When Broker's laugh at your rates.........

I'm not seeing a mileage there. Don't most cost per mile estimates integrate how many miles you're driving at least as well as mechanical wear tire wear and things like oil changes grease intervals? Most of what you're listing are fixed costs. The more miles you drive the lower your break even. Do you have a maximum mileage for that break even number?

 

I was wondering the same thing... At 2.66/mile those listed costs are covered with 200 miles a day.

Its barely 0800 and I've already covered that much ground.

But I do agree that if you aint averaging about $2.25+ per mile, for ALL miles your business probably is not making much money.

 

This is why I am so glad my junk is paid for.

Not criticizing at all. So please don’t take it that way.

Im sure when someone see my window AC in the right window and my extension cord going to the generator on the trailer that are glad they have an APU.
If when I have a better way it will be paid in cash.

Sustaining that rate per mile all year around would be difficult.

On the original thread title when it comes to those brokers. You have to treat it like an NFL defensive back and shake off that You got burnt on a play and move on to the next. Make a mental note of who it is and not deal with them again. Remember that the mega brokers have a lot of people working for them and you may never talk to that person again.

 

I don't have a driver, just myself, so driver wages isn't apart of my business expenses. Owner draws are not business expenses. I got around 8.3mpg when I was dry van. Now doing flatbed and getting 7.1 average since I started in May. Never had a tire blow out, and have had to rebuild my bunk air, get a starter replaced, and coolant level wiring harness in the last year.

$35,932 for truck payment $691 a week for a lease
$4,732 for Insurance (bobtail, physical damage, and occ acc)
$2,160 for base plates
$1,320 for cell phone plan in business name
$936 for load securement equipment payments from carrier
$840 for QuickBooks subscription
$550 for Form 2290
$520 for ELOG and PrePass
$144 for Google Workspace and Domain Registration
~$100 for business licence renewals and annual reports

That amounts to rounded up $0.43 a mile based on 100,000 annual miles for fixed costs.

I try to allocate 1 days of home time per week. I pay $10 a night to store my trailer so you could count that towards business expenses at another $0.005 a mile cost.

Using FuelBooks, my 90 day CPM has been $0.38 for fuel and DEF.

I've spent $14,800 on maintenance and repairs since I got this truck in October of 2020. So that amounts to about $0.18 a mile. Even if I set aside $0.25 a mile, the money I don't spend is going to be taxed and not applicable to breakeven in business terms.

So my true breakeven is 99 cents a mile. Anymore and I'd be paying taxes. That is what breakeven means in business terms.

I don't pay for trailer usage. I've never had a blow out that wasn't on a trailer because I inspect my tire pressure and wear every day and not drive faster than the rated limit for them. Never found a tire rated higher than 75mph yet every day I see owner ops running down the road going 80+. They have blowouts no doubt. I also get good fuel mileage because I don't run like that.

If you want to talk "trucker report" breakeven definitions and not business breakeven definitions, then sure, you can consider breakeven to be whatever number you want. If I factor in health insurance, my cost of living, and an extremely healthy margin of 20%, then my target rate is $2.01 a mile.

 

JB will pay when they need it moved that same day but that's about it. 2-3 days ahead of time they low ball it and won't come up until they really need it moved. Pretty much like that with every brokerage.

We must be one of the few to never have an issue with TQL Lol. Maybe they've gotten better the last few years. Always get good rates out of them

 

TQL is higher than mid-range from my experience. They've always got more "in it", so I counter. Their agents are respectful and easy to talk to, and they always pay. They're not top dollar, but I've got zero complaints with TQL.

 

I've been paid pretty #### good by JB and they often pay the same or next day at no cost. As you said when the freight needs moved is when they come off the wallet. TQL has also given good rates but they can be a bit of a pain as far as phone calls and trying to make you “feel” like they have your back and want to call you daily to see if you need a load. Lol.