Earnings - Wages - Hours

I noticed that someone hit this page looking for "fedex home delivery contractor wages" and I thought I'd post here an example of what they consider a "good" route's earnings.

His route is somewhat urban so he can make more stops per mile thus gas expenses and truck wear and tear are less. As the case is supposed to be, as you start to get more experience and the route grows, you can handle more stops per day in a more condensed area. To leverage this they reduce your core zone part of the settlement (remember its TEMPORARY CORE ZONE and its being phased out). He's been handling the same average amount of stops per week since he started and his area hasn't been condensed and actually "stretches" a bit as they loose contractors. In reality, his total weekly settlement is going to come down but his expenses and total driving isn't. Anyway, One would think that you'd earn "MORE" the harder you work - right? NOPE. This is not the case. My belief is, if they see a contractor making gains, they will figure out a way to reduce their cost to where they want it anyway.

So rounded - His gross this year will probably be about 62K, his expenses, and he's been lucky on maintenance so far since the truck is new, will be around 21K (I expect this to go up during winter and next year) and net earnings before taxes almost 42K.

Consider that you are working 10-11 hours per day plus part of just about every monday to take care of maintenance issues. If you say its a 55 hour work week, he earns around $14-15 per hour.

I've posted a sheet here. I think I'm missing a couple of things in the expense column (claims, uniforms and a few other things that may already be taken out in the settlement) but these numbers are "close" to accurate and I'll update it a bit more when the finals are in at the end of the year and I do the "REAL" taxes.

All in all, this is the least amount he's made in the past 10 years.

He only took this route as something to do to gain some experince running a business and to be involved in the trucking/shipping industry. He believes that ground shipping in some format has to stay in the states - unlike the 2 different jobs that he's had in manufacturing, who's plants went overseas leaving workers, supervisory and middle management jobless. I think manycontractors are in a similar boat, taking this as a way to make ends meet until something better comes along - and they worry about what to do with the truck later.

Personally, I think the amount of responsibility that these guys take on for the amount of money they make is not worth it. I see the stress levels that he is under most of the time. The contract states continuity of service.

There are no paid vacation or sick days so he limits those and drives even when he's sick and besides finding a reliable relief driver is DIFFICULT at best. They then have to worry, will they get claims against them based on the temp? Will the temp get in an accident and jeapordize things for them in terms of insurance (3 strikes and they drop your coverage).

If the truck breaks down he has to scramble to get it working and a rental for the meantime.