Holidays Suck for Transport

my thoughts exactly....

 

OZR - Landstar MRE agency just offered me $1250 on a 40K dry van load picking up today, delivering on the 28th, TX TO NC, 1180 miles. That's $1.06 per loaded mile.

This was a load that they covered for Great White, and their driver backed out so they're scrambling to cover it. They wouldn't even consider my offer of $2375.

As I said earlier, Landstar really needs to get the bottom feeders out of their organization.

 

MRE has alot of cheap freight, but then again they have alot of good freight also,, They have excellent paying freight out of the city I live in, but I have my own trailer and its drop N hook......

 

Hmm.. I may want to call them. I'll leave the trailer at home if they have good paying d/h lol

 

You will not be getting MRE out of LS anytime soon. One of the largest agencies at LS, Capacity Gateway, etc. Hard thing about figuring MRE out is you have to approach them also like they are a separate entity. It is all about the the sales person you are dealing with there. Some have good freight others are bottom feeders. Personally I have never been impressed with the dry van rates. Decent open deck stuff. When talking to them about regular loads and rates I wondered to myself how many BCO's hauled this stuff. Billed rate was under $2 and that puts it under $1.50 TT.

 

You'll need to realize real quick the way Brokers/shippers work.

They KNOW you go into an area with great rates. There are a ton of trucks that go into these holes and you end up with a glut of trucks and no freight. As such, the rates coming out SUCK. In the end, they balance out to a nice average.

Where you get "eh" rates going in, you get "eh" rates coming out. But it averages out to about the same.

You can also go into places with crap rates and come out with stellar rates. But it averages out to about the same.

On occasion, you can get into a time where rates are stellar. Think of all those times when ALL the drivers HAVE to be home. Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day etc.

Day before Thanksgiving, I got $2.29 a running mile all the way home for 900 miles. 450 miles of that empty. I stated my rate and they gave it to me. Likely lower than I could have gotten.

I do all I can to maintain at or about $2.25 per mile Gross average. It's why I use my spreadsheet that I have and I have money in the check book at the end of the month.

The great rates let me see where I can take crap rates and be realistic about my expectations. Using the ITS rate tools, helps me see what to expect going into or coming out of an area.

 

anyone that tells a customer they will move any freight for that kind of money is stupid thats whats wrong with trucking today once a shipper pays that he thinks he will always get that i would love to see how many loads they loose money on do i get cheap freight calls from shippers yes all the time i just say from the start i cant get that coverd for that.
We have a crain matt company in town 3 weeks ago called had 350 matts thay needed moved thats 25 loads and if i gave them a good rate i could have them all here to port allen,la is 200 miles i told them $750 a run the guy got pissed and ask why i was wasting his time said he was getting prices for half that $375 a load i would never but a load on the board with my name on it

 

You must be hauling for free i look at that all the time and would never move fright at them prices
Like this one

 

I am not saying it's right. Just what I have been seeing and dealing with.

I can't change the system or what the markets become. But there are times that you can get away with booking a round trip rate. Sometimes it flies, more times than not, it doesn't.

You can either plan on long DH miles to get great rates, but in the end, your all-miles rates is about the same.

There are times I PREFER to haul a heavy load and will book one based on the weather. I like the idea of 35K in the box in big winds and snow. Makes the truck easier to handle.

Other times, I prefer light (under 10K) loads. I just wished I had a lift axle on the front trailer axle.

 

I wouldn't touch that load for less than $2750 at the LOW end. But I also run dry van not flats. so you're comparing apples to oranges in that aspect.