RATES!!!

This thread kinda got off track. But it's fun to kick around these thoughts. Bottom line if you are an o/o, own your equipment, and been doing this for any length of time. Everyone knows the challenges and obstacles we face. But we wouldn't be still doing it if there wasn't good times too.

At the end of the day these threads are put into place to help each other. Cause if not for all of us the big companies would have our accounts.

Thanks for your input

 

Don't haul cheap, plain and simple. I average over $2.00 a mile, loaded and empty. $2.14 to be exact for this month so far. You can't average that hauling cheap. I bounced out of Nevada because I refuse to haul anything for less than $1.85, and I am still averaging over $2.00 a mile. This load I am picking up tomorrow, I have loaded for this shipper several times before, they like me. This load has to be to its destination by noon on Wednesday, I told them not to worry, it will be there first thing Wednesday morning. As far as sharing the rate I got, I will leave you in suspense, or think what you want to think. I don't post rates on here or shippers, for good reason.

 

Ok,I get it now. Never really had to deal with these issues myself. There are a couple of sayings that might be applicable in this case:
You do not talk about 'rope' in a house where someone hang himself.
Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself.( in regards of the bigger number of suicides when somebody has a gun in the family and one of the major reasons why it is not that safer to have them around)

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A way to go. That is it, I am getting a new haircut. Maybe they will like me too somewhere and I will get more money.

 

You guys can make fun all you want but Oscar is spot on. Until you figure out how to network and understand it's every bit as important as dependable service you'll always be griping about rates. Like BBB said in another post, spot can have crazy ups and downs. But good paying freight always pays good regardless of that. Build relationships with the ones who have it and you're set.

 

Well, knock on wood, I've been doing okay with my stepdeck. I try to work IL/IN to east coast from Baltimore down to Savannah. I do short trips on one or the other to connect the dots. and sometimes I go to texas or west to say MT or CO if a load comes up to make it worth it. I'm not knocking you, but I gotta say if my plan didn't work I'd be looking at pulling different trailers or working different areas. I don't know what's going to happen this winter, I expect a little decline. But if it gets bad, I'm moving, changing, whatever it takes ! You won't seeing me on here crying because I can't keep doing things the same way and expect the same results. That's business, try to make friends, keep your options open, move from plan A to plan B to plan C if you have too.

 

You'll see guys that say they suck and others that say they don't. Then you'll see old timers gripe that they aren't what they used to be which is legitimate. I tend to believe the ones that think they suck don't know how to run a truck in their system. Whether you're outside carrier or BCO makes no difference - it's all on you whether they're good or bad.

 

I can't see how anyone can say a blanket statement like "I won't run for less than $#.## per mile". Sometimes I get big money going into an area knowing I'm gonna come out cheap and it will average out. Other times I'm just stuck and if I don't put a value on time spent then I'm only fooling myself. Right now RGN/specialized rates are in the toilet - everywhere that I know of. If I don't move a truck that normally gets a minimum of $2,50 a mile for the $2 a mile freight that's available am I doing the right or wrong thing? I think it's the right thing to do when I know that there is nothing to hold out for. For the last 2 or 3 weeks our step decks are doing as well as our RGNs - crazy.

 

I tend to base my "rate" on my round trip back to my home area. If i can make $3-$4 mile out to California, then i can justify pulling a $2 mile load back to Chicago, or DH to a better rate. In the end, it's all about total revenue, not RPM in my opinion.

If I can get a load in SLC/Vegas/Phoenix ect ect... for $2.50 mile back to Chicago, I will DH from California to get it before I take a $2 mile load from California. If the total revenue is the same, it just makes sense to go empty for a few hundred miles for the same money.