How are O/O making a living at $1.00 a mile

Btw that was gross to the truck. Now I did work hard and lots of hours for it.

 

Learn the hustle on the phone with brokers. Offer a service or appear to offer a service no else does. But if its cheap, leave it set. Start working less, for more. It lowers your cost of operation. Everyone talks miles,miles,miles. Forget it. More money less miles. Even if you gross less you will make more. Lower your cost. My old man allways taught me "its not how much you make, Its how much you keep".

 

Like was said before. There isn't any secret. But a couple rules of thumb.

First, the more people willing to do something the less it will pay. That's what makes dry van freight so cheap. Just way to many people doing it. Yes,a few do well with it, but ues just so much harder to find the good freight in that segment. So get another trailer type. My choice is flatbed or stepdeck, but some guys do awesome with a reefer so go with that if its more your style.

2nd. The only reason to lease to a carrier is to have access to their freight. If a carrier gets most of their loads off a load board There is absolutely no reason to lease to that carrier. They offer you nothing. So if youre gonna lease on, lease on to an outfit that has high paying freight.

3rd thing. Driving the truck is the least important and easiest thing a truck owner does. You stopped being a truck driver when you bought a truck. Your job became chief financial officer of abc trucking. Do what cfo's of big companies do. Study markets and watch for opportunity.

 

Exactly. Screw miles and screw gross. The only number that means anything is net.

 

How about $4.80 a mile for 2400 miles. No tarp, 22klbs. 7 straps. 2 pieces at 14' and 7klbs total, 2 pieces at 22' and 15klbs. Shipper in City of Industry, CA. Absolutely a "right time, right place" situation. I went to pick a load that was paying $2.80 per and the shipper mentioned the other two pieces would be ready for a second truck the next morning. I broke a land speed record getting to the phone.

 

My current gig is hourly, but when I was rate freighting I wouldn't leave the house for less than 2$ a mile

 

This 1000%. Exactly why I refuse to move steel from certain areas. I point blank told one of our agents that I don't care if her customers coils sit and rust in a mudhole. If I want to go broke I'll do it without breaking my back and making someone elses profit. I don't get calls from that agent anymore.

 

Spyder is correct, you must be diverse. I have a van, flat, and hopper. Pull what ever pays the best for the day. Ive even switched trailers during the day to go do something else. The trailers make money. The trucks cost money.

 

You wouldn't be talking about that steel mill in ghent ky would you? That has got to be one of the cheapest shippers out there.

 

Sorry again didn't mean to sound as being a smart ###. I am far from having superior knowledge on this stuff and am just now learning this side of trucking.

Myself and the carrier is working on some direct stuff but as of now strictly load boards. Last two weeks total gross has been over $5400. We had some very good $3 a mile last minute stuff we picked up that helped inflate the per mile rate. As I said I know the per mile will go down, but not a whole lot as once I build a decent fund I plan to slow down a bit as I didn't get into this to kill myself and run ragged. Not having a truck payment helps with that but then you have the risk of running an older truck and the maintenance that goes along with it.

I keep going back to finding the right carrier for your business plan is the key. And one who is willing to work with you on how you want to run your business. It has to benefit both parties and companies. Can't be one sided like the megas