Nothing heading home :sad: Well there was one load that paid $1.20 or so for tomorrow or Sunday and I won't be doing that. I would have taken the $1.20 to a great area (I see Florida and PA. does not have the same plan of attack)

I might go right up to Charlotte where I can relax. It sucks but I am going to post my truck along the way; take my time. I'll kill the rate I got going in but I will never let this happen again.

Next time for Jacksonville I'll take the cheap load to a good area. (of course seeing how it is overall with weight and time) I could have taken the load for $1300 to Carthage, MO which looked good. That would have brought me up to $3100 for Monday and then I would have gotten a load from there and made my $4500 or so for the week.

You probably didn't say that about the self employment tax, I think it was you just said you don't have to worry about wages and I was just wondering if you meant that no self employment taxes. Definintely my fault on that one sorry. ops: You know I just keep going with the questions to verify everything.

I'm starting to worry about taxes now. I think this accountant under accounted for certain things. Do you count as revenue a load when you are paid or when you do the load?

This load I just did, what a pleasure it was with this broker. Command Transportation out of Skokie, IL. They actually will pay within a few days if you fax the bills right over. They were on top of resending the rate confirmation to reflect the reimbursement of lumper which I requested be added on.

Did you see the news yesterday, Yellow is reducing their fleet. I know they aren't TL but still. Then I was talking with that broker I told you about that used to work for CH, they sold off their trucks (14 of them) and got out of that and are just going to broker.

Of course if they sold that means someone bought :roll:

 

Well that sucks that you couldn't find anything headed south. Just remember that winter can be tough. Don't get down if you don't make your weekly goal during this time. A lot of guys struggle just to break even during the winter months. Just keep a little perspective. I talked to my friend in FL and apparently I was misremembering when things really get going down there. Some is running now but probably another few weeks before it picks up.

Most small trucking companies use the cash method of accounting, which means that you recognize the revenue when you receive the check. It's the simplest method for most. However, the easiest way to determine which revenue goes on 2007 is to go by your 1099's. If you did some loads at the end of the year and you haven't gotten the 1099 yet, you might want to call that broker and ask them if they're accounting for those loads in 2007 or 2008.

If you get into a tax hole and you don't want to just bite the bullet, there are some things you can do with first-year depreciation. I wouldn't recommend it because you're going to need that depreciation down the road, but sometimes the tax bite is just too big if you weren't aware it was coming. When you get more figured out we can talk about that.

 

You know no_worries, I was getting those 1099's and not paying attention to them as I had the stuff in Quickbooks. I didn't realize about what year I would be paid in, and also I'm trying to remember if they include lumper reimbursement as income.

Florida is exceptionally bad this year or so says that guy I know but as I've told you sometimes what he says changes .


As for the taxes, this year or next I'm going to get hit. I hate paying federal taxes. I can deal with the local ones as I love where I live; love the parks, beaches and libraries. I hate the federal pork.

 

Lumpers, pallets, any money that flows from the broker to you will be revenue. Of course, much of that will be offset by the corresponding expense, but it will all be reported as revenue.

One more thing to consider; I don't remember when you first started but I saw you mention that you came out about 6 months ago...if so, you're not going to get a full year's depreciation this year.

I got a call from a broker that we've hauled for occasionally yesterday. She was trying to move 2 loads out of Oxnard and couldn't find trucks, so she was calling anybody she knew in SoCal. Anyway, she tells me, "All the trucks took the cheap rates in the morning and now they're missing out on the good loads this afternoon." She was offering $4500 to go to the Bronx :shock: :lol: The sad thing is, that really is up significantly compared to what's been hitting the road.

I like them, so I was polite, but I got a chuckle out of it. We're back in the 70's again for awhile so I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon 8) especially with rates like that!

 

Rubbing in the warmth huh? (though 70's is still cold in my book ) My freaking brother has this house in the 60's :? I took the ceramic heater out of the truck and have it plugged in next to me.

You know I have been thinking about the early morning thing. I sleep til 10AM (if I'm not on a load) then wake up and get looking for a load. The other day I was thinking that I might be losing out on the good loads as the good ones seem to be gone in the earlly AM.

But then I started thinking that most people aren't going to do that and want to get going so this looking for loads in later of the day might be working in my favor.

It's funny about the $4500 to the Bronx. Some lady called me the other day and had a load to Mass I think it was. She said she had good money on it and I asked how much. She said like $2.25 a mile. I told her that's not good money to go in that area and she said "oh" like she was surprised.

I read about the depreciation a bit back about the 1/2 year. I'm going to see my uncle tomorrow (an accountant) and try and get some info out of him.

TQL called me this morning on a load from Tar Heel, NC to Selma, AL. I told him $1300 and I could tell he blanched . He thanked me for my time and I thanked him as well and hung up. I was hoping he'd call back but never did. What's up with Alabama anyway? I did ok around Christmas but I pulled it up while I was talking to him and it didn't look too promising.

Where the plug to charge the laptop in the back is, came loose and I have to wiggle it to charge the laptop. It's under warranty but I have to mail it so I don't know what I am going to do. I don't know how people operate out here without a computer? While I am talking to the broker I am pulling up the area, checking the miles, checking the rate. I might get a load back home and mail it in and then spend a week home waiting.

Hey no_worries, it's funny I have been thinking that there must be a lot of freight in Florida from South America but yesterday I was reading an article that we are exporting much more. Pretty much it was saying that unlike the rest of the country, Florida has a trade surplus.

Well back to my heater

 

Looks like we've had an unexpected change in the weather...low to mid 60's :sad: Still not enough to make me go to work though :lol:

I imagine FL's citrus exports account for a ton of dough. And remember, much of what is coming into FL from other countries has a final destination in another state. So those products are probably not counted as FL imports. So even though it might not show up on their trade balance, the freight still moves through.

Whenever I'm looking for loads, I'm up at 7:30 East Coast time. Even if I'm out here, some of those brokers on the East Coast are posting their loads. Like you said, the best rates often come toward the end of the day. But there are decent brokers out there who just post a load at the rate they've got. I catch enough of those to get me waking up early :lol: Plus, I like to get a feel for what freight's doing that day. Say you start at 11:00 and come across a load. If you'd been at it since 8:00 you might have noticed that load being reposted every hour. Might be something, might not. I just like to get what info I can. But in the end, it's all about what works for you.

I've never had much luck down in AL, MS, or LA...seems like it's always chicken coming out, so I rarely take anything there. You have better luck than I do down there.

Talking to your uncle the accountant...now that's a good idea :wink:

 

Here is the article no_worries. I don't know what they are exporting but as Brazil is the largest trading partner, I don't think that is citrus. I think they produce more citrus than we do.

I think I told you that both my uncles are accountants? One is a CPA and the other is just a regular one but has a good practice. But I try and not ask them too much. :wink:

Man 7:30 EST that's 4:30 over there. That's the middle of the night for me. You probably are right though about watching the boards. Seems like what my thing is I seem to get the "gotta move" loads. This last one I just did to Jacksonville, the guy told me that the earlier driver bailed out.

I told him that if I end up sitting there I am going to need detention. He said he was already losing money on the load. I seem to hear that a lot

I was talking with a broker the other day that use to get tomatoes out of Plant City, Fl. He said some company came in and bought the operation and now they send out emails to solicit rates. The guy said computers were the worst thing that has happened to trucking. The cheapest bid wins.

If I had a truckload of anything, I don't think I would be looking for the cheapest carrier.



South Florida's growth rate in trade stayed strong in 2007
By Doreen Hemlock

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

February 16, 2008

South Florida's international trade is poised for another record in 2008 after reaching nearly $80 billion last year.

The value of goods traded through airports and seaports from Key West to Fort Pierce likely will grow at a bit slower than the almost 10 percent pace of 2007, as the world economy loses steam. But trade will remain a bright spot for South Florida business this year, analysts said.

"The conditions that made the last few years records for trade remain: a weak dollar and a robust market in Latin America," said Manny Mencia, senior vice president for Enterprise Florida, the state's economic development group.

The Latin American and Caribbean region, South Florida's biggest trade bloc, is benefiting from high prices for its exports of oil, metals, soybeans and other commodities.

A weak dollar makes U.S. goods cheaper in most other currencies, including the real in Brazil, South Florida's single largest trade partner.

South Florida's exports could rise by double digits again this year to top $50 billion for the first time, Mencia said.

In 2007, the value of South Florida exports soared nearly 15 percent to $45.5 billion. Latin American neighbors bought lots more computers, cell phones, medical equipment and other goods.

Brazil alone bought $8.4 billion in goods from South Florida, a whopping 27 percent more than the previous year, according to U.S. Commerce Department data compiled by Coral Gables-based media company WorldCity Inc.

Indeed, South Florida exported so much last year that it posted its highest trade surplus ever. Shipments to foreign countries topped its purchases from abroad by $11.8 billion, the data showed.

The area is the only U.S. Customs district to post trade surpluses for 15 straight years, said WorldCity publisher Ken Roberts.

Overall, South Florida performed better in trade than the nation did last year. U.S. trade rose at a slower pace, up nearly 8 percent to $3.1 trillion. And the country posted another massive trade deficit: $790.9 billion, down by 3 percent, the data showed.

"To some extent, South Florida is fairly insulated from trade deficits, as long as China and India keep buying so much from Latin America," Roberts said. "That's because basically, we supply Latin America."

 

I stand corrected. They seem to be talking purely of the flow through customs. So they would be counting a John Deere tractor manufactured in IA as a FL export.

Y'know, to be honest, I don't get up that early when we're at home ops: I figure it's going to take an excellent load to get me to leave the house and since I'm never in a big hurry to leave, I don't work so hard at it :lol: When we're already out on the road it's a different story. That's when I don't want to miss anything.