I would think that have a companion along to search for LTL loads would be a great idea also,hmmm I just got hungry,where did I leave that Tootsie Roll I had? 8)

 

:shock:

 

You have more of an idea I would think than our hero does.

 

Tootsie=Tootie.get you're mind out of the gutter you freak :wink:

 

I've been averaging $2.00 per mile the last 2 or 3 months but that's because I've HAD to LTL it all the way home from the West Coast and usually not hard to get a total of $3.00 per mile for those.

Getting $3 to $4 per mile as you mentioned is next to impossible in 90% of the U.S. and if you do get it it's to an area that sucks the big one. And also, chances are it's a short run then we are back into the

Broker/phone/fax/setup, drive, load, sleep, drive, unload and repeat for a total of 2 to 3 runs a week if your lucky.

Doing 3 loads a week that total 3,000 miles....NO WAY!!!!! I know you don't drive flatbed or deal with getting loads but it's not as easy as you think. I was an arm chair dispatcher before I became one with the REAL world of flatbed and your own authority. No offense there at all.

Here's just one example. I'm in Chicago and I can get a load paying $4.00 per mile to Geneva, OH. The mileage is 281.

Now, to get back to Chicago even though there are over 400 loads available within a 100 mile radius which is A LOT!!!!!!!!! Your looking at $550 for 293 miles. The brokers know it's a gold mine back to the Chicago area so the loads are priced accordingly.

So, here we go. It's Monday morning in Chicago.



Monday 8am start calling
10am got a load...Wait for carrier packet from broker
11am filled out carrier packet and sent back
also called insurance company to have them fax my
insurance naming them as additional insured.
12pm Broker calls and is sending rate conformation. Sign it and
fax back and wait
1pm The faxing back and forth is done and now he will give me
the name of the company, phone and maybe directions
2pm Arrive at customer site and who knows what will happen
but the rest of the day is pretty much shot waiting, loading
and whatever.
7pm Arrive at truck stop and die

Tuesday 8am Drive to customer site. 281 miles. Heavy traffic and
average 47mph and a total of 6 hours to drive.

2pm Arrive at customer site and once again, no idea what to
expect as far as unloading but the rest of the day is shot.
Take out laptop and try to get another load before day is
done.

5pm Got a load but no carrier setup package and my insurance
agent is closed for the day anyways.

Go to truckstop and die.

Wednesday pretty much the same as Monday except you already have a
load but will still be on the road about the same time due to
the broker getting around 8 or 9 and still all the same faxing
to be done.


So, by the end of the week we've done 2 loads and probably loaded the 3rd but won't do any driving that day.

Saturday and Sunday spent driving and screwing off because you have 2 days to drive 281 miles.

Now don't get me wrong Mike. I'm not trying to be a wise azz or be confrontational about this. This is what really happens most of the time unless your someone like Rank who has regular loads in his pocket and knows the best way to make the most efficient use of his time.

I'm pretty much jerking around right now for the weekend with 300 miles to go to Chicago and deliver on Monday morning.

That's another thing you have to take into consideration when taking a load. When will you get there. You really want to be there 1st thing on Friday morning so you have the rest of the day to find a load, do the paperwork, dead head and load. AND.....the load needs to be far enough like at least 1,000 miles or you've wasted more time sitting around cause you did the 338 mile run on a Saturday morning.

These are things that become muscle memory and second nature and it takes a while before you can do it without thinking. Rank is smiling shaking his head up and down. This is the job of a GOOD dispatcher.

I'm witting this for everyone by the way, not just for you Mike.

I'm going to try for a long run on Monday after I deliver. There are some loads already posted with prices for 2300 mile runs and $2.00 per mile.

Now, you may be thinking, heck, I'll tell them I want $3.00 per mile. I can assure you they will say no. It's Monday and we have the whole week. If it was Friday chances would be good but chances are it would be gone pretty quick at $2.25. But wait, I called and we agreed on $3.00. Yes Steve, I'm sorry but the load got canceled. No it didn't, someone else called and said $2.25 and since no paperwork or rate agreement, well, too bad.

So now the best you can do on Monday on that load is maybe $2.10. If you hold out, chances are it will be gone by noon. Now your screwed for the rest of the day even if you do get a load. By the time you do get one and the paperwork it will be too late to load and will require you to load in the morning.

So, because of that you've lost a day that you could have been driving most of. So now it's Tuesday and your loaded and on your way at 12pm.
The speed limit is 55 so by 5pm your lucky to get 250 miles in. NOW!!!! You have 2050 miles to go in 3 days but you need to get to the customer site on Friday early enough to be able to find another load and get out before the weekend. I can tell you it ain't going to happen.

Now your stuck in a crap hole no freight area for the weekend and guess what's coming....MONDAY!!!! We've all been sitting for the weekend so the brokers sit back and say, beg you miserable bastard truckers and crawl to my feet for the little I will pay you or sit until later on in the week.

So, what you do is check the boards when you take a break as you were driving looking at everything available on Friday. Make some notes, start driving and call as you go. Your still going to get quoted a crap rate because the brokers know you want to get out on Friday.....BUT....They also want to get you setup and the load covered so they can concentrate on other loads so instead of getting $1.40 on Friday your going to get $1.55 on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Enough of that but that's real life.

Another approach is the LTL route to get out of a crap area. Given that your probably going to get $1.50 for a full load to go 3,000 miles your just as good to do LTL's for $3.00 per mile and take 2 weeks doing it. Pick your poison. You may think LTL's get more then that but an LTL in Wyoming is going to pay $.50 per mile instead of $1.25 in Chicago.

I was lucky the last time heading all the way from CA to VT with LTL's all headed to the same area for $3.00 per mile. That was unheard of.

What you want in an LTL is your first load to go the distance like from CA to VT and pay $1.00 per mile for half your truck at least. Now pick up some other stuff along the way that's cheap also but don't take it the distance. Try and get rid of it before hitting Illinois or Atlanta depending which direction your heading back.

Now things become interesting and LTL freight is picking up. You may be lucky to find a full paying load that only needs 1/2 your truck but is heavy like 30,000 pounds but your other 1/2 truck load LTL only weighs 8,000.

So then you whip out your calculator and figure how much by the time you get home and see that it works out to a guaranteed $2.75. Then you make the call and decide. But, if you keep doing the LTL thing you finally reach lets say Cleavland or Chicago with half a trailer left and your now at $2.80. You've finally hit 777 and your going to probably go home with a total of $4.00 per mile for a coast to coast run and if your real lucky, in one week.

It's all pretty much a crap shoot when you step back and look at it all. My last LTL load picked up in Hollywood and paid $3,750 to Vermont. It was a corn head and the farmer needed it ASAP but understood it could take up to 10 days. I was lucky to find another LTL that put me over the top going to within 100 miles of the first one and 100 miles from home. The farmer was waiting at the customer site when I showed up. I was there when I said I would be and the time I said I would be. That was very gratifying for me. I'm sure he was thinking see ya later honey, I probably won't be home till late tonight waiting for that dumb azz.

One thing about driving a flatbed is that it's usually something special and everyone is waiting for you. Handshakes, thank you's and tips are the norm.

This has been a week in the life of a Hobby Trucker.

 

Deal with the same brokers all the time. Problem solved. Next?

If it takes you 6 hours to drive 281 miles, then you need to turn in your CDL immediately. I used to drive into the heart of Chicago 5 days a week for 6 1/2 years, and still managed to turn 2500 miles in those 5 days. I also did it with a flatbed too, right into the heart of Chicago. Next?



Same brokers = problem solved. Running strictly off a load board for a new broker every time = idiocy. I find it hard to believe that you can't get some sort of dedicated run set up with a broker. Or is it just that you don't like doing the same thing over and over?

 

NO!!!!!!!!!!! I've learned what I know now on my own by doing. I've discovered that most everything on this board with regards to how to run and rates people are getting is ALL BS!!!

There are very few with their own authority on here and the rest are arm chair dispatchers that sit back and preach but have never been in my shoes actually doing it. There are plenty also that are doing what I'm doing but don't have the balls to post like I do. Why? Because they are doing the same as me!

If I listened to most of the advice from most of you I'd still be sitting at home on November 19, 2006 without a load when I started.

I have learned a lot on this board but the core of my knowledge I'll give credit to myself from doing.

I would really like to hear what Doghouse is doing. I do consider him my peer with more experience but I'm guessing he's close to me in numbers and what I've posted.

 

Like I said, yet another arm chair dispatcher who doesn't even have his own authority.