Dont get discouraged Merrick, it sounds like you are close to getting out of Charlotte soon. Possible that being patient is taking on a new meaning right now, as industry and demand continues to contract into winter. You notice a lot more trucks posted on boards over what was up 30 days ago.

A friend put together 3 ltl's from Atlanta area to Phoenix, & Los Angeles that worked out to 2.06/mile total. Then he got out of L.A the next day, to Chicago at 1.70. 53' dry van. The stops always are a hassle, but if the mile pay is ok you can offset it a little.

If I hear of anything, Ill pass it onto you in this thread. Keep the wife happy, Christmas is coming.

 

Merrick, keep in mind that you can haul dry freight with a reefer as well as things such as produce. There are also a lot of other things you can haul with a reefer such as pharmaceuticals, etc. You may also want to look at LTL's. I know it may be a bit of a challenge starting out, but you can often do much better by putting the right LTL's together. Some people try to get you to do them for next to nothing, but I always get a premium for LTL's. I know of one carrier who told me that they consistently get over $6/mile doing them. It would be difficult to do what he does with one truck, but there are some who are doing well pulling a reefer or van around. Don't get discouraged. Building a business takes time. Check around with some shippers while you are sitting. Phone calls are cheap. Some brokers want you to think that they are not getting decent rates. While that may be true with some, there are many who are just pocketing a bigger share of the money. Most of the time the shipper has no idea of what the broker is paying you. There are more and more shippers who are discusted with having to do business with brokers. They know they are getting scammed. There are some honest brokers. Not all of them try to take advantage of changing economic trends. I have a broker with whom I do business who takes 10% off the top. I always do well on his loads and the money is always there. I have NEVER hauled anything for him that I didn't make at least $2/mile, after he takes his cut. He never charges extra for paying me quickly. He pays as soon as he receives the bills. In fact, if I hand deliver them, he will write me a check on the spot. I have a shipper which whom I have done business for several years. I consistently get good rates from them. Several months ago I received a call from a broker who offered me $1/mile LESS than I was getting from the shipper. It was $1.50 less than I get for some of this shippers loads. My rates vary with him somewhat according to where I go. When I told the broker what I was getting he stammered and said something like he is booking loads too cheap. Now, this guy was either too inexperienced and took the loods too cheap or was greedy. There is a large brokerage company who takes about 1/3 of the money from this shipper. He gave them some loads and checked what they were paying once they posted the loads. He doesn't like dealing with brokers. Unfortunately, this shipper is seasonal, but rates are very good during the season.

One area where some falter is talking to receivers or consignee's. If there is a receiver near where you want to go, you may want to talk with them about bring their freight to them. Most people just concentrate on shippers. Some of the best rates can come from the receiver. You see, there are some shippers who will take some of the shipping charges from what they pay the carrier. Some will take as much as some brokers. Ultimately it is the receiver who pays the shipping charges, anyway. There could even be some partials you could bring to them.

There is no question that some brokers and shippers are taking advantage of the current situation. Rates tend to drop somewhat during winter months. That will change in a few months. There are still those who are willing to pay a premium for quality service. That doesn't mean that you need to take advantage of them, but we do need to get a fair rate for our service. Unless you operate at a profit you won't survive. I will usually not sit more than a day or two, maximum. Unless I am putting LTL's or a load together, I usually won't sit for more than a day. If I don't have something at that point, I deadhead to a better area. And I won't put something on the truck just to buy fuel. It is better to pay a little for fuel to get out of a bad area than continue sitting.

 

GMAN I have been thinking about the LTL; especially when I was in Washington. I had one that wanted to to go Miami or Boca I forget and I just wasn't sure if I needed special insurance or how to price that. I guess it's as simple as picking them up and dropping them off in reverse order.

As to moving after a day, the thing is and maybe I shouldn't be doing this, but since I just drove 90 miles to go to Charlotte, no I will be adding that in to my next load or into the previous one. I mean I guess it's stupid but I calcualte all miles. So when I deadheaded out of Florida last time after I got a load I calculated it out to like $.96 a mile with the deadhead.

But maybe I shouldn't be calculating it all so strictly; I mean driving empty and driving with a load is much different and obvioulsy I want to try not to deadhead too much and yet still be flexible.

Anyway thanks for all your help and thanks Orange Andy too. Like I said I am seriously considering the LTL. Flexibility is another key I guess.

 

it's brutal out there now merrick. you are not alone. you are very lucky in that you're not under financial pressure. The big advantage to running your own show is you can run when you want. the wife is complaining so go home and wait it out. enjoy the holidays with the family. it could be until spring. make your wife glad that you have your own authority. use that time to find some customers close to him.

$.02

 

No, it's not, and i do it the same way!
But to expect, that somebody will pay for it(with the few exceptions) kinda is! :P
No offence, but it's your game, and your responsibility!

You should look ahead, and see the worst, and the best possible scenario, also figuring in the risk involved.
Don't be that guy, who didn't see the forest, behind the three! :wink:

 

We're doing fine, thanks for asking. Got out here to Dallas and spent a day, we'll be heading back to L.A. tonight for a Friday morning unload. This trip only grossed $6000...then again we'll only be gone for 6 days...and only 3100 miles...that's hardly work at all :shock: So I won't complain too much. Normally getting home Friday morning is great since Fridays and Saturday's are our best freight days, but with the way things are looking, we might just stay home again. Something will probably pop up to talk me out of it though :roll: I'm actually thinking of sticking to the Left Coast and running Xmas trees for a few weeks. I haven't done it in a few years so I'll have to reconnect and see if I can get some new contacts. I grew up in OR so if I have to sit on either end of the run I can do so in a house, and like you said, that's always a big plus. I've got about a month to kill until my big-money year-end trips. Then I can shut down for awhile 8)

As far as empty miles go, I treat them this way. If I just emptied and I have to bid a load, I figure the DH into my rate. Of course I don't mention that to the broker, but it's in there. Although, I calculate my DH at $1.00/mile. If a broker is calling me and wants me to DH more than 100 miles, then I bring up the subject. I had a guy call last night at 9:30 wanting us to DH 250 miles to OK and pick up a load to deliver this morning in Houston. Something like that I definitely would bring up the DH, of course if they know anything about what they're doing the broker will broach the subject first.

Now, if I move the truck to get into a better freight area, I don't figure those miles into a rate. Say I DH 500 miles out of FL to Atlanta. That's my cost (although I would have tacked it onto any rate going into FL) and doesn't belong on any load I get out of Atlanta. If you move 500 miles and then try to tack that on, you'll price yourself right out of anything that might be available. If the need to DH after a load can be foreseen, it should be included in the load taking you to that bad area. If you get somewhere and find yourself having to move because freight is unexpectedly bad, that's either bad planning or simply an everyday risk and is not a cost you can expect to recoup on the next load. You just do what you can to minimize these events and hope they don't impact the bottom line too much at the end of the year. Just my approach.

 

Very well put! 8)
I suggest you copy that, and print IT out, for a future references!

 

Well I made it home, but the wife is still complaining since I went to the wrong one. Went back to Mass. As mentioned in the Steve's thread I got what I think was decent money. On 807 actual hub miles I got $1850.

That was interesting sitting there for a couple of days. I know it's said that you can sit there for forever and they aren't going to go up a dime and on certain loads I found that to be the case. It's a mental game and some times you just want to get moving and are ready to say F**k it I'll take it. But I've found that when I do that I end up being miserable on the trip.

On this load I quoted him $1900 and to make a long story short he said that was more then they are billing the customer like that was my problem or something. So I told him well then call the customer and get more and if you can do it call me back. He called me back and agreed. So in the matter of days I found what Steve says to be true; namely that you can sit there for days and they won't raise it a penny. But I also found it to be true what GMAN says; that if they want their stuff moved then they will pay.

I got a load right out too for decent money. A load of potatoes which is paying about $1.70 a mile. The only thing was it's going to MD which is a one day trip but it doesn't deliver to Monday. I didn't mind though as the pickup was right where I'm from and I loaded up and drove probably at most two miles and parked the truck behind a friend's shop. He use to have his own trucks (he hauled horses) so plenty of room and he gave me the keys to his car. (I hope that as I am using a car and not the truck that BigD will go light on me for sightseeing .

Solo, I just meant it was stupid to calculate the miles into the very next trip. Actually how No_Worries worded it is I guess the best way to figure it out. At the end of the year, it's just the final number that counts.

No_Worries, you got out of Dallas? I heard it's damn near impossible to get out of there. I know there is not freaking parking in the whole damn place.

I actually calculate the DH at the same rate as all the miles. Hell let's be honest I don't even know what I am doing yet. I just through out a number though I do check truckloadrate.com.

I was offered a load out of Worcester, Ma to Chicago for about a $1.00 a mile. I wasn't sure what to do. I mean as Sonny said it would preserve the rate going in, but what the hell, I don' t want to move for a $1.00 a mile as I don't enjoy the trip if I'm not making money. I know we have to look at the whole picture but I'm stubborn. I mean it's my truck, and I don't have to put anything on it I don't want and if they don't want to pay a fair wage then they can let the stuff sit on the dock. I just hope in a couple years time I still feel that way.

Anyone read that book "The Jungle" by I think Upton Sinclair"? That guy from Lithuania started out strong and healthy and then the system beat him down. I always think of that book.

But so far being stubborn seems to be paying off. I put out my rates so if I think it's good and it's not then someone will let me know I'm sure.

Well enough blabbering. Hasta Luego.

 

That's the attitude I take when it comes to cheap freight...not on my truck. I'm happy to let other guys haul it all they want. Whatever makes 'em happy. I was loading up in L.A. today at a place that makes frozen pies. Got to talking to a guy next to me who was pulling directly for the shipper. His load to Reno was paying him $1100 on about 550. Didn't have the heart to tell him my 2450 mile brokered load was paying $5200 :lol: The same guy was talking about how he'd just come back from Laredo for $.80/mile. I just can't fathom that, seems like a big waste of time.

Today was one of those days in CA, every time the phone rang someone offered more money. TQL started at $5500 to Baltimore and by the time they were done were meeting my rate of $6750. Too bad they took too long :cry: Multi-drop nursery loads were being offered from $6000-$6800 I never even got to negotiate those. $3800 to Denver...and that was the posted rate :shock: It's like the dam burst and everyone decided they better start stocking their shelves for Thanksgiving. Here's hoping it's more than just a one-day event :lol: Maybe we're finally starting to see the effects of the weak ones dropping. I'm actually starting to see signs, faint though they may be, of a pickup in Florida activity.

 

Do you guys that use truckloadrate.com also put your rates back into the system? I'm not sure how they get their rate data but I would think they are only as good as the data coming in to them.