Auto Haul Rates, where should they be?

The Internet has made it easier to start in trucking but has put a hurting on the rates. CD is helping make rates low hence the reason dealers, manufacturers, and import/exporters, etc. are joining CD. Of coarse you have a lot of uneducated idiots in trucking.

 

Last sentence sums it up!

 

@ Dorsey...Absolutely right about " uneducated idiots in trucking...EVERY THING has gone up in price in the last ten years.. ( fuel...tires..insurance..equipment cost...etc. ) Only thing gone down is RATES...Everyone #####ed about the ICC and how some companies had a " monopoly "....But a trip lease at 75 % back then paid more than the scab mileage rates that these " brokers " are paying today...It never will stop until there is a national shut down for a month or two...But ...then again the " uneducated " will still haul for the insane low rates ...just to get the traffic....even though profit margin is about 1 %...Better rates would also attract better carhaulers....I retired from carhaul in 2002 and I would not haul cars for what drivers are making today....ANYONE can hook on a freight box and blunder from point A to point B....Give them a manifest with 10 units of different sizes and tell them to load it at point A and get it to point B with NO DAMAGE...

 

Slow down guys . I tried hauling with a double deck and a Pete. Life sucked. Now I pull a wedge and a one ton. I still do all the BULLSH##$$ DOT stuff. I'm home almost every night now and so far making more money. I put vehicles on the trailer TO AUCTIONS for $1.00 a mile then I bring units back at about .80 a mile. Maybe you guys just need more than me but on average its $400 a day net.......not gross. I can live on that

 

They do that over my way as well.

 

Hey ya'll. I'm new here and I was browsing and reading the posts. I think that everyone here who has made an educated statement has done so through first hand experience. All in all, bits and pieces of all these posts are sadly true. Not only do you have to be diligent to be in compliance, but you have to be a math wizard to get cars that are worth your while.

The upside to this is if you do your homework and are serious about making this work, the answer is YES......you can make money. Your NOT going to be rich, but you should be able to make a living.

This seems like a good place for Car Haulers and Commercial operators to hang out and shoot the breeze. Thanks guys for all of your posts.......

 

Welcome Poker. They'll get fired up every now and then when they're not yanking skids and jerking chains. Then they go quiet for a while. But there is some knowledgeable parking lot folk around here.

 

So let me jump in here and ask the question. After reading all the posts, does anyone have an idea of what would be a good price to haul a car. Lets use the following parameters:

Austin Texas to El Paso Texas. The distance door to door is (approx) 600 miles. The car is a standard 4 door sedan. I am operating a 2008 Volvo VNL 780 with a Seven Car Sun Valley. Lets use $4.00 per gallon as fuel and a very rough 5 miles per gallon for driving conditions. I know this is stretching the numbers a bit but I use them for easier calculations. I would be interested in know what others think regarding pricing index per mile.

Additionally, can this same calculation be used for OTR long haul transport? Thanks guys, I appreciate all info and comments on this post as fuel and brokers are just kicking the $%&# out of this business.

Thanks guys