Unprofitable O/O - Canadian

Discussion in 'Freight Broker Forum' started by haider99, Mar 19, 2014.

  1. dude6710

    dude6710 Road Train Member

    2,162
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    Mar 26, 2010
    MN
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    I pull tri axels a few times a month and when loaded I don't go over 58mph. But I also get tri axel pay and overweight pay. Are they paying you more to pull them compared to a tandom?
     
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  3. Richter

    Richter Road Train Member

    4,090
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    Feb 13, 2012
    Philadelphia Pa
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    I know Canada get real real cold, but for the nights that your -10 or above, an espar heater will keep the driver warm and use almost no fuel. With AGM batts (maybe even add a Maxwell starter modual), fully synthetic oil and fuel additive, a detroit would start. Not sure what motor your running, but my detroit s60 will start at -10 pretty easily. i almost never over ight idle and that saves tons.
     
  4. Richter

    Richter Road Train Member

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    Feb 13, 2012
    Philadelphia Pa
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    he is buying candian fuel...much more money then in us
     
  5. rank

    rank Road Train Member

    9,918
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    Feb 11, 2010
    50 miles north of Rochester, NY
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    If you have to ask the drivers, this tells me you don't keep very close tabs on the fuel mileage. I understand you've had a medical situation so I'm not gong to bust your chops or tell you how to run your business but this stuff needs to be watched. You only have three trucks so it's not a big deal. I've tracked fuel mileage for every tank of fuel since 2007.

    Also you don't mention how much weight they are pulling. I suppose it's because you don't know. Maybe they don't even scale so I suppose nobody knows. Pretty tough to figue if you have a fuel mileage problem without knowing the weight.

    There's $50/day gone.


    I gather from this you are paying your drivers as self employed contractors rather than employees. This is another potential liability for you. If the tax man decides to look into you, you will likely be on the hook for all the pension plan, employment insurance and workers comp contributions that you didn't remit to the gov't. Plus interest and perhaps penalties.

    Anyway, good luck and I hope it works out.
     
  6. rank

    rank Road Train Member

    9,918
    113,503
    Feb 11, 2010
    50 miles north of Rochester, NY
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    It is and it isn't. Flying J along hwy 401 is charging ~1.45 CDN dollars/litre now.

    -Included is a 13% "sales" tax that Canadian companies get refunded so that makes the fuel is $1.28 Canadian dollars/litre.
    -Ontario fuel tax is $.14/litre I think....that makes the fuel $1.14 CDN/litre
    -The CDN dollar is running ~.91 to the US dollar....that makes it $1.04 US dollars/litre.
    -3.8 litres in a US gallon x $3.94 US dollars/US gallon before any discounts.

    I think NY is charging $4.50/us gallon or something like that aren't they? Minus the $.39 fuel tax = $4.11 US/US gal.

    So the fuel isn't more expensive (for a Canadian company)...but it does cost more to run the highways up here and that price is buried in the price at the pump in the form of fuel tax. But you have to pay that whether you pay at the pump or pay IFTA.
     
  7. haider99

    haider99 Medium Load Member

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    Mar 19, 2014
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    Yes they pay me $0.02 more for a Tri-axle and $25 for any reefer hooked on to the container. I don’t pay that to the drivers.

    Honestly, since December I was really ill and then was hospitalized for 5 weeks so during that time, drivers were on their own. Even before I slacked in watching out for the fuel costs. Business is not really my thing but now my son is managing it. How do you guys track fuel for trucks you have drivers on? I did the calculations for each truck and there is not much difference. My MPG has been getting worse since November. And the weight of containers varies. Sometimes its as little as 2000 – 44000.

    I am paying my drivers on their company ( they are incorporated ) therefore, I do not have to pay or the EI. I am paying for there workplace insurance.

    How do you guys track your fuel for trucks with drivers on them? And motivate them to save fuel?

    thanks
     
  8. rollin coal

    rollin coal Road Train Member

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    Mar 29, 2008
    TN
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    He's leased to a company hauling their contracted freight - not working for brokers, factoring, etc.
     
  9. rank

    rank Road Train Member

    9,918
    113,503
    Feb 11, 2010
    50 miles north of Rochester, NY
    0
    That's to be expected in winter because of the additives in the fuel. I lose ~1 mpg.

    44,000 isn't much. I would expect you to get 8-ish miles per Canadian gallon. I would also expect you to see difference in fuel mileage from load to load. I would expect to get 9.0 from my truck on a rounder with only a 2,000 lb can...even in winter.

    I assume they fill out paper trip sheets for IFTA to keep track of their fuel and miles? Just have them write down the weight and the odometer reading when they fill up.

    Some trucking companies require that the fuel attendant enter an odometer reading before they fuel.

    I flag it on my log sheet. Just write down odometer reading, weight and the amount of fuel.

    I don't have any incentives. I can never make it fair to the drivers because they are always getting different weights. Different trucks too. It's never apples to apples.

    You can get a bunk heater though. That is a savings $50/day easy.

    Or, you know when they fill because you have the date on the reciept. You should know how many runs they did since the last fill. The miles per trip never changes so it shouldn't be too hard to figure.

    I am guessing these trucks aren't limited to 105 kph?
     
  10. dude6710

    dude6710 Road Train Member

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    Mar 26, 2010
    MN
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    I get 5.8mpg winter and 6.8mpg summer doing containers. There's no way one would get 9mpg with these chassis. And a 2000lb can? You know they weigh 6k to 9k right? And the legal weight for a 40 ft is 43600lbs of freight
     
  11. zinita17601

    zinita17601 Road Train Member

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    Aug 19, 2010
    lancaster pa
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    what card you use for fueling?you can set up your card to ask the driver for odometer reading everytime he fuels than at the end of the week check the actual reading on the truck to compare.i dont think theres any fat you can trim 1.5 a mile thats an average break even point for any o/o anywhere in north america.the only cure for your problem is to get better rates.
     
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