Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

Rates are better than I anticipated which makes me sorry to have prebooked a load out of York PA...at least $200 too low. I thought to cancel but then after I ate the breakfast I decided to honor my commitment. I do realize, however, that that is a clicheish statement and had that breakfast not satisfied me as it did, I probably would have had no qualms.
I think it is best not to look at load boards once you booked something. For the sake of remaining focused and calm.
I decided to go back home. I should have extended the trip further to North East...they pay as much as 2000 for 400 - 500 miles. I am coming back home for $1300 700 miles for Friday delivery with hope for a decent reload and come back here next Monday while they still pay over $3000...I got loaded on Monday in Rockford, IL to Mechanicsburg, PA $3400 (750 miles).
I anticipate the level of decent rates to last until end of the month.

 

It's dead quiet on the west coast right now. Just looked at DAT available trucks within 150 miles of Sacramento, and there were almost 500. I've been parked since before Christmas. Loads are scarce, and the ones available are going for too cheap. Kind of starting out like last year did. If it picks up like last year it will be great. If not, I'm going to retire early and sell my equipment. I've had enough of the roller coaster. Too much work for such thin profit margins. There are much easier ways to make money, even during a pandemic. I'm making much more on my stock portfolio than I am in trucking.

 

I'm confused. How can you not be making bank, running for the rates you're quoting in this thread?

The rates you say you are getting are around the same as what other posters here are claiming and they think they are doing great.

Just curious, trying to learn a little bit more about the industry, so maybe some day I can be as successful as some of you guys are.

 

Im sure it won’t look so good when Biden is President if he is. Better pull it out now while your on top. If it goes back to 20k then you might want to go trucking again.

I was under the assumption you do quite well with your truck?

 

I sure hope you won't. You are perfectly fitting my long term sought for model of a solo guy with a reefer who has his own customer base and spot market backhauls. And operating a brand new equipment on the top of it. Besides, your abstinence from showing off, yet visible disdain for hauling cheap could create a role model material for many who aspire to fit in that model. Perhaps the roller-coaster is an unavoidable nature of the beast. You just have to deal with it but in the long run it is still worth it. In any case, I envy you all other skills that you have to be able to deploy and make a living from them. I feel to be stuck here for good and bad.

 

It appears people are loosing their minds in DC.
On the bright side... lottery is up to $490M

 

Don't get me wrong, overall it's been a great year. If you go back and look at some of my posts from early December, you'll see that I was warning of a rate slow down. Here in the west, they've dropped considerably in the last 3 weeks. I have contract clients that I haul from from the PNW down to NorCal, but I rely on spot market to get me up there. For the last 2 weeks, the loads out of NorCal have dried up, and the few that become available are down to a $2 or less per mile. I can run at that rate, but I don't want to. The profit margin has to be enough to make the effort worthwhile for me, or the venture is a waste of time. I realize that I'm in a better position than most financially, but much of the time the effort isn't worth the return I'm getting on my investment.

I'm not bailing out yet, just keeping my options open. What we're seeing right now is exactly what happened in April. I sat for just about the entire month after a dismal 1st quarter with low rates. Then in May, everything started looking great. I'm waiting to see if we're in a similar pattern now, or if this drop is more long term. It's looking like we're going to have single party rule for the next 2 years at least, and I want to be in a better financial position should things get bad.

Thanks Joe, I know my situation seems optimal for many O/O's, but as I mentioned in another thread, I hope to retire this year anyway to stay closer to my elderly parents who will be needing living assistance in the near future. I really retired after a 30 year career 12 years ago and I started trucking because I wanted to try something different that got me out of the house. It's a peculiar industry that requires the stamina of a young man, and the wisdom of an older man with some business sense. I have no regrets getting into the business, but circumstances change, and I have to change with them. On top of that, if the rates stay low and loads become more difficult to book, I'd rater be home than working my butt off chasing after a few dollars.