No experience but getting Authority

You sound as a wise guy and I appreciate you comments and for the biggest part agree with what you say. And yes...I was not happy with the fact I was helping that guy either, but as you said, we all have to eat and pay the bills.
In that particular case I was sitting at home when I accepted that load, and even before accepting it, just in case I did line up a reload at a decent price with another guy. Anyway, on those two loads on a 6-day round trip from home back home I made 3200 total (including 30% empty) for a flat $8000.
After all, I would say 'not bad'.

 

Red - you can write man. Well said.

G/Man - While prospecting I have had more than a few shippers tell me they wish that brokers had more controls on them. Had one older gentleman take me to dinner and taught me more about how the relationships between shippers and brokers work in two-hours than I probably would have learned in 5-years. It is not just the O/O that get frustrated with brokers that take a huge chunk because "they can". Shippers are paying a rate based on an expectation that 75-85% is going to the carrier. And if it can get shipped cheaper then they want their rate to go down.

But the game that is played against them is while the broker is trying to keep as much as they can on one end they are calling saying they need to raise their rates on the other end. He said this call comes after a couple of problems happen with loads.

So while we are looking for good brokers that treat us well so are the shippers.

 

I have been approached by shippers who don't like doing business with brokers, for much the same reasons you suggested. They have asked me to do business with them direct rather than them having to do business with brokers. The only reason they do business with brokers is because they can usually find carriers to move their loads. I think most of them felt that the brokers were getting an unfair percentage of the rate. In fact, I have had brokers to caution me about discussing the rate with a shipper. That tells me that they are getting a much higher rate than they should.

I recently had a situation come up where a new broker contacted me about hauling something for a shipper with whom I had previously contacted. The broker was charging what amounted to a truck load rate. I was going to get a very good rate as a partial. In fact, it was about $1.75/mile for about 20 feet of deck and weighed about 5,000 pounds. The shipper called me later and asked if I would contact him the next time that I had a truck in the area.

 

I have two contracts that state that I can not discuss rates with anyone. And one these made a very big point of not discussing with shipper after I accepted the load.

And wouldn't you know it the shipper was all over me asking me about what I was getting. All a bunch of games.

 

It is a big game. Each load is a negotiation. A broker may have good rates today and cheap freight next week. The reverse may also be true. The more carriers who take the cheap freight the more difficult it is to push rates up to an acceptable level.

 

They say sometimes things happen for a reason. Our load back into Atlanta over the weekend was deep frozen meat and our trailer wasn't holding temp quite as well as we'd have liked. It was chilling down into negative numbers but was defrosting too much and temp would climb 5 or so degrees more than it should. Fortunately it was sitting local since Sunday morning with overcast and temps in the low 60s. We made it in ok. It was a no-touch load and the delivery was accepted without a hassle. Took the trailer in to get checked out and fortunately the reefer unit was tip-top and we only needed some repair on the door latches to seal it up. Another opportunity where a repair shop could have easily fleeced us for a few hundred and didn't. This is two in a row for us so far. We were out of service an extra day but well worth it for peace of mind.

The advice on having the truck binder with all relevant (and then some) paperwork paid off tonight. Heading west out of ATL on I-20 earlier, DOT was doing some enforcement just east of the Alabama line and pulled over our truck. They spent an hour going over everything top to bottom. Son said it looked like a senior guy training a new guy. They checked everything out on him then went over the rig with a fine tooth comb checking tire tread, listening for air leaks, you name it. They decided to pass on the portable scales when he produced his scale ticket that was only an hour old where he checked the load before heading out. He got a warning on the trailer plate. That was the only thing they could find to write up. They really shouldn't have give him that since he showed proof of purchase only a week ago, including a copy of the assigned title and updated certificate of insurance. There wasn't an inspection report so I don't think anything will come of it. I told him too bad we hadn't been able to get the plates faster or he could have pressed it and asked for a report to get some zeroes on the CSA score. By the time they were wrapping up he just wanted to keep a low profile and get the h3ll on.

So after the roadside rubber glove check he gets back on the road and calls in to tell the story. He's got his shiny new pre-pass stuck on the windshield to try out and as he rolls up to the scales at the state line - you guessed it - red light LOL. The language was not family friendly. The good news is they waved him through. So hopefully he's paid his DOT dues for the night and has a hassle free rest of the ride.

More broker fun today. I called on one that looked interesting and after the first back & forth he calls me back with their best offer which was a 2¢/mi below my target rate and $100 off what I would have considered. Since they were running us on a tight schedule and wanted us to advance some lumper fees, I passed on it. Thanks but no thanks. Send me your broker agreement and I'll get it in for the next one. He calls me back 5 minutes later and says hear me out, the shipper wants to do this different and I'd like to get a quote. A minor routing change and two extra stops and I priced it to make money. My gut was telling me this guy wanted his freight to move today so I went for it.

Shipper accepted and we went around the corner to pick up the freight. Chicken that wasn't frozen. The rate sheet required a case count and I told my son to bring his thermometer too. The wouldn't let him on the dock so he held up the load and got all the waivers approved for no-touch no-temp-check via the broker and got it in writing on the BOL. I was so proud he paid attention when I told him the stuff he'd better be doing checking these reefer loads without fail or we'd be out of business. Besides that, who's gonna argue with a 6'-3' 330lb driver with a meat thermometer in his hand?

 

Red, I've been following your thread, and just linked to it in this thread: Becoming an Owner Operator - The steps, forms and info. I've quoted or linked to a couple of other posts by G/man. I linked to yours as well, since you have some very helpful info in here for those wanting to get started!

Keep up the good work!

 

It sounds to me as though your son is watching out for your best interests. It looks like you are getting broken in pretty quick with the roadside inspection. Hopefully, your son got his window sticker.

 

I forget when it happened but they changed the laws saying that any inspection had to be written up. And at that same time they gave officers the ability, for states that did not have this, to give warnings. So they inspect him, find everything fine but don't document it. Imagine pulling in and saying "Hey, I have been running legal but didn't feel like doing my logs." It would be one thing if they did a quick inspection and trying to get you going without holding you up. I have had this happen several times. But to do the full boat and then say "thanks, you can go" is now a waste of time. Now he spend the time and does not get the sticker in the window increasing his chances of getting pulled in sooner.

And not that it matters much at this point being new but that DOT inspection counts as an annual inspection.

 

You will find that he will get early red lights in many states when he passes an open scale for the first time. They like to check that the DOT number on the truck matches the what is in the prepass.

These are the things that make me so glad not to be pulling a refer. But if I was out of your area I would likely be doing it.