Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

Man, at the best of times, I don't like people that close to me. The social distancing thing has been a dream come true- I've always told my wife that if a stranger is within lunging distance of me, they're wrong.

Call it professional paranoia from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

 

I'll be leaving tonight down to FL for 2.4 per mile (Chicago - Pensacola region, area) $2450. I'll take some back haul out of GA and upon return I'll hang at home and do some gardening and Spring clean - up, do some work around the house. Wait maybe a few weeks to see how the situation evolves. It'll have to be a super good rate to get me out.

There is one thing I have not considered much until now...There is a certain break down risk when you are out there. I would not want to fall into the hands of some road service bandits. Someone on FB reported that TA (45 miles away) charged him over $900 for replacing the front steer tire. (I am thinking maybe $600 for the tire and $300 for the service). These rates are not commensurate with what their parts and services book-price is. They must think that they are hospitals and we are health insurance providers, they can charge us anything.
I hope that hotels and car rentals are still open for business.

 

I'm noticing a new trend in truck stop bathrooms. We've all seen a crowd waiting for available stalls, usually first thing in the mornings, standing shoulder to shoulder in a bathroom. Haven't seen it once in the last 3 weeks. I also think any truck stop that still uses the hot air blowers in bathrooms should remove them. Even before the pandemic, it was well known that those things spread more crap in the air than you would normally see in a bathroom. The best ones are paper towel dispensers with motion sensors that you don't have to touch. I'm seeing most drivers now grabbing a towel to turn the faucets on and off instead of their bare hands. Even with that, yesterday I saw a guy giving himself a sponge bath in front of a sink then blowing his nose over the sink. Some guys are real slobs.

 

Yesterday, I let myself be solicited by Truckstop.com (formerly known as Internet Truck Stop) I was given presentation of their Pro version ($149 per month) by their rep via zoom.com. I must say I liked what I saw. Their rate mate (7/15/90 days) averages appeared quite realistic, which was not the case a few years back when I had subscription to both load-boards (DAT and ITS). I guess they are trying to get people sign up after their recent system failure. I am thinking that maybe I'd get it again for a month or two to toy with it...

Their own non recourse factoring seems acceptable in terms of the fact that they have no escrow, no minimum, only flat $1 fee on ACH and you totally free to choose not only what brokers you want to factor with but also what invoices for the very same broker. They charge 2.99% per invoice. The only negative thing is their termination fee of $250 regardless of any circumstances.

I don't factor but many times I was too skittish using less recognized brokers and I thought that maybe I could use them for that reason, on the back burner.

 

deleted...too gross and out of the thread scope. LOL

 

Seeing some good rates. 700 on 159mi. 850 on 196, 950 on 278

We use the basic package on dat, is it worth upgrading?

I ventured into the political section. I now remember why i never go there lol

 

The Power DAT version is live...you're about 1 minute ahead when the listing shows up. You have a 9 day lane rate instead of 90 days and you can select multiple live searches at the same time. Maybe more eye appealing...$150 per month. I was not getting better rates because of that. I have $49 version now.

 

Yea that's what I figured.

 

Yeah..You seem like you know what you need. You don't need DAT showing you for how much to haul...