Cheap Freight

Thats the reality of it!

 

I really am not expecting anything but maybe what they will pay put it in a transfer storage place. Reality for me is that I would not be moving to Saturday anyways. And can't move now, 4 trucks spinning wheels at TS needing to be towed blocking driveway. It is what it is. More wondering on future when bidding loads.

I am being optimistic on this because I showed at site, well alomost, couldn't make it up hill. But before I figured out the route coming from the other direction they said they couldn't unload me and the transfer storage place wasn't plowed. We shall see. At least this wasn't some cheap load to begin with. And the weather seems to be helping rates out of here.

 

Bill, if you don't mind, could you tell me more about your fixed costs? Your number works out to over $36,000 a year. I'm working on an estimate that has me at around $26,000 a year for my fixed costs. I don't want to miss anything (especially something that big).

 

Not a problem. First, how my mind works is a work out a monthly number then divide it by 4. That way I have 4 weeks a year with no overhead for vacations, or a couple weeks of being down for repair.
My tractor and trailer work out to $400 a week. That is a bit high but I put a new APU with 10k hour warranty on it plus bought million mile warranty on engine, trans and rear end with 100k coverage for turbo and injectors. I bought an '06 Volvo 780 with 440k miles and '06 Utility dry van with air slider.
My insurance runs me $500 per month for 10 months and then $1200 deposit at beginning of year. $125/wk
Cell , wireless data card, load boards and misc tech services are $350 a month (that will come down as I drop some duplicate services). $88/wk
And I budget $100 per week to cover plates, IFTA and all the other government crap.
That works out to $713 per week.
I then set aside $.15 per mile for maintenance and $.05 for something that I missed.
At 2500 miles per week at 6.5 mpg I am looking at $1.02 per mile before I pay myself. And at 1800 miles that is $1.13.

 

I sit if rates are not what I need. always have. if some drivers would look at their equip & go over all the cost of tires, brakes, e.t.c. & realize what it is going to cost in downtime & out of pocket, maybe they would consider not taking cheap freight, wich is just a slow death to a trucker. I met a guy who has an older truck, about a 92' k.w. with a flat so wore out, it looks like he has been hauling termites. he has at least 12 bald tires. has truck & trailer pymt plus mortgage. he hauls anything for anything, just to keep moving. I think hauling the way he does gives him more stress than if he was not moving unless he got a decent rate. I guess some things come from experience. I was unloading in Lavergne tn. a few weeks ago. the co asked if I wanted to reload right back out of same dock with a load going to Dickson TN. NO thank you. one of our drivers, who was unloading there also, said he would do it. it was skidded coils that took up every foot of his flat. took almost 2 hours to load, over an hour to tie down, not including tarp. this driver took out every piece of tie down equip he had to secure this load. the miles were 58. it paid $170.00 to the truck. I do not know how long it took at the other end to unload & get all securement put away. but for me, even though that load payed a good mile rate. it had no miles & way too much work & time involved. this is why I ask a dozen questions before I take a load. miles, interstate, 2 lane, 4 lane, is their an appointment, unload hours, how many pieces, rate, reload availability in that area. I know of some of our drivers who will load at 8:00 a.m. knowing the load cannot be delivered until the next morning when it is only 200 miles away. if I cannot get load off the same day from a 8a.m. start It is not going on my trailer. I am talking about starting from home, not being out already.

 

Detention is not usually paid, nor should it be expected for delays due to weather. Detention is normally paid if delays are caused by the shipper or consignee. Some brokers write into their contract or rate confirmations about delays or missed appointments caused by the carrier. If the carrier fails to meet any appointment times, they could be charged a fee.

In most cases, the delay or detention clause, if in the contract, is not used. Neither can control the weather. That is why that I keep a close eye on weather this time of year before I commit to a load. If I know there is a snow storm moving to an area, I usually will not take a load to that area unless I know that I can get in and out of the area before the storm hits.

 

I have a minimum haul rate that I won't deviate from. It can take all day to do a short run, especially if it needs to be tarped. In the case of short runs, it isn't the miles but the time you spend on the load. I don't necessarily need to drive a lot of miles to achieve my objective. I do need a minimum amount of revenue.

 

I hear ya, this was a load that I PU on Wed morning for Thursday 8am delivery. 50 miles out I get a call saying they can't take it till Friday. Saw the weather coming in but only a couple of inches. Got $400 for the extra day and was ok with that as I need to get a PM and some other things done.

When I made the turn to the job site could not make it up the hill because it was no plowed. Was going to go around and come in from other side or chain up. Then they said don't bother as they could not get a fork lift that would work in the snow. And they looked at a transfer facility that was not plowed. Told them they would have to pay for a tow if I got stuck. Transfer facility was advising against it.

Not expecting to get anything. My only hope is that I arrived and they could not unload me. My best guess is I will get what they would have paid for a transfer facility.

And honestly, after seeing how bad the roads got I was kinda glad I sat yesterday.

 

$170.00 for 58 miles and tarped is cheap freight no matter how you look at it. I have a minimum rate for short loads and i do not move unless i get it. I do not start giving per mile rates untill there over 150 miles.

 

So many drivers are focussed on the per mile rate. While a factor, we also need to look at revenue and profit per day. I won't take a load(s) that will not show $500/day then factor in miles. I pull a van so tarp/securing does not play into it. And for the most part I am seeing the better brokers are inline with this.

Wish it was as easy as a formula of a rate per mile.