Why are we putting up with under payment

If you can keep it steady, short runs in general make more profit. Make sure you have TX intrastate authority. From your posts I can tell there was some internal strife. My best advice, besides find another job, would be to come up with a new business plan, have your drivers/family members agree to give it a chance and show them the money.
As far as brokers go, when you do find one you like, ask them their primary lanes and where their best paying freight is. Check with these guys in advance of arriving at the unload point to see if they have something. Heck, even call them out of the blue and ask if they have any freight period. It's called building a relationship, and it's where so many go wrong. A lot of owner ops wouldn't know customer service if it slapped them in the face. In dry van especially, it's the only that separates you from Swift. Very little of my freight ever hits the loadboard, I either get a call or get it when I call. I'm doing a 10 mile load on Monday that will net me $500 in less than 2 hours. The agent (I've run for previously a few times) emailed it to me and asked if I was available.

 

That is exactly what I have been trying to tell him Rollin coal. The fact that we have been in business for less than 6 months restricts who will work with us also. He is so locked into this more MILES = $$$$, instead of more $$$$ per run = less MILES needed.

 

My 1 nephew is like that , its WEST COAST or nothing , his brother runs regional loads , less miles but better $ per mile and building a good repore with customers.

 

That's a difficult mindset to break. Some guys never get it. Like 40cal says customer service sets you apart from the crowd. One thing I do is make sure the broker knows exactly where I'm at every step of the way. Most of them like email better than phone calls which suits me just fine. After I check in with a shipper I send and email "@ shipper - docked getting loaded, or waiting to get to a dock and get loaded" etc. Then as soon as loaded send a new message with BOL # weight, piece count, etc and an ETA to the receiver. I always make it clear if they have any questions to call me any hour of the day or night I'll be glad to answer and I am. Most drivers grouse and complain about this one and consider it a burden getting calls which is stupid for a business owner to think like that - this seems like a small thing but brokers for the most part would prefer not to call and possibly wake us up they hate making those calls as much as it sucks for us to get them - put their mind at ease about it so it's no big deal..



When I arrive at a stopoff or receiver getting offloaded I send them same emails with who signed for the freight etc. I even scan and email some of them the signed BOL's immediately after delivery. One important thing, I always do what I say I am going to do. I actually have one broker who pays me $100 and hour detention time based off of my emails and I dont have to get timestamps on the BOL's or anything, it's based off trust and I do not abuse that, in fact there were times when I went past the 2 "free" hours that I could have charged for a half hour or 45 minutes of detention but I didn't because the load paid so well.



Like 40cal says very rare for the best stuff to ever hit the boards and this is mostly true but it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Sometimes it does. Circumstances make it to where a broker has to cover freight and maybe doesnt have trucks they know of to cover it. I know this because I found some freight like this and now if any of it does hit the board I've gotten my pick from it and even see if a buddy of mine is interested in hauling some of it well before it ever does. It's up to you to study the boards and figure out things. Not going to give away everything I do but anyone with a head on their shoulders can pretty much figure out a system at some point. Be patient with it. Nothing happens overnight.

 

I unloaded today at And air force base, Picked it up in Dallas area and it paid $6,200 to go 580 miles and only 31,000 #. Everything was crated and I even got a $300 tarp charge but didn't have to unroll them

Stop asking for $1.50 and start looking for $4.00 a mile. I see them all day long, just not going 1,000 miles like you want. Sometimes u have to work 5 days to pay the bills, and then sometimes u get lucky like I did and clear a weeks pay in 1 day

 

$10.28 a mile not bad!

 

Best part was, I got in on it at $6.80 a mile and the agent called me the next day to tell me the rate went up. Now that never happens, EVER!!!! So I'm waiting for the bad thing to follow.....well I'm stuck in El Paso till Monday, so does that count ??? LOL

 

not if your brave enough to go across the border to have a little fun

 

I think part of the difference is dry van freight is cheap freight.
Flat bed and reefer pays lot higher.
And RGN pays real good and high.

 

Had many good times in juarez! get on cb call pappa smurf or cadillac man! Corronas r cheap. ooh! youll need a passport.
Watch this for motivation!
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkaveikyikE&feature=colike[/ame]