Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

When I did the math several years ago I figured I would need to do $1.60 a mile, 2500 miles a week, 50 weeks a year to match my company income.

You need to figure out fixed and variable costs, then come up with a minimum and target rate per day,

You can run whatever speed you desire, just remember you pay the fuel.

 

so what I would do is see the loads I could do in a week then add up how much I can make off them. Then figure out how much would fuel cost be then just add it all together with the weekly payments? Am I going about this right?

 

There's lots of different variables... Some people like the book the whole Week out some like the book just a couple days out... A lot of that depends on the region you're and and Freight availability... One danger remember when you get on The Choice program is that you are now not only the driver but Also you're on load planner so to speak... So you have to plan loads based on the pick up and delivery appointment times And your hours... Also another piece of advice would be don't book loads that are so tight schedule wise that any kind of delay would cause you to be late... Wow I know that there are certain things that can happen that no matter how much time you gave he'd still be late because of something happen on the highway but as long as you book that you've got plenty of Room on and communicate there won't be an issue...

 

I would never do any loads that have a chance to barely make it. Think once I did a load that was clearly booked as a team load because the delivery date wasn't possible solo. So I understand that I would be my own planner. I know I would need to learn a lot like best areas for loads but I'm seeing learning that in time. Aslong I get myself headed to areas where I'm always driving and make at least $800/week after payments, fuel, tax's and etc I'm fine. There is some that want to earn more but currently I'm only paying for my phone and video streaming services. How I see it is that if I make that much I might be the same as a company driver but instead it's my own truck and no dispatcher to deal with

 

Also...don't worry so much about total mi like needing to get 3k mi wk...because you're going to be on % program.

 

yeah because as a example I bet there could be a 300 miles load that pays $1,234 while there is a 450 mile load that pays $954. I'm starting to understand this stuff. Because unless I'm getting milage pay miles don't mean anything other than how soon I can get there

 

what you can do til then is drive your current truck like you own it and are paying for the fuel........track all your expenses.

 

well wouldn't fuel be cheaper than what I see because of Schneider's discount thing? Because I just looked at what it cost last time fueled and it has the price that's shown

 

Yes but as mickeyrat stated do this because you'll get a rough idea on how much it'll cost you .no exact but an idea on amount.

 

yes, also sni doesnt offer the full fuel surcharge, its a little bit less than the gov posted amount. it would be even lower using the natsc card, I believe.

these rates are posted, so do the math on what you are seeing retail.

goal here is to have a decent idea of that variable cost and seek to maximize mpg to help reduce that cost. aside from the truck your fuel is the next biggest cost. so track gallons used vs miles driven

the other thing here is to run your company truck like you are responsible for all of it. to get that mock experience that will help maximize your profit when you make the jump.

whenever you see one and have the time, ask any sni ics you see at shipper/receivers and at truck stops. ask the same questions over and over. track the answers you are getting.

the guys here will do what they can to help you be a successful operator.