Is flat rate pay better than hourly?
Flat rate pay replaces guaranteed hourly wages with fixed payouts per job or trip, leaving workers unsure if their earnings will cover expenses or match what they made hourly. People hear mixed things about whether it actually pans out because profit depends entirely on unexpected variables like repair times, fuel costs, and tolls.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Evaluating efficiency and capability to flag hours before making a decision
- 2Comparing hourly rate increases against the uncertainties of flat rate pay
- 3going mileage/weight/driver pay
- 4sticking to the local and hourly side
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I got offered a job working in my local Toyota dealerships quick service department, the service manager agreed to hire me on at flat rate making around $20 an hour. Would this be a good change from working at Walmarts service center making $17 and getting hourly?”source ↗
“I’ve heard mixed things about flat rate”source ↗
“Is $1500 a reasonable flat rate , the company paying for fuel and tolls? I cover labor, hotel , and per diem.”source ↗
“Guess what I’m really asking is what should be my profit at end of trip to haul and deliver 6500lbs HHG from Kansas City to Chicago. And back to KC”source ↗
Where this came up
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