Rates? Legality of disclosure.

You were doing all your own stuff, similar to me using my friend’s authority and doing my own deal. I should’ve been more clear about leasing and also being dispatched and not knowing what the loads pay before they go on the truck.

 

Yeah. I mean if you want to run spot market with or without your own trailer (percentage was less one versus the other). Spot sucks regardless but if somebody wants to chase it more power to them. Never let anyone else control what a load pays. If you're an o/o the only way to be sure of that is to be independent and negotiating everything. If you're leased and running brokered do all booking/negotiating on your own and move as quick as you can to independent. There are some honest companies that will lease you on and let you use their authority to run brokered but they are few and far between. Don't use dispatch services. Don't use "dispatch'. Get your own authority if you want to run brokered. Find good direct freight and skip the brokers entirely...

 

Lol... yeah, bs... go home for Christmas. Don't waste your time on lies and garbage. I did a lot of high dollar last minute BS that "had to be there" but ultimately it never paid well enough to make up for family memories. Drive that truck to the house, park it, enjoy family and #### work. They're at home laughing at your dumb ### sleeping in truck. Lol

 

If you don't have a connection with some direct, steady van/reefer you're wasting your time. Especially so if not doing it independently. Pulling a tanker with your own truck not leased, well, good luck either way there. Sounds like a good way to get F'd leased. Better have deep pockets and your own trailers (fleet) otherwise

 

Don't mean to be an ***** but when you start asking questions, please learn the terminogy and how it is used.

For example you use the word dispatch, which means only two things, one is an internal dispatcher with a carrier you are leased to or it means a dispatch service you hire to find you work. The carrier dispatcher doesn't have to disclose the rates to you at the time of the "offer", the carrier has to disclose to you what is billed to the customer at the time it is billed. The dispatching service works for you, and there is a prearranged cut of the services and you can still request to see the bills for the consignor.

There is also a broker, which is a third party, they too have to on request provide the actual bill of the transaction between them and the consignor, they are required to maintain the records according to the FMCSA regulations and there are a few who were sued (and settled out of court) over record keeping being "spun" to make it look like they were losing money.

Then there is what is called a Bonified Agent, which essentially is a carrier agreeing to have their freight hauled by another carrier.

The one thing in business that matters is what YOU get, not what others get. Over and over I read here and other places the crying about brokers ripping owners off when they discover the broker is getting X+Gazillion dollars while the owner agreed to haul the load for X. This attitude that an owner is being "cheated" and all the money from the consignor belongs to them doesn't help the owner when they spend too much time worrying what others get and focusing on moving the business forward. Many owners wrongfully think that they are entitled to the majority of the money when they don't do anything but haul the load. As much as many here will slam be for that, they are not the one who builds the relationship with the shipper or seeks out the loads (not counting doubled-brokered loads which is another huge subject).

What works for you is all that matters, what they make, who cares it won't put money in the bank. That said the thing that really matters is this fact, you have to know exactly how much YOUR COSTS are before you start to look for work. I won't get into this, others can help you but your break even point is the most important metric you need to have and maintain.

 

This is solid advice.