What Rate is considered Cheap Freight?

Broker load board, yeah, the longer the run, the cheaper the rate....as a general rule.

Not true with direct customers.

A lot of stuff started traveling the rails ten years ago, or more, and that caused the rates to fall on a lot of long distance stuff, but not everybody is big enough to ship via rail, and not everything has the time on it necessary for rail transport.

I haul long distance, and I don't do it for "cheap". Not every load is long, but my average length of haul is 1700 miles. I do a fair amount of short stuff, but it's not my go to move.
The load I passed on, and the only reason I passed on it was because I had to be home to file, was 3,000 miles, and we started the conversation at 13k on the gross. It moved for less than that, no big surprise there and that was part of the reason I let it go, but I could still have had it for over $3 a mile....$4+ and I'm always going to delay going home, hell, I almost delayed for the rate it eventually moved for....it's hard to pass up a pile of cash...that's why I always answer my phone, even in the middle of eating dinner in a nice place and right before going home....inbound calls are money, and I'm always willing to listen, no matter what.

 

The short loads just burn up too much time for me to bother with them. I can get a light load, pick up a couple of $1.25 a mile partials and end up at over $4 a mile and gross less than 40,000#. Though the rate per mile is usually higher, you spend a lot of time loading, unloading and navigating your way to and from the shipper/receiver. I guess it's just a matter of how you value your time.

 

Given that I'm NOT a local driver, the lowest priced load I'll do now is $800. I'm not in line enough to try to put a few loads together for one day. Plus, hauling reefer, most short loads are: pick up today, delivery is early AM next day. I'm not running a reefer and driving, and dealing with an early receiver for $500-$600, even if it is 100-150 miles or even less. One broker was real angry that I didn't want to do a 160 mile dry load for less than $800. They called me back four times. I told them it's late afternoon, I don't feel like doing a load with a straight thru midnight delivery to a customer you can't park overnight at unless it paid $800 for the day and pushing my break later into the next morning. Finally, they called and asked if my reefer was clean and dry (it was both), and they'd pay the $800 if I could be over to the customer in less than 30minutes. I was 2 miles from their door at the truck stop.

Made good money that day for about 4 hours of work.

 

In my opinion it takes a minimum of $800 a day to be profitable and keep your equipment in good running condition. Otherwise you will be taking from the truck in order to make a pay check.

 

Very True David......

the $800 a day Mark allows the owner-operator some money for savings..Some Money for Taxes and Retirement and comfortable enough to pay all your Bills Monthly without any stress

I try to be there..My Weekly earnings (5 day workweek) im around $3800-$4500 gross

 

$400, $500 & $600 loads have made me boatloads of money. When I'm shorthauling I always try to do 2 in a day's time. Some days you miss out and only get 1. Not the end of the world and doesn't mean you lost money. The big picture is the one that counts.

 

hey rollin coal..dont you lease your equipment to a carrier?? was it Swift or something?

 

Come on now swift? Really?

 

thats why im asking.......I thought I remeber talking with you and Bill in another thread..You had several pieces of equipment leased to someone

You seem to be pretty knowledgeable of the industry......Id like to share some ideas over time with you

 

lol at brokers using the $$ per mile to try to sell some loads
$4.00 a mile on 150-200 miles...... no thanks you can keep it
$4.00 a mile on 1000 miles ........... we might have something to talk about

sometimes this $ per mile is very misleading.

I have read more than once when a guy is braggin about $3.00 a mile on 200 miles, thats only $600 and far from great money or what you could get if you negotiate a little better. Brokers know how to talk to us , dont let them slap lipstick on a pig and sell it for something other than what it is.


Assuming you have a 200 mile run . drive time to get to shipper ?? , loading time 2 hrs, transit time 4 hrs ??, unloading time 2 hrs . see how things change if you start taking all things into consideration. Its not always going to take 2 hours to load and unload, just stuff to make you think.