Yearly Profit After Expenses...

Yeah the pay did seem a little low so i was kind of iffy I already have a trailer that is road ready and wasn't sure about dropping it then having to make my way back to it so i am really thinking about just telling them no for now it seems odd that they seem so persistant to get people to sign up which kind of scares me also thier contract has a non compete Claus in it that scares me as well

 

You can always mark through the non compete clause. If they don't want to accept it with the changes, then don't sign the agreement. I won't sign any contract that is one sided or that I cannot change to make more equitable. Any contract should benefit all parties involved. You could probably do as well leasing to them or some other carrier as you will pulling their trailers. Now, there are a couple of areas where their rates are considerably higher, but those may be committed to certain carriers.

 

I called them and spoke to a supervisor about the noncompete because as it says I cannot haul direct for any shipper I meet while working for them for up to one year after I leave them or they get 35% of the revenue and the guy said they can't change it so I don't think I will be signing on with them seeing as how I already have a trailer that I paid cash outright bad thing is trailer is 89 so my truck and trailer weighs in at 33800

 

Those clauses really bug me...I always want to ask the other party how much they will compensate for signing their non-compete and forgoing all additional revenue.

 

Are you sure it's a non-compete and not a back-solicit clause? I think every carrier agreement I have includes language about spearing the shippers you meet on the road. For a broker or 3PL it would be dumb not to.

Non-compete means that you will not perform similar services in the same market. As-in, quit JBH and exit the truckload freight business. Back solicit means going after their customers, but does not stop you from doing business with shippers that are not their customer.

In any case, I think every o/o with authority has a BFF at JBH emailing and calling a few times a week to remind you of what a great deal they have waiting for you.

 

Most brokers do have those clauses. I still usually change them. I will normally put exclusion clauses for shippers whom I may have previously hauled for or loads that I get from other brokers to the same shipper. The way some of those clauses are phrased, you can't even haul through another broker without the possibility of having to pay them a fee. I have had some tell me that the clause is there only to prevent direct solicitation of shippers. That is not the way most of those clauses are phrased. Regardless of intent, if it is in writing and you sign the contract, you can be held to the terms of the agreement.

 

Well for a nice update I got my IFTA in and for those Texas folks when filing for IFTA if you fax it in and call them they can FedEx it back at your expense I paid an extra 20 and got mine back about 4 days after faxing it. After getting IFTA I started load shopping and couldn't find anything for lastnight so I repositioned into lufkin tx and posted my truck. This morning I had two calls from brokers one offered 1100 for a 1050 mile load, then seemed offended when I chuckled and said I would be more in 2300 range. The other offered 550 for 480 miles after hearing 1300 I heard a dial tone. Then i found a load going from nacogdoches tx to vinton la, 151 loaded miles 177 total miles named my price at 375 and she took it. After the 30min backing into dock process they threw about 43k on me which put me at 76420 and I took off. That truck seems different when it is loaded lol. We are stopped at loves off of I-10 for the night with a 6am unload then its back to shopping. For the folks wanting to start just so you know we spent around 40k before touching fright and we have no household bills and paid cash for a 10yr old truck and 21yr old trailer. So be sure to crunch those numbers and account for the worse then add 5k to your startup costs lol.

 

More calls this morning wanting to pay about a dollar per mile not including deadhead. Do people really take this freight, no wonder so many startups go out of buisness at the rates some of these people offer I might as well just give them some money to pay someone else with lol. A sign of optimisim I did have a couple that were willing to pay about 2.10-2.20 per mile but one was going into florida and the other required a TWIC card. Waiting on my rate sheet for a 600 mile load paying 1500+100 for an extra stop. I understand why people go out of buisness but dont understand why they dont just say no to cheap stuff. If it doesnt make money make an offer if they wont bite then let someone else have it.

 

Short answer - yes, they take it.

Get out of TX and stay-out till you need to get home. Overall rates are down this month but when you start in a bad market during slow times it gets really ugly fast.

Best of luck. And amazed that lady of yours is along for the ride. Bad when you are driving but can't imagine just sitting all day.

 

Had one state that "any current client or client within the past 24-months". Asked for a list of clients so that I could comply with clause. Told me that was not intent. Told them that is what it said. Faxed me a new contract with different wording. Still bad but didn't sign it.