Thanks fellas. I am not ready to work off of load boards yet, I still have about a year or so to go. I am just trying to make a business plan for the future. All the information that all you have given me is priceless. Thanks again for everything.

 

I've been on the boards all day today and the best I could do was $1.83 to California. Most everything else was $1.60 to $1.70.

Keep in mind these are long distance loads. There are plenty going 500 or so miles for well over $2.00 per mile. It's a tradeoff that everyone needs to pick. More money for shorter runs, lots of traffic, lots of work and usually the SH** holes of America.

Or.

Cheaper rates, 5 days of nothing but driving in the wide open West.

Many arm chair drivers including myself before I started now have come down to reality.

 

In surfing around this morning I found that there is software for brokers out there that allow them to post on many boards at once. I figured as much and got my answer. This is why if you are not on the ball first thing or a day in advance, the load is covered.
GMans advice is solid. I have been an independent o/o and found it takes a lot of time and planning to get set up with brokers and shippers who you can trust will provide you with quality loads. Calling around to shippers if you don't have multiple trucks available is a waist of time for you and them.
The best idea is to deal with a select group of brokers and stay within their lanes so they can expect you in an area(s) and they will call. I had mine prior to leaving the business and now that I am back in, they remember me and are more than happy to help me out.
my 2cents..
tribal

 

I must say, you and Blue Man hit the nail on the head

 

The best way to avoid all this is to define a traffic lane you will run in. Market to shippers at each end and bill retail rates. As many shippers will not deal with a one or few truck fleet you need to become a broker also so that you may broker out the excess loads you will be asked to move. Your truck(s) stays in the lane maximizing profit both ways. The loads that go outside your system you broker out. Avoid brokers by becoming one!

If you are determined to continue to use brokers and work for wholesale rates then you might benefit from developing an email notification system in that you send out your truck availability to 20 of your favorite brokers. This prevents you from making too many phones calls. I have a friend that does this and he doesn't have to look on load boards for his truck. He is in the process of getting his retail customers online and will be able to benefit from a dual income stream shortly.

 

You are not always going to get wholesale rates from brokers. Sometimes you can get a better rate from a broker than dealing with a shipper direct. You can't use a cookie cutter approach with this. There is some merit to some of what you say, Grumman. But you need to understand that it also takes a while to build a reputation as a broker. Some carriers and factors won't do business until you have been in business for at least a year or more. I am one of those carriers. If a broker hasn't been in business for at least a year I won't do business with them except as a prepaid or COD account. If it is COD the load doesn't come off the trailer until I have a check in hand. With COD's from a new broker that usually means a Comcheck or similar guaranteed payment. That can get a bit pricey for a new broker. Some shippers will wait longer to pay a broker than they will pay a carrier. To tell you the truth, that is another reason some shippers prefer doing business with brokers over carriers, especially smaller ones.

 

A retail rate is defined as a rate that is directly billed to the shipper (the one paying for the move, could be the consignor, consignee, or neither). A wholesale rate would be a retail rate minus the brokers commission. If you contract with a broker you will never actually be hauling for a "retail" rate. The terms "retail" and "wholesale" only serve to understand the billing. You could be running for a broker under a termed "wholesale rate" and actually be making what you would term a good retail rate. Their are brokers out there that are fair and pay much than most truckers would think. You don't typically find these on the load boards. You are very correct on the fear of new brokers. Although all brokers must carry a surety bond, the chances of being able to file on that are so difficult. So most carriers will want a comcheck until you build up enough business that the factoring companies will feel comfortable with you. A good broker knows that the carrier butters his bread. Without the trucks the product surely will not move. It helps to have been a trucker before brokering. You know what it takes to move a truck down the road. The non asset based brokers that just came from the mortgage industry do themselves and everyone else by constantly saying they can do it cheaper. They came into the industry thinking they would make such huge profits and the next thing they know the customers freight didn't move, or the truck didn't get paid, and then everyone has a bad taste of brokers.

 

I have had a lot of new brokers call me this year. Some work for larger brokerage companies. You can tell they are inexperienced in a few minutes. I had a guy call me the other day about a load. I asked him what the load paid. He told me that it paid "real good." I asked him the rate. He told me something like $2.10 for New England. He about swallowed his teeth when I told him that we have been getting at least $4/mile for the same legal loads. These people get into this business without doing any research. They don't know what shippers are willing to pay or what carriers are charging. I don't care if someone doesn't want to pay my rate for New England. I don't really want to go there anyway. If they do, then I will probably take it, but if not, that is OK by me.

I have been thinking about buying some vans lately. Since I don't like to jump in without checking out rates, I spoke with a few brokers. One told me that rates were not as good as flats but he has been getting some good rates going into New England from the Southeast. I asked him about it and he told me that he has been booking van loads into that area for around $1.65-1.80. :shock: Unless I can get better rates or fuel comes down dramatically, I won't be buying any vans.

You can complain about the cheap rates brokers are paying if you want, but it is the CARRIER who determines the rate. If a carrier takes a load for $1.80 then he has set the rate. If he takes it at $4, then he is also setting the rate. I don't have big equipment payments so I can afford to pass on a load. If you have big equipment payments you should pass on a cheap load. I see no point in hauling a load that I can't make any money. It defeats the purpose of running a business. You can either decide to run your business or allow others to run it for you. If fuel continues to decline it will become more difficult to command the higher rates. The more carriers who go out of business the better for the industry. It will reduce capacity and force rates upward. We seem to still have an over capacity. It may be that it only appears that way due to all the cheap freight haulers who are still with us.

 

$4.00 per mile. I'm calling MAJOR BS on that one!!!!!!!!!!

Be more specific. Maybe for a 200 mile run but your leading people to believe you get those rates AND YOU DON'T. I know for a FACT first freaking hand!!!!! GEEZUS Mike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm calling you out. Get me a load going lets say 1,500+ miles for $4.00 per mile, legal load on Monday and I'll give you half the money.

 

Some of those loads originated in Tennessee, about 92 miles from the house and delivered either near Boston or near the Connecticut/Massachusetts line. One was about 20 miles from I-84. I don't recall the exact miles but they were around 800 or so miles.

I don't have anything to prove, Steve. You can either believe it or not. If you don't ask then you will never get the better rates. I am a pretty good negotiator. If I don't get my rate then I don't take the load. This is the main reason why I usually don't post my rates. You don't have to take cheap rates to move your truck.