Any Owner Operators willing to let me pick their brain?

It's situational. I was looking at it as a partial shipment with some flexibility in mind. $2000-ish should be generally in line with that. If it was a time critical movement? I'd probably bump the rate a bit.

That's generally correct. If you've got the right money or the right circumstances, it'll go.

 

Oh God pls don’t tell him TQL lol.

 

Better yet, download an app called TollGuru. Input vehicle, origin and destination, and it shows fastest and cheapest routes. It doesn't always show an ideal 'cheap' route but it's great for informational aspect.

 

Yes and you better do your project ASAP, right now is the slowest season of the year. In a 2-3 weeks things will really start picking up and it will be even harder/more expensive to get trucks

 

When I hear the word backhaul I just hang up!
But I would’ve bid three dollars a mile on that load then put something with it, but I don’t run the Northeast you won’t catch my skinny butt up there!

 

Basically independent owner-operators have two Avenues to find Freight.

The first is to find direct customers. The owner operator then is dedicated to that account weather that is one day a week or 3 days a week or whatever that is.

The second way is through the use of load boards. Brokers have agreements with customers and they have the freight to offer so they put it onto a Load Board. The independent owner-operator goes onto the load board to see what loads are available for the type of freight that he hauls.

So if you give the broker $3,500 for that load he's going to put it on a load board or he's going to have independent Motor carriers that he knows already do work for him, but he will try to pay as little as possible so he can keep as much. So the 3,500 that you pay him he will try to move is for $2,000 or whatever small amount he can because the rest is his profit.

When they're are a lot of trucks and a little bit of freight the price goes down. When there are a lot of freight and not enough trucks the price goes up. And anything that positively has to go right now the price goes up again.

But that very simply is the story of motor carriers versus brokers. The Brokers want you to move it for nothing the motor carrier wants as much as they can get and they beat each other up until they find a rate they can agree on.

The best motor carriers don't work for cheap so the Smart Ones will move on and find a good load. Some Brokers are dirt cheap and some pay better than others.

That's the whole Dance of the back and forth between motor carriers and brokers.

 

I mean, I try not to scalp my customers quite so hard as to make 42% on them...

But generally, this is a really good summary for a layman.

 

Exactly on the nose.

Other things people havent mentioned (i think)

1. you dont need a normal flatbed, you need a stepdeck at that height
(Thats not very specialized, but its not as common as a regular flat)

2. Getting that hauled RIGHT now... just before easter weekend, your rate will likely be higher, you want it moved next week, not as much of a problem

2$ a mile is about rock bottom, 3$ usually gets you someone that isnt a bottomfeeder (not that 3$/mile is amazing, its about as low as you should expect though)

consider this, as an owner operator, leased under a company that handles loads and takes a cut, after a broker gets their cut, for me running an older truck, having to pay a driver not slave wages (me) and fuel and MY overhead (and therefore also deadhead to get to pickup from my last load and to my next load from delivering yours)
I need approximately 1.75$/loaded miles. Thats my rock bottom, but then theres the company and probably brokers cut.

So for ME to get paid just enough to make it worth my hauling, you're going to pay at least 2.50 a mile. Add the other things, northeast mostly sucks for flatbed, ill be going to pa to get a load and its going to pay pennies, so bump that number up, and if you wanted ME to deliver it friday, with a likely deadhead back home to indiana with no load (easter weekend) youre probably up towards 3.50 a mile or more via broker, maybe down to 3 a mile if through my company directly



Then as everyone else DID mention, tolls, add 500$

Sooooooo, 2875 - 4600

Quite a range, but thems the brakes