Spot Market Rates Question.

I'll pay someone $600 to get me out of New Jersey

 

700 going in from Binghamton. Ehh it is what it is. Fcfs on both ends. Then run 30 mi back up 187 for the same outbound.

 

Last year just a couple weeks after I became an O/O and got my new trailer and truck, I had an offer to haul Christmas trees from Oregon to Texas for $7,500. I was about to say yes, then I thought about what it's like carrying a single live tree into my own house every year. I didn't want my new reefer trailer ruined with pine tree sap, so I turned it down.

 

Yeah. Somehow we all need to do better. I’m not set up with tql, coyote, ch Robinson, Landstar etc. I’ve been out maybe 50k miles this year... but of course those of us actually reading this thread kind of already know this, and actually have business morals/principles.

I understand brokerages wanting to capitalize on truck capacity but the overhead of a trucking company and a brokerage is barely comparable. -Especially small brokerages, the ones that work out of their house, our lease a small office.

think of how many trucks, especially new start ups, that have truck notes, trailer notes/rent, insurance, fuel and etc running at $1.10-$1.85 a mile. A $1.85 being their good stuff. Somethings going to go unpaid. And do you know what that’s probably going to be? Maintenance-

on your loads, making you look bad and unreliable. Hope it was worth the extra $500.
This stuff is outrageous and needs to stop/equalize.

stuff I’ve seen this week flatbed (and been seeing get to this point all year) -
•NC to WA/OR/ID/CA $1.50-$1.75 a mile full truck load 40k lbs +
• watched a guy tried to sell a NC to West TX load all day, full truck load, started at $1.30 a mile, and by the end of the day it went up to $1.43
• short haul truckloads less than 200 miles paying less than $1.75 a mile
• saw plenty of $200-$300 loads on loads going 150 + miles
• load volume for Greensboro, Raleigh area (250 mile radius) 110 loads maybe.
• truck load to IA $1.60
• less than $2 to central/south Florida
• I saw a buck 80 on a load that was light and short deadhead, I thought about for about 3 minutes until I convinced myself to take it... it was booked already! Wow... even the junk is flying off

but what else I’ve been seeing is certain hard to cover loads going up on rates as much as double the original posting. Watched a 53’ step cong load start at $900 for 400 miles go up to $1800 ish’ yesterday. That’s double what was started. My guess is they had about $15/1600 in it all along, then got desperate and added two hundred of their own maybe? But still, a $700 dollar commission on one load ...

its all good, it’s a brokers market right now... just remember, these trucks carry your freight, your business. These guys don’t go home every night like you, have overheads much higher than you, work outside in the cold and heat unlike you, literally risk their lives everyday unlike you, bust their knuckles working on their trucks with the blood sweat and tears to make this work unlike you. Remember also, most owner operators do about 3 to 5 people’s job (if not more)- be it truck driver, dispatcher, mechanic, accountant, record keeping/safety dept, receptionist etc- these multiple jobs are worked into our rates. And if your rates are encouraging maintenance neglect, don’t be surprised when your cheap load is sitting on the side of the road. Making you scramble, losing your little profit trying to figure out how to recover it. Enjoy your champagne and Mercedes (lease). I guess you guys are regulating the industry anyways by doing this because trucking companies are dropping like flys. I’m set up with over 70 brokerages and I’m generally speaking here- But for you new get rich quick brokers and all the ones who don’t get our hustle/struggle, reread the top of this paragraph. Take your cut, and leave your carriers enough to cover overhead, including maintenance and preventative maintenance, driver pay, and leave some for growth and retirement. We take almost all the risk and liability. We’ll be alright, tide is shifting back to common grounds.

to the o/o’s sorry for the long winded post, I usually don’t rant like this on here. But I haven’t seen it done enough this year in this context.

 

Man, I get it. I'd love to be back at last year's rates. It's better for all of us, collectively. But a whole bunch of people jumped in saying, "It's just trucking, how hard can it be?" And that's what's driven down rates. There's a glut of capacity, and someone out there is going to move it cheap.

It sucks, but that's what we currently have to work in. I don't like it any better than you guys do, and I still angle to be in the 10-20% range no matter what the base rates are doing.

 

Last years rates were great for us no doubt. I’m looking for an equalize. $2 give or take. With the occasional $3 or more for regional, and an appropriate short haul time based based rates- This optimistically being (50 to 75% of the freight) there will always be cheap freight. But This type of freight I mention right now this year equates to about maybe 15% of the freight and it takes me days to get it sometimes. I’ve spent many days this year on Truckstop and dat, from 7am to 5pm to find nothing remotely decent to haul. And I have the pro live version, with iPhone 11 and I pad pro. Verizon. Watching each load as it posts.

I’m not one of those guys saying last years rates should be the norm, would be nice, but that’s real hard on shippers and you guys. I’m just here to remind and be a voice of reason. I can tell from your posts that you seem like a stand up guy and not really to much a part of what I’m talking about. I understand business is business. Just trying to get the greater broker community to understand the difference in overhead and the fact that underfunded trucks will eventually spell trouble to the brokerage and its reputation.

 

No disagreement on the latter points. I stay away from bottom of the barrel freight as much as possible for exactly that reason. Especially at a smaller brokerage, we can ill afford reputational hits, even if I were inclined to play that game. I'm not. I have repeat drivers because folks seem to like to work with me. Take that for what you will.

That said, I appreciate the compliment. I try to take care of everyone, be it customer or driver. I'm not interested in making things harder for everyone.

 

30%linehaul 20% detention @ 80hr 30% of stop pay @100 stop. 20% of layover of 500.00 on cpl accts we have. Pull carriers trl. I pay for reefer fuel and 1000ded on cargo claim. 25% discount on tolls and my fuel YTD avg 2.67 gal. With discounts.

 

rates suck and the brokers are getting rich while blaming the shippers

 

ALL FACTS ITS SAD WE GET TREATED LIKE DIRT AND AT TEH END OF THE DAY THEY NEED US WE COULD GO WITYHOUT THEM LETS SEE WHAT HAPPENS IF WE UNIFY AND SHUT IT DOWN RATES ARE EVEN WORST DURING THIS COVID19 SITUATION GUY WANTED ME TO RUN (TQL) FROM NEWARK NJ TO NORFOLK VA FOR $550 I WOULD MAKE $200 BEFORE PAYING DRIVER AFTER FUEL AND TOLLS #### SAD