After reading all of the post I will plug in my 2 cents.....Guys think that driving a truck is all that is required to make it as an O/O or with your own authority -- this is a huge mistake. You must learn the trucking industry from a business prospective. Learn everything about it -- this means the paperwork, communication skills, etc.

Analyze your expenses, know your cpm, etc. We run dry van and I can tell you I will not put less than 1.50 freight on my truck. We avg between 1.85 & 2.00 per mile and higher for shorter runs. Good paying freight is out there but you have to understand the business of load density. I have created a spreadsheet so when I'm booking a load I plug in the miles and it tells me immediately, the rate, gallons of fuel, cost of fuel, fuel cost by cents, ROI, dh cost, profit/loss. I know immediately what it's costing me to run that load. At that point I determine whether I'm going to take it or not.

If you can't manage the paperwork then find someone to pay that will help you. Use the tools (truck, laptop, printer/fax, phone, etc) to help you succeed. Read about what's happening in the industry. Study rate trends. Know where you want your truck to be when rates are low in one area.

 

Yeah my laptop went out in Idaho, ate up OP sys by a virus, was dead in the water so to speak......who had thought trucking, a little dumb ol trucker like me, would be so dependent on computers and the net.
I remember that when chatting a few years ago, a lady was suprised that being a truck driver, I even knew what the net was lol.

 

1.25 out of Mass may not sound like a good rate but it is the going rate
a hundred trucks can go home empty and the rate won't budge
Its always been that way
Fish and frozen are the only exception
and many of those brokers do not post on boards

If any of you are not familiar with load boards
They rarely post the rates
and the power of negotiating is in the brokers corner because they have access to all the nec info
the driver has none
pretty dumb setup if you ask me
it can drive you nuts setting up with a broker
when the shipper closes in an hour

If you get 75% with landstar
and you were spinning your wheels with you own authority
its the same difference$$$
,less paperwork,less insurance
and you can see the rates
you get your money in a timely manner etc

I like to be home every night so I just run from
Boston to Harrisburg
thats all I've ever done any way
as much ltl as possible

 

Yeah 1.25 is great in New England...every broker told me to stay outta there :-p

 

I won't haul anything which only pays $1.25. It isn't profitable. I rarely go into New England, because of the rates coming out. The last load I hauled up there was $1.65/mile and that was about 2 years ago. The load I took in paid $2.50. Most of the time, I usually count on deadheading out. I prefer deadheading out than running for FREE. This is a business. A business needs to make a profit. You don't seem to understand that as long as these brokers can move freight at $1.25, there is no reason to pay more. It those are the rates you are getting, you might as well lease to a carrier. With the FSC, you could lease to one of those low mileage carriers and make as much or more without the headaches and expense of running your authority. You need to understand the value of what you are offering. Good negotiating skills are a must when you run your authority. If you know your value, then you don't necessarily need all of the other information in order to successfully negotiate. Life isn't fair. We rarely have all the information we need to make life decisions. Dealing with load boards is just one other thing we must deal running a truck. Having all the information the broker has concerning rates would be great, but he is under no obligation to divulge that to anyone. The best thing you can do is decide the minimum haul rate for which you are willing to take a load and stick with it. Hauling a load for less than $2.00 is not good. Pulling one for less than $1.50 is unacceptable to me, whether I pull a flat or van.

 

I don't think Sonny's saying he averages $1.25. That's the rate he gets one-way. Most of the guys I know that run the NE with vans or reefers do everything on the round because very few get any kind of a rate coming out. If you go into the NE and plan on coming out only with something in the neighborhood of $2/mile, more often than not, you'll be sitting awhile. Of course, most of us choose not to go very often. But the guys that live there don't have much choice.

 

say just wondering since the subject came up, thinking about landstar next year, but still dunno (like my freedom too much), but would 68%that they offered me be too little?.......I just call em back n say, call me when your serious wih 75%?

 

That 400$ "no money" is the difference between a (hypothetical) 3000$ per week and 3450 per week
why should I reject it on some kind of principal when:
Load densities 8/14 Internet truckstop
Mass
Flatbed in 373
Flatbed out 50
Van in 207
Van out71
Reefer in 237
Reefer out 53
As long as it loads and unloads fast
I'll grab it
those 4 loads are GOLD

It is definately not a bad busness practice
This stupid 1.25 load is time sensitive as well
But to me its extra money and I get back into the heavy hitters
of Reading, York and Harrisburg, Carlisle etc
and right back to Jersey nor back to NE
Rate from jersey with a reefer to mass
are from 550(cheapo tropicana loads) to 800+


Landstar pays around 75% with your own trailer
I always feel like a jackass after I "negotiate" because I am never quite sure if I did well
Sargent is a straight 5% comission so I can trust their rate(ha)
I deal with a freight forwarder who does not even know the rate when he calls me
I just know he pays top dollar
RMX always offers me a rate where no negotiating is required
but.... when I deal with new brokers I am never quite satisfied with the rate I won.
eg Malvern Pa to Westfield Mass on a Friday load and go pays around xxx I know what it pays and you would be surprised at the rates the same people in that office will quote me until I say "Andy pays me xxx" Then they say ok
If I was a first time caller
3/4 of that rate is still quite a decent rate but I could have gotten 1/4 more that was available to me
so every time I deal with a new broker I always feel somehow screwed
that's what sucks
The worst question a broker can ask is "what can you do it for?'
I start stuttering like there is no tomorro
The rule is "ask high you can always come down"
I usually shoot my self in the foot
Broker calls me up
hot load Jersey to Binhamton,ny go now
4 skids of french fries
I figured 450 500 would be fine
Just before I answered he told me it paid 1000
How the heck would I think to ask 1000 to go to Binghamton.
Every other broker would have hung up on me!
$1000? are you nuts?
So this "negotiating" part is a crock

 

Definitely ask high. They will just come back with what they are willing to pay. Then you tell them how expensive tolls are and you need a little more. Also, you can always get loads out of NY for more then 1.50. You can also do drop & hook in Long Island, PA,CT, & Jersey for 1.49 plus tolls. 1.25 is horrible :?
Merrick, there are loads boards that have shippers only posting loads.
No brokers allowed. Rates are very good. I see a lot of reefer loads for 2.50 to 2.90. One of the boards I use has well over a 100 shippers listed.

 

Hey stay outa there. Good thing you're reefer.

So you turned it down then?

I hung up on a broker yesterday LOL. I hate when they ask for a rate, because you know they're just playing games...like they already have a rate and they are just trying to get a lower one OR, they haven't got a clue and they are using me as a quote machine. Anyway, it's a FB load of construction equipment from NJ to ON about 400 miles or so. I ask will a step work and he says yes what do you need. I say I'm getting $3/mile for my steps now and he starts to give me attitude. "What? $3 a mile are you nuts? I move these things for $700 why would I give you $1200!"

I said, "$700? Man those guys need to buy some step decks then I hung up and LMAO".