I see why trucking is going the way it is...

It's so easy to go down on rates the flip side being when that time comes you think they should be higher that's the not so easy part. Don't understand why anyone with a lower cost would or could justify consistently running for lower rates to undercut others and get the business. As quickly as money can go out the door in this business you better be pushing to get all you can get every time or you'll get bit. Drove for a company where they had 150 trucks, several warehouses supply chain management/logistics, brokerage, etc all of this stuff started with a couple of trucks over 30 years ago and all cash in debt free. I remember a letter in the mail we got talking about the overall health and performance of the company and some good news about some much needed rate increases, how they had been holding firm on rates in a difficult environment because "it was always easier to go down on rates than it ever was to get them going back up." Common sense really. That "I'll run for less just cause I can" will eventually come back to bite.

 

I do get direct freight but those loads aren't enough to keep me busy and are not everywhere I go. There is a need for brokers, and yes it is a free market. However, we are not a nation without regulations to help reign in the greed which can and does hurt the greater good of all.

I wonder how that broker would feel if I had a pow wow will the shipper he ripped off when he ripped me off at the same time? Do you think the broker would say, "Well, it's a free market; it great that the trucker went to the shipper and revealed my greed and apathy toward unwritten rules of fair play."

Let's say you hire a Realtor to sell your house. Most Realtors charge 6% for their service. The incentive for them to make a high income is to get as high a price as a buyer will pay for it. This is a win-win for both you and the Realtor(and the bank too, if the buyer gets financing). Now. What if that Realtor got greedy and found a way to hide from you the fact he got a lot more money on your house? Would you be happy?

If this behaviour is moral. Then why is it hidden? That's a pretty good litmus test for character. Do I have to lie, hide, or deflect the truth? Or, can I be honest and transparent with the parties involved?

 

one thing you guys haven't talked about. is how rates really work.

with the exception of the southeast. most of this country only has good rates. ONE WAY.

$3 into north dakota becuase unless you got connections. only thing coming out is hay for $1. and maybe scrap. but if you got the equipment. bees pay really good.

colorado is cheap, with denver being the cheapest city in the state.

rates are good to the northeast. but good luck getting something back out.

cheap freight is ALL over the country. if EVERYBODY payed to move their frieght. it would all be even. the good rates wouldn't be as high becuase the cheap rates would actually pay better.

take a $4 load to north dakota. bouncing empty to oklahoma city for the next good rate to maine.bouncing to cleveland for the next good rate to miami. and on and on and on. all that empty bouncing to avoid the cheap crap.

the best rate i've seen so far from west to east is $2. and not always easy to get. yet. you can get $3 or better from east to west.

if you haul strictly off the load boards. that's how the game plays out.

keeping your empty miles to a minimum. easy to do on the east side. every square mile is populated. not so easy on the west side where towns are literally miles apart.

maximizing profits. easier to do on the east side. freight pays better. and the ground is flat. you eastern drivers have no problem getting 7 mpg. usually.
you be lucky to get 6 in the western mountains. i pull flat. 5.5 is only accomplished in the summer.

but now, your talking about COL. easy argument to understand. taxes and property values and all that jazz. houses on the west are double the price of the east.

and then you talk about immigrants. my understanding is, mexicans only need 1/10 the income we americans need to maintain the same lifestyle.

 

Apparently, you have never had to call a plumber in rural Alabama......

 

What you are really saying, RESPECTFULLY speaking, is that illegal aliens that look like "typical" Caucasian white Americans fly "under the radar" and escape detection by the immigration authorities. If that is the case, then the immigration authories are NOT thoroughly doing their jobs.

All illegal aliens, regardless of their color, race, religion, or ethnic background should be detected and deported back to their countries of origin.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

As regards rates from from loadboards, what you say is typical east-west and vice versa, flatbed rates pay better going into ca than going out, it doesn't really affect our business as we only haul out mostly for direct shippers who are happy to pay well for their outbound freight and we will typically get around $3pm from brokers / loadboards to get home. However I really don't know how the van and reefer guys make money as it works the opposite for that type of freight. In summer you can get $10K from CA to east coast and even though CA is an 80% consumer state the rates going back in with a van or reefer typically suck all year round!

 

If you're charging $3 a mile into a "one way market" you're going in too cheap. Don't tell me it doesn't get any better than that I go to "one way markets" quiet often. Doesn't matter what part of the country you're in anyone shipping a load to a deadend expects and knows they're going to pay round trip rates.

 

We rednecks don't ever call a plumber, we do it ourselves.

I installed a new pressure tank on my water well last month. Easy 15 minute job. Cost less than $300 in parts. I'm pretty sure a plumber would want a 3hr minimum on that job plus miles out and back. He would also mark up the parts cost. Would've cost me at least $600 for the plumber.

I should just go pass the plumber and electrician tests and go do odd jobs. Just fire up the semi if it pays twice market averages.

 

It does get better and worse but $3 is about normal that I see on any loadboard going to CA from TX, OK, AR and MO. MO usually paying better than the others. If it goes under $3 we typically don't waste our time on it, as I said before it's more important to me to get back to my customers and will still have the option to grab something that pays decent along the way home.
So it's not really a case of what I'm charging, it's a case of what brokers are paying. This is why I have my direct shipper customer base at home and don't have to rely on brokers to make a living. At times we might not have a load going out of state for 6 months so I don't have direct shippers in other states that I haul to, we don't haul enough out of state to service other out of state customers so I'm left to relying on loadboards if I want to grab a load going home.
One winter I deadheaded from Oklahoma City, OK to Barstow, CA to pick up a load going to the Bay Area, it paid me better money than anything in a 250 mile radius of OK city to the bay was paying.

My one way market is eastbound, kinda opposite of what's typical for flatbeds so I'm always on a winner if I leave the state. I don't know how I'd manage otherwise to be honest.
Do you see anything on any loadboard paying flatbed more than $3?

 

This is in a nutshell why a lot of 'Owner Operators' couldn't afford to buy a clue about running a business. Basically many have created their own personal driving job rather than work for a real business as a driver.