Finally got my own truck

Everyone wants to blame the megas. While I don’t like what they lobby for ( elds) etc. They don’t haul cheap. They are self insured and payDrivers and O/O only enough to keep freight moving. They do get subsidies for Training making a profit on a Driver before he even gets in their Truck.What I don’t like is how some of them got where they are IMO partly by taking advantage of their Drivers. But who’s really to blame for that?As far as dryvan is concerned from what I see it’s been doing better than ever for a few yrs now. I know Reefers don’t load anything under $4.00 a mile or insert whatever your saying is. But I see them all the time loading same cheap crap out of Fl and Ga as I am to get out. Unless there’s Produce coming out. In which case the rates going in drop. Simple supply and demand . Seems most Americans talk themselves out of opportunity before they get out of bed. Blaming everyone but themselves Listen to folks brag about how their Boss “takes care of them” That what most want which is fine. But don’t blame others who have had better success ..

 

Don’t kid yourself about megas not moving cheap freight, there was a thread on here recently stating that USA trucking was at a low $2 average per mile fleet wide, with the in house mega brokerages and all the direct freight they have they are pulling plenty of $1 mile freight to bring down that average to low $2’s.. if I had a in house mega brokerage and the ability to have a whole office cold calling customers day in and day out you bet your butt I would be a heck of a lot better than a low $2’s average.. you can do better than that on spot.

 

It's all about the numbers. An oo needs to make money every mile. A mega has how many trucks???? 1000 trucks 2500 miles a week. 40 cents profit is easier to handle aka 1.40 a mile.

 

I’m just curious. If you see something illegal, why don’t you report it?

 

Yes and no ... How many sales people do you need to find $3 pm freight from Denver to California, Miami to Dallas, Seattle to Minneapolis ... Megas don't pull cheap freight, they run the the cheap lanes for the large shippers.

Shippers aren't idiots and if you want their contracts, you pull the cheap lanes at market rates. The upside, you lock in the premium lanes at the premium rates.

At the scale the megas and large shippers are playing, they manage to the averages. A single O/O or small carrier doesn't have to do that. They can cherry pick lanes or work a niche.

But niches are only so big and there are only so many cherries. Start to get big and you have devolop economies of scale and manage to the averages.

 

I’ve heard it all through the years yet they make huge profits. Year after year. Usually goes like this- “ Yeah I had a great deal then Schneider came in and pulled any and all loads for $1.00 mile.””we let them have it”.Truth be known his boss couldn’t handle the freight.Schneider could. Schneider’s been around a looong time way before Deregulation once a union Job.Donnie Sneider CL Werner JB they’re no dummies.Maximizing profits yes working cheap I don’t think so.In the 80s everyone nodded freight down but within 10 yrs it all shook out. Today like always it’s who can handle the freight. Provide service. Rates are about same for Shipper no matter who’s got how many loads

 

All this talk about niche in Trucking 10 yrs ago all the niche was gone. Car haulers giving away 7 car trailers hotshots for sale everywhere. Expediters same thing. Niche very overrated in my opinion too much fluctuation. I prefer steady year round $$$$ I know is there . Cheap dryvan freight but lots of it. Sometimes make out real good. Sometimes just stay steady.I like to run.Some guys like to tarp. Some guys like to wait around and polish Truck . Some only heavy oversized . If you can get it go for it while it’s there.

 

From my observations of the load boards, trying to run exclusively team freight from them doesn’t seem like the best plan. I don’t see all that many loads requiring a team.

 

A niche doesn't have to be a specific function ... It can be a market, customer or any type of freight.

California for example ... Lot of local dry van freight moving wine and wine bottles around. Most of it hauled by independents or small local carriers.

 

Dude all you have to do is look on Craig's list and you have all the evidence you need to see how many are operating illegally. Every single 1099 outfit is flagrantly breaking labor and tax laws.