then compare. Our pay calculator does the math for CPM, hourly and percentage jobs side by side.
If a recruiter cannot tell you the average weekly miles or pay for the account, that tells you something too.
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