I wanted to reach my goal of grossing $18,000 a month, and there was a trip from Iowa back home to Toronto, ON that paid pretty good. Unfortunately, when I added the 700 mi deadhead from my location, it didn't add up to my required $2/mi. I emailed the agent with a rate offer but he never got back to me. I called him on the phone the next morning and he said, "The rate has ... dropped by $400!" I was curious how it happened and he explained, "The shipper had 2 loads going to the same place and then one trucker from Landstar offered to do it for $400 LESS than the posted rate. So, they gave him Load #1 and reduced the rate on Load #2." Can you believe this guy?

Since it didn't make financial sense for me to pull that load on the day before, it made no sense now. So, I started heading to the Petro in Fargo, ND and then my phone rang ... I got a phone call from an agent who had a load in Anoka, MN (near St.Paul) going to Quebec, Canada. I was getting desperate to get back home after 1 (one) month on the road so I didn't pay too much attention to the destination details. After I accepted the load I found out I was going to the Northern Quebec ... some 7 hours NORTH of Montreal!

My route looked like this:

Deadhead from Fargo, ND via I-94 to Anoka, MN then
follow Hwy 29 to Green Bay, WI,
follow Hwy 41, 39, 2, 117, 28 to I-75 north in MI
cross the border into Canada via Sault-Ste-Marie
follow Hwy 17 to North Bay, ON
then 11 north
then local Quebec highways towards a small town of Chapais (shapey) QC.

To give you an idea ... it was wilderness, tundra, 1 car happened every 30 minutes... and the road was so bad I had to keep my speed to 50 MPH. I stopped for the night in one spot and then some pickup truck showed up and parked next to me. I got spooked and started driving again till I almost reached my destination - north of Chapais on Hwy 113.

I had a load of metal roofing panels for the new building that was being constructed in this Native American village on the lake ... Nor surprisingly, the shipper wanted the ROOFING panels TARPED!

When I asked my agent why the shipper wanted the driver to tarp something that was dropped on the ground to be later used ON THE BUILDING'S ROOF, she replied, " We just got to get them there looking pretty. What the customer does with them after they take possession is their business."

After I dropped the panels, I deadheaded 700 mi back home to near Toronto, ON and the trip still averaged more than 2 bucks per mile for all miles gross.

But next time I'm gong to be more attentive when an agent describes the destination. I got lucky this time because there was no snow, but these desolate 2-lane highways can be real treacherous in winter. Especially since cell phones hardly work in those remote areas. If you break down, you're screwed.

 

So the rate was actually posted on the board and the guy calls up and says he'll do it for four hundred dollars less????? :roll: Just another idiot.

 

Yep ... was posted originally for $2,600 from IA to ON; thanks to this wizard, the price on Load 2 dropped to ... $2,200. I guess there were a few drivers interested in it, so this guy eliminated the competition by slashing the price.

 

When I was with Landstar pulling the van, I got a load out of Shakoppee, MN going to Miami Intl. Airport for $4.50 a mile. There were 2 loads listed from the same place. I got there and we were able to fit both loads in my 53' and the agent gave me the $9.00 a mile to Miami. That was the very last time I ever made money at Landstar, and if it wasn't for that load, I would have gone bankrupt.

And yes, the $9 was to the truck after fees and the load weighed in at a whopping 14k lbs.

 

Wow .... that's why it's helpful to have a long trailer. You never know when it can come in handy... If I were to spec my stepdeck again, I'd get a 53' with a tridem and 17,5" tires.