TQL - "What kind of a rate would you need to make that work?"

You need to do two things:
1 - know what lanes you can make money in with your equipment. If you are a dry van, perhaps you may look into LTL. It can be very profitable but at the same time it is very risky. It also takes more brain power to put it all together.

2 - Grow a pair and TELL the brokers what you need to do it. Nobody forces you to haul anything for any rate. Isn't that the reason you have your own authority? Quit using the mega brokers. There are boatloads of brokers out there that have lots of small business shippers and receivers that require good SERVICE. Do some steady work for one that pays decent and then try to negotiate the rate up. Once you get a good, steady rate from that broker then keep doing it! If you are always "the new guy" calling on loads they don't know that they can trust that you will deliver on time. That takes a while to build, but once you have it down and they know they don't have to worry about the load if it is on your truck, they will cough up.

I started out hauling not the best paying stuff but it was steady and got my feet off the ground. As I make more connections every day I am learning what rates to expect for certain areas. Just never stop learning.

 

all i see is some of us trust the broker as if they are our friends here is the business model for new starters or who need advice ,brokers not your friend they dont care about you going out of business or die on accident in fact first thing comes to their mind is the load`s stuation so dont be friend with them cuz yo do not need i seen many examples that i get better rates from my fellow o/o s because i dont try to be friend with brokers ,broker will not choose pay $1000. extra on the load to his regular guys but if you are a one time guy he doesn care paying you extra because it is not gonna rock the boat and not going to be problem next time toi his regular carriers by the way these are for reefer trailer i m not rookie enough to run dry trailer
1-if you are gonna go to dead area up your rate going that area 50-60% if you dont get it from the broker do not go there once you are there get something asap and get out
2-when the new broker calls you in a busy area everything is negotiable quick pay fee ,days to pays.lumper,pallets etc small brokers usually do not want to pay but theyhave most loads for the get out of the area somethimes wherever you want to look 500 600 miles ahead you will find same load with same amount money with a lot less milage on it
3-if broker calls u like tql (well known for canceling the loads on us)talk about truck ordered not used fee
put some numbers on it start from $250.00 to 600 $ depending what kinda load it is and where you are
if you call broker not much of a luck things goes the way they want
4-if you find another reliable broker pays you better money just get both confirmation same time do not cancel the cheap one until the good loads going into truck or 2 hours prior the pick up time for the cheap load and always be ready for upset dispatch they r trained to be light version of repo guys they likes to intimidate you most of the time they will start $/mile they like to show it as if it is a big pay like recently from allentown ,pa to brooklyn ny i been called my truck was in camden which is appx 70 miles away ,rep told me they have a good paying load which pays $5.00 a mile its was 102 mile drive so there would be payment of $510.00 i told them this was a cheap load i would not be houling that for that rate so i calculated my way here is how i calculate
camden to Allentown(dead heading), Allentown(loaded) to brooklyn,brooklyn to camden(EMPTY )again total of 296 miles (i took the long way to pick up because of the friday rush hour traffic) s0 i have asked $1500 ve had a deal after he returned me when he ask me how come i have come to the this price well 300 miles 80 gallons fuel reefer -10 reg 2 gallons per hours makes another 30 gallons i got $500 in fuel only 45 on the one bridge to$35 BOTH DIRECTION TO nj 32$ to njtpk to x 13 65 gothe bridge 85$ verrizona on the way out 35 njtpk to camden and 300 for driver 200 for insurance and taxes $45 for quick pay so comes to 1400 appx i was only making $100 profit on this load so know your expenses realistically you dont get rate you want do not do it work non stop march 15 to june -30 put your $50.k in a bank then take it easy less milage less haedache so back to beginning inorder the cancel your load on the broker always get your confirmation with e mail so if you have to cancel send an e mail to same address and always leave an open door to bail out while negotioting if broker does not give you any specific time for delivery or pick up
and when u get to the shipper if you feel like you gonna be there for a while look for another load if you find it and satisfies you move next one and cancel that there is no shame on the cancellation if you have a tql or other small brokers load they would do the same thing on you in a heart beat but do not burn your good broker for a one time deal
5-if you are in the dry load business try to get out of it asap that's the most important advise i can get anything but dry ,just cuz some old dude know where to run how to run does not mean you gonna have same luck like him

 

That is very difficult to read.

A few things: Once you give your word you are going to do a load and you have a confirmation and it is what you have agreed to with the broker, THAT IS WHAT YOU DO. As soon as you go doing things like keep looking for a higher paying load and cancelling on the one you already agreed to you are now doing the same thing TQL does. You'll burn down bridges really fast doing that. In this business your word is everything. If you become known to cancel a lot then brokers won't even bother with you. Can you blame them?

As for the one time hit them good and run the broker will pay higher I do not believe that is the case. The way you get the really good rate is the broker knows you can deliver and keep his customer happy. He knows you can get the job done and doesn't have to babysit you. That's when you get the higher rates. Once you get this just keep on doing it until another successful broker who you like doing business with, pays you on time, offers you something steady for more money. Then your regular guy might match it. The one time hit 'em hard and run thing doesn't do it for me. I rather provide good service for steady rate, I know what I am doing, and life is structured.

 

Open contacts.....select TQL.....hit delete. Problem solved. I won't even answer their calls anymore.

 

I have been in business for myself for over three years and have not yet seen any kind of regard in the broker side whatsoever. TQL has always told the wrong city and cancelled the load and usually marginally brake even and same thing goes with all of them. They all cheat and lie and BS knowingly. I have not even once cancelled a load due to my profit or interest. But my truck has been cancelled upon, by many of them so called big brokers, with out any regards either. It appears the lower the class the bigger they become. On the other hand the small brokers who have not learned to lie yet, but they also have not learned, how to sign their name on a check, and they also do not know which thumb to use for signature. The reason I was sitting for the day and a half because I had given my word on it. No I did not bill them for TONU because I did not just loose that days run but I also lost the week and other plans to be in the area after the round trip. Instead of me being upset they are telling me that all loads are booked now. They have nothing for me, even though their loads are getting re-listed again and again. BTW I have done tons of cheap, or so so loads with them, this was not the first load.

 

I don;t know how exactly you run your truck so I won't speculate. I will give you a little helpful advice though. Look at all these small to midsized dry van carriers running up and down the east coast 81 corridor every week. The ones with 150 trucks up to 1,000 trucks. Google these companies and look for ones that have been in business for 30 years or more. Find an email address for someone in customer service or logistics and try to get yourself set up as a "partner carrier" with them. They'll send you a packet just like a broker. Companies like this have good paying freight and broker it out to partner carriers when their own trucks can't cover the loads all the time. What partner carriers can't cover gets pushed off to CHR, TQL and the likes. The idea here is to cut CHR and TQL out of the game and get a decent rate for your work. Can't gaurantee all carriers will be good but we've found a few that are.

 

I have done that every time for last few years and never walk away for a better paying load unless the broker start changing the load with more stops and more weight or both pick and delivery locations. I usually get there a day ahead on a long run. Always polite even when they held my truck overnight and did not want to sign the times (in/out) Brokers always do that(cancelling for a cheaper) and yet they are in business bigger and better than before. So where are the ethics? There are none??

 

Question is does every owner operator get his loads cancelled 90% of the time and do they always get the cheapest load offers. I have been the only truck in many areas but they all have told me same exact rate ( eg. Cordele GA to northeast $1000 for 1000 miles Landstar TQL Sunteck and many other small ones) I do not hang up on them. Do they always put you on hold and when you tell them about the load they have no clue about it (all the time)?? Do you know at least one good broker??

 

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Hey MB Guru, sorry, didn't recognize you.

But if you truly believe you are the ONLY truck in one area, can't help you much there.....