Why oh why are you drivers taking this cheap freight????

Two months before the election people here were hedging that the rates would go back up after, surprise, surprise. As long as fools haul dirt cheap the freight rates will never go back up, get used to it.

 

Every load comes to my inbox. I look at 70% as they come in and depending on the driver I look at 100% of loads. Drivers like rollining I don't spend much time going back and checking his week. If he needs me he calls and I answer 24/7.

I have made my opinion clear on where attention needs to be placed. Unfortunately, a very high percentage of O/O's will never do anything besides looking at one load to the next, never have anything close to an understanding of the market and be at the mercy of the brokers that make a good living on these drivers.

Funny thing is if a driver is complaining about cheap rates in a market it likely started with the load that took him to that market. Other wise he wouldn't be complaining but grabbing that reload to bolster his bottom line or running MT to the market that pays (with the original load paying for the cheaper rates or MT move).

Sometimes this all works smooth and Rollin makes F-U money. Other times it is more challenging. We are moving to that next stage that will make all this a lot easier for all.

Yes, we do have access to some of these loads but with partnering with carriers like myself the independent has the ability to get access to these. It all comes back to understanding the market.

Ask yourself this question - "What would $.10 more per mile mean to your bottom line?" First, most can't answer that because they don't really know the details of the business. Then the other thing that escapes them is that $.10 is pure profit (in most cases). Finally, Rollin focused on that extra $.10 and found much more. Forget what you think is happening in the market. Forget "cheap". Focus on tracking your averages, profit, expenses, etc and just become a bulldog on getting that extra little bit. 6-months from now you will likely be amazed at how different things look.

 

Emphasis added above is mine. Unless I missed something, it took until post #30 for the time factor to be mentioned.

Time is money, and when dealing with cheap rates, it often pays to just put your tin in the wind, get out of Dodge, and get back into a lane that pays well.

Perfect example was the week or two before Thanksgiving. Truck was in the eastern Pennsylvania area and we wanted to get south to the in-law's place in Florida; we got a rate in that wasn't spectacular, but got us out of the way of Hurricane Sandy, so we took it and boogied south.

We sat for a week because we could, worked on the truck a bit and enjoyed the sunshine, my father-in-law and I looked at freight coming out of Florida, and anything that was decent was gone before I could finish dialing. Decided that if we couldn't find anything to get us up to Atlanta or Savannah or someplace where we could reload, we would simply deadhead.

My father-in-law found a load that paid about $650, minus a 5% quickpay, minus the extra time and miles to load it on Friday (and go farther than the broker stated on the phone because it was on the other side of Orlando, not IN Orlando as listed) and put the truck back into the yard to leave out on Sunday for Atlanta, plus the time and fun of tarping it....for what when it's all said and done? Maybe $1.56/mile?

Sorry, that is simply not worth my TIME. It's not worth my time, or the potential risk/liability once that cargo is on my truck. I enjoyed my quality of life instead, had more time to enjoy with the woman and her kids, and dad and I headed out together on Sunday for Atlanta.

Got to Atlanta (after witnessing two accidents involving big trucks on I-75 - one of which we witnessed happen on the southbound side) Sunday evening, loaded Monday, delivered near Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Total for all miles, including deadhead, was $1.83/mile.

Compare that to the crap rates in Florida, whereby to take a load from Tampa or Orlando up to Pittsburgh, we would have been paid LESS than we made only being loaded from Atlanta to Pittsburgh.

I have to agree with Bill's post near the very beginning of this thread - you have to look at the big picture.

I understand how the big carriers operate, but know that as a single truck carrier, I have to find a niche wherein I deal with a select group of direct shippers and brokers that know we are reliable, honest, professional, have superior customer service, and strive to achieve excellence in all we do. There are customers out there who specifically request us because of those things, and they are willing to pay more for it.

I will only haul 'cheap freight' when the time and risk versus reward makes sense. More often, I try to stay in lanes that pay well, get more money going into bad areas in case we have to deadhead out (and/or find a decent paying load out of that area before accepting the load going in), and call the shippers/brokers we have relationships with a week or two ahead of time to see what is moving where and when so we can have our truck in position to optimize on the great rates and NOT WASTE OUR TIME.

 

You guys tend to forget that there are tons of drivers on the road with government loans that they are paying almost no interest on, plus since it's a 'small business', they are paying almost no taxes. (many have the advantage of running the business for a certain number of years with NO taxes, then hand it over to a family member). With a set-up like that they can undercut you every day of the week.

 

how do i get whatever bennies they got?

 

Really. I was thinking the same thing...

 

Their called non American citizens. Come here on work visas and seven years later their brother or other family member takes over bizz. We have several Greek owned restaurants that have been doing this legal scam for a long time here.

 

Please direct me to the place for those loans and teach me where I can pay almost no taxes.

 

You must have gotten this info at the truckstop lunch counter or the US Marshall's.......

 

Excellent post sir!