Cargo Van, Sprinter and Box Truck Owner-Operator Jobs: What the Posting Leaves Out

The short answer

A cargo van, Sprinter or box truck owner-operator job posting is an advertisement. It tells you the equipment the company wants, a headline about pay and a few badges. The terms that decide what you take home are not in the posting. They are in the lease you sign if you run under the company’s authority, and federal rules say what that lease has to spell out. Under 49 CFR 376.12, the written lease must state how you are paid, who pays for fuel, empty miles, tolls, permits and detention, which items can be charged back to you and how each one is computed, who provides which insurance and what it costs you, how any escrow is held and returned, and how soon you are paid after you turn in your paperwork. If a posting does not answer those questions, ask them on the first call and expect to see the answers in writing. This guide goes through what to ask, topic by topic. Reading the full agreement once you have it is covered in the guide on owner-operator contracts.

Pay: find out what the number is a number of

Pay in a posting is often one figure or one word: a rate, a percentage, or “weekly pay.” Each of those needs a second question before it means anything.

The federal lease rule lists the ways an owner-operator’s compensation can be expressed: a percentage of gross revenue, a flat rate per mile, a rate that varies by direction of travel or by commodity, or any other method both sides agree to. Whatever the method, the amount has to be stated in the lease or in an addendum attached to it, and you have to receive that document before your first trip for the carrier. Pay for the equipment and pay for your driving can be stated separately or as one combined amount.

If it is a percentage, ask a percentage of what. Linehaul only, or the whole bill including fuel surcharge and accessorials? When your pay is a percentage of the revenue on a shipment, the lease must say the carrier will give you a copy of the rated freight bill, or equivalent documentation, before or at settlement, so you can check the number the percentage was applied to. The carrier may remove the shipper and consignee names from it.

If it is per mile, ask whether that is loaded miles only or all miles, and how miles are counted. Ask whether a fuel surcharge is paid on top or is already inside the rate.

If it says weekly pay, ask what starts the clock: delivery, or receipt of your signed paperwork. Under the lease rule, payment has to be made within 15 days after you submit the delivery documents for a trip. The carrier can only require your logs and the documents it needs to get paid by the shipper before it pays you, it cannot make payment depend on a bill of lading with no exceptions noted, and it cannot set a deadline for you to turn in those documents. A weekly settlement is faster than that ceiling, and it should still be written into the lease.

What a rate is worth after costs is a separate calculation. The earnings guide shows how to build it for your own unit.

Whose authority you run under

A posting for owner-operators can mean two different arrangements, and some companies offer both.

You run under the company’s authority. You lease your van or truck to the carrier. During the lease, the lease must give the carrier exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment and complete responsibility for operating it. This is the arrangement the 49 CFR 376.12 lease requirements cover, and it is the route for someone who does not have operating authority of their own.

You keep your own authority. You haul the company’s freight as a carrier in your own right. You are not leasing your equipment to them, so the questions shift to the carrier agreement or rate confirmation, and your own operating authority, insurance filings and compliance stay with you. The trade-offs between the two are laid out in the guide on your own MC authority versus a carrier’s.

Ask which arrangement the posting is for. “No MC needed” or “own MC not required” points to the first. If the company offers both, ask whether the pay basis, the freight you are offered and the support you get are the same on each.

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Insurance: who carries what, and what comes out of settlement

“Insurance provided” in a posting rarely tells you which insurance. When you lease to a carrier, the lease must state the carrier’s legal obligation to keep the insurance that protects the public, and it must state who is responsible for any other coverage on the leased equipment, with bobtail insurance given as an example. If the carrier charges any of that insurance back to you, the lease must state the amount.

If you buy coverage from or through the carrier, the lease must say the carrier will give you a copy of each policy when you ask for it, plus a certificate of insurance for each policy showing the insurer, policy number, effective dates, amounts and types of coverage, what each type costs you, and the deductible you may be liable for.

Cargo and property damage gets its own rule. The lease must state the conditions under which damage can be deducted from your settlements, and the carrier must give you a written explanation and itemization before it makes any such deduction.

So the questions are: which policies does the carrier carry, which ones do you need to buy yourself, which ones can you buy through the carrier and at what charge, and what is the deductible you would pay on a cargo claim.

Escrow and charge-backs

Some leases hold back money from settlements. Federal rules define an escrow fund as money you deposit with the carrier or a third party to guarantee performance, repay advances, cover repairs, handle claims, cover license and permit costs, or other purposes both sides agree to. If the lease requires one, it has to state:

How much, including any performance bond. What it can be applied to, item by item. How it is accounted for, either on each settlement sheet or in a separate monthly statement, and you can demand an accounting at any time. Interest, which the carrier must pay at least quarterly while it holds the fund, at a rate at least equal to the 13-week Treasury bill yield. How you get it back, including the conditions you have to meet. The lease must say the fund will be returned no later than 45 days after the lease ends, with a final accounting of any deductions.

Charge-backs are separate. These are items the carrier pays first and takes back out of your pay at settlement. The lease must list every item that can be charged back and how the amount of each is calculated, and you are entitled to copies of the documents needed to check each charge.

One more line in the rule matters here. The lease must say you are not required to buy or rent any products, equipment or services from the carrier as a condition of signing. If you do agree to buy or rent equipment through the carrier and let it deduct the payments, the lease must spell out those terms.

Ask for the escrow amount and the full charge-back list before you agree to anything, and ask for a sample settlement from a real week with customer details removed.

Empty miles, waiting time and the other line items

Postings talk about loaded miles. The lease rule names a longer list of costs and requires the lease to state which party is responsible for each: fuel, fuel taxes, empty mileage, permits of all types, tolls, ferries, detention and accessorial services, base plates and licenses, and any unused portions of those items.

Deadhead. Ask whether empty miles to a pickup are paid, and if they are, from what distance and at what rate. Those miles cost you fuel and time whether or not they are paid. The guide on box truck and cargo van loads covers how to judge a load with those miles counted.

Detention. Ask whether waiting time at the shipper or receiver is paid to you, after how long, and who has to report it.

Loading and unloading. The lease must also state who is responsible for loading and unloading the freight and what, if anything, you are paid for it. For box truck and van work where the driver may be asked to help at the dock, that line is worth reading twice.

Fines. When a load is pre-loaded and sealed or otherwise out of your control, the rule puts overweight and oversize fines on the carrier unless you caused the violation, and it requires the carrier to reimburse you if you paid one.

What the posting expects of your van or truck

A posting may list the equipment only by type: cargo van, Sprinter, box truck, straight truck. Ask for the specifics before you drive anywhere for an orientation. Useful questions: Is there a minimum model year? What cargo length, height and payload does the freight need? Is a liftgate, pallet jack, straps or a partition expected? Does the van need any marking or signage, and who removes it at the end? Are there tracking or ELD requirements, and who pays for the device?

The lease rule covers the end of the relationship too. It must state who removes the carrier’s identification from your equipment when the lease ends and how it is returned, and the carrier may hold your final payment until that is done. If the decal is lost or stolen, a letter certifying its removal satisfies the requirement.

If you have not bought the unit yet, compare the requirements you hear against the guide on choosing your first expedited unit before you commit to one.

What 49 CFR 376.12 says the lease has to state

Every question above maps to a paragraph of the federal lease rule, which applies when you lease equipment to a carrier with operating authority, subject to the exemptions in the same part. In one place, the written lease must:

Name the parties (the carrier and the owner of the equipment) and be signed by both. State when it begins and ends, by time and date or by the circumstances that start and end it. Give the carrier exclusive possession, control and responsibility for the equipment during the lease. State your compensation on the lease or an attached addendum delivered before your first trip. Assign each cost: fuel, fuel taxes, empty mileage, permits, tolls, ferries, detention and accessorials, base plates and licenses, loading and unloading. Set the payment period: within 15 days after you submit delivery documents. Give you the rated freight bill when your pay is a percentage of revenue, and let you examine the tariff or contract portions the rates are computed from. List every charge-back and how it is computed. State that you do not have to buy or rent anything from the carrier to sign. Spell out insurance, including charge-back amounts and the conditions for cargo damage deductions. Spell out escrow, including interest and return within 45 days. Be kept by both sides, with a copy carried on the equipment unless a permitted statement is carried instead.

A posting does not have to include any of this. The lease does. If a company will not put these points in writing before your first load, that tells you something the posting did not.

Questions to ask before you sign

Bring this short list to the first call. Do I run under your authority, mine, or can I choose? How is pay calculated, and if it is a percentage, a percentage of what? Is fuel surcharge passed through? Are empty miles to pickup paid? Is detention paid to me, and after how long? Who pays fuel, tolls, permits and plates? What is the escrow amount, what can it be used for, and when is it returned? What is on the charge-back list? Which insurance do you carry, which do I buy, and what is my deductible on a cargo claim? What does my unit need: year, size, liftgate, equipment? What starts the pay clock, and when does the first settlement land? Can I see a sample settlement from a real week?

The answers come before the signature. Reading the agreement itself, clause by clause, and the red flags to slow down for are covered in the guide on owner-operator contracts.

Quick FAQ

Do I need my own MC number to get a cargo van owner-operator job? Not when you lease on to a carrier and run under its authority. Working directly with brokers or shippers requires authority of your own.

Is a job posting a contract? No. A posting advertises the work. When you run under a carrier’s authority, the terms are set in the written lease, and federal rules list what that lease has to contain.

How fast does a carrier have to pay a leased owner-operator? The lease must provide for payment within 15 days after you submit the delivery documents for a trip. A carrier can settle faster than that; ask what the lease says.

When do I get my escrow back? The conditions for its return have to be in the lease, and the lease must say the fund is returned no later than 45 days after the lease ends, with a final accounting.

What this looks like at SunTransExpress

SunTransExpress works with owner-operators who run cargo vans, Sprinter vans and box trucks. As our owner-operator page sets out, you can run under SunTransExpress authority or keep your own MC and haul our freight, an own MC is not required in many programs, pay is weekly, and dispatch support runs 24/7. The application asks for your equipment type, vehicle year and whether you have your own active authority, and the page says we call you with loads.

If you are reading postings and want answers to the questions in this guide for our programs, send your details through the owner-operator page, call +1 (941) 337-52-33 or write to hr@suntransexpress.com. Ask us the same questions you would ask anyone else, and ask for the answers in writing.

One caution. The federal requirements in this guide are summarized from 49 CFR Part 376 in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations at the time of writing. They are not legal advice, they include exemptions not covered here, and they can change. Check the current text, and have the lease reviewed if you are unsure, before you sign it.