USA Truck offers to pay owner-operators based on percent of line-haul revenue

Truckload carrier USA Truck Inc. said today it would give owner-operators who drive for the carrier the option of either being compensated based on a percentage of line-haul revenue or by the mile.

Under the formula, owner-operators would be paid at a rate of 68 percent of line-haul revenue, the Van Buren, Ark.-based company said. Drivers would get to choose the loads they want to haul, the company said.

Michael Crowden, USA Truck's manager, marketing strategies, said the move brings the carrier in line with its peers' compensation formulas for owner-operators. Most owner- operators today are paid based on a percentage of line-haul revenue, according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), the driver trade group.

Last year, USA Truck had contracts with 286 owner-operators, Crowden said. The company hopes that, by the end of 2017, owner-operators will comprise 20 to 25 percent of the driver fleet, he added.

Owner-operators will be reimbursed separately for their fuel expenses, the company said.