How Tipper Hauliers Get Paid for Waiting Time, Return Loads & Extra Miles
On a per-load job, the delivery rate is only part of what you're owed. Waiting time, return loads and extra miles are real money — and they're the easiest to lose when you're matching dozens of tickets to a weekly self-bill invoice by hand. Here's how each one works, and how to make sure you claim it.
Waiting time
Waiting time is the time your tipper spends on site beyond an agreed allowance, charged per hour. Two common arrangements:
- Free allowance, then charged — many jobs give a free period (often the first 30 minutes) and pay per hour after that.
- Chargeable from the first minute — jobs marked chargeable on the ticket are paid from minute one, usually at a higher hourly rate.
The time on site is printed on the delivery ticket, and the payment appears on the supplier's weekly self-bill. The trap: the invoice can pay short — fewer minutes, or the wrong rate — and nobody notices. Always compare what the ticket earned against what the invoice paid.
Return loads
A return load is material carried back from site — spoil, muck-away or planings — instead of running empty. It's paid separately from the outbound delivery, usually per tonne, and should appear as its own line on the weekly invoice. If the ticket shows a return but there's no return-load line on the invoice, that's an unpaid claim.
Extra miles
When a driver is diverted to a site further than planned, those extra miles are almost never on the delivery ticket — so the supplier won't pay them unless you ask. The only reliable way to claim is to record the planned route and the actual route for each load, so you can evidence the difference.
Checking the weekly self-bill invoice
Aggregate suppliers such as Tarmac pay on a weekly self-bill, with waiting-time and return-load lines sitting under each delivery ticket. Matching every ticket by hand is slow, so short-payments slip through. This is exactly what Raahi automates: it reads each ticket, works out what you earned, reads the weekly invoice, and flags where you've been underpaid — so you go to one screen and see which loads to claim for.
Claim every penny, automatically
Raahi captures waiting time, return loads and extra miles per load, then reconciles them against the weekly invoice. See Tarmac ticket reconciliation or read the tipper software buyer's guide.
Start free trialHow is waiting time paid in tipper haulage?
Per hour, beyond an agreed allowance. Many jobs give a free first 30 minutes then charge per hour; chargeable jobs pay from minute one. The time on site is on the ticket and the charge is on the weekly invoice.
What is a return load payment?
Payment for material carried back from site instead of returning empty, usually per tonne, shown as its own line on the weekly invoice.
Do suppliers pay for extra miles?
Only if you claim them — diversions aren't on the ticket, so you need the planned vs actual route recorded to evidence the extra miles.