Dry Freight has me in the RED, Any advice???

Me too. 12.7 with a REBEL127 tune and Frtlnr Classic body. I still average on my IFTA 6.8 MPG and thats with a lot of horsepower. I would not have lasted a year either if I had not started with a simple platform truck and a pre EGR DDiesel. And I run only western states with lots of mountains.

 

From experience as you get up in that higher side of rates with a dry van off load boards your miles drop like a rock. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Pulling $3.50 rates on an average 300 mile van rum over the past several years I did anywhere from 45,000 last year to 65,000 miles a couple of years before that.

I went months where I didn't work because the rates didn't support what I was asking for. I worked 4 months last year. For all these guys saying park that truck and rates will rise, well, I did it 8 months last year and guess what. Rates are just as bad this year. You have to adjust with the times.

Contrary to popular opinion on rates rising if the trucks park the fact of the matter us your bank account will shrink while everyone else adapts and keeps making money. Now, the key to heeling higher rates with a van. There's no secret. You work markets with extreme imbalances and you take full advantage when you do.

You also take loads others don't want. You know run of the mill fun stuff? Multi-stoppers. Heavy loads or light, weight doesn't matter (with this attitude it was amazing how light high dollar loads always gravitated to me however I was always happy to haul anything no matter yhe weight). Driver assist or counting. Start driving 600 miles at 8pm and don't stop til you bump the dock at 6am. Loads to so-called "deadholes" are, or used to be in better market conditions, some of the most lucrative I ever hauled. If somebody is complaining about rates to a deadholes then they've never managed to score a worthy rate to one and probably get suckered on a lot of stuff. Some of this stuff you just can't teach.

Drivers are by and large a hard headed lot that know everything already, and want something for free. I wish you the best in current market conditions pulling spot van freight out here. It ain't pretty, hasn't been for a while, and the only light at the end of the tunnel seems like a freight train headed right for us. Good luck.

 

If you making 1.75-2.35 per mile and have no profit, you should just quit. Had my worst year ever last year, $45,000 in repairs, and still cleared 53,000 after expenses.

 

A lot of people try and figure out their operating cost on a CPM scale. And that's fine if you run the exact same miles every day or week or whatever. I don't run dedicated, nor do I get the same pay every run. For me I had to break it into two categories. The first was how much it cost me per day to be in business. These are my fixed cost. Payments, ins, Internet and phone etc etc etc. Then I have the cost for the truck to roll down the road. So fuel cost, repairs, tires and the like. So let's say the bills (fixed) are $200 a day. And it cost me .23¢ a mile to move my truck (varies but that's my cost per mile today, remember payments, IFTA and all that stuff is in my daily cost) I can look at any load. Determine first how many days the load takes (let's say 3) and know instantly that it will cost me $600 to pay my fixed bills on that load. Then I can look at the miles (let's say 1000) and know it is going to cost me $230 to move the truck. So to break even on that load I need $830 just to break even. Now I guess you could say that's .83¢ a mile but if I could do it in 2 days it would only cost $630 or .63¢ a mile. (Please remember these numbers are just an example)

Anyway, it just seems everyone try's to just use CPM and forgets Cost Per Day. Hope someone can see my thinking here and use it to their benefit.

 

This would be the best thread to come for advice. Don't bother wasting your time joining some of those facebook groups, like Rates Per Mile Masters. I swear most of the idiots there have to be beyond retarded to claim they did this for such and such rate or they wouldn't do it for that rate, or won't move for such or there friend only hauls for such a mile. Total garbage what that group is.

 

Want a reefer ? $1200/month. No security deposit, but must maintain it on your own.

 

This will be the last message on this thread.. You want hear from this guy again.

 

I lease at 70 percent.
Dry loads average $.84 mile.
Reefer loads average $1.25 to sometimes $2 a mile.

 

Some people take cost per day to an extreme. Yes we all have a cost per day and it definitely costs even to stay parked. I always like to break down everything from my cost per year. When you know what you need in a year break it down to monthly. That's as small as you need to break it down. It doesn't matter what you cost per week or day is. Meet/exceed that monthly target. A person has to accept the fact there are days any truck will be parked for whatever reason. In the big picture it doesn't matter. Daily cost is meaningless.

 

I don't pull dry so I don't keep up on there rates. But I saw this and had to glance at our dry loads. The weekend is usually just scraps left over that hit the public board but although there were a few loads that cheap Many of our scraps are well over a buck. Several at or just above a buck, a few in the .90¢ range and a couple around the rate your claiming. I don't know where your at but your rates stink.