FEDEX CC

They cover the entire country, and have had shipments to Alaska BUT for most of the work, they are east of ol' miss. I think Florida is slow for most expediting companies and I would expect to DH somewhat to get home.

 

Plenty of freight east of the river. Runs pay well going West but you had better know where to go or you will sit. I almost put up a mail box in Oregon at the truck stop.have you're passport and hazmat in hand and get ready to go through a class for explosives and radio active stuff as well as a temp control class for those shipments.
Have you're TSA stiff in order of you want the airport action.
Youre truck needs a liftgate,and a Reefer.

 

Stay in this circle for best money.

 

Your truck doesn't need a reefer or lift gate to make money.

 

Although a lift gate and reefer are not mandatory items, it makes good
sence to have them if you are able. Translates into more loads you
qualify for.

 

Not always true. Had both and the number of runs that used them were 25% of the total runs, which didn't equate to being profitable.

Just because you get the work doesn't mean that you get paid properly for it. Lift gate services should be at least $300 to the truck (depending on where the load is and what it is, if it is a live unload, then $500 should be the number), and using a reefer should be an additional $1 a mile.

 

Over 40% of my loads are temp controlled. I assume,Ridgeline,you are running a D unit.I am not .
As far as getting the dollar per mile I almost always see 2.50 per mile. Lift gate pay is not broken out as you know being "a man of the glove" but it is up to you to take the load or not based on the notes.
I myself have no problem using my lift gate I mean come on,its usually one pallet for crying out loud.
Back to the reefer,the humidity control as well as the heating ability in my mind make it worth having if you can afford it.

 

That's good, it seems they got their crap together now.

New truck is, old truck was a c unit. I have two people in the new one now, it took a bit of doing to find a H&W team who wanted to run like I wanted them to run - meaning work.

OK let's break that down.

From my point of view, the $2.50 includes FSC and any accessorial pay for the reefer/lift gate. This is where the problem sits. take the FSC out of the picture and you end up with $2.17 a mile (I've got a listing for FSC at 33 cents a mile for some reason on my note pad so I will use that). Out of that $2.17 a mile, the reefer costs per hour is $8.50 or 12 cents a mile (this includes maintenance costs) so that leaves you with $2.05 a mile which is cheap. Take the lift gate use, now that should be broken out every time because they do charge that separately to the customer, so let's say you have a 500 mile trip and the accsorial charge to the customer is say 140, which the truck ends up with ... 65% just for S&Gs ... that's 18 cents per mile (too low in my opinion) which leaves you with 1.87 a mile. Too me that is too low, it should be $2.5 a mile you end up with, not 1.87.

It should be and the dispatcher should do it when asked. They don't like to but again they also screw a lot of people out of money with internal generated loads (loads that come from other divisions).

Well there is a chart they have and they should give it to everyone, it is the actual fees they charge and you can ask for them to break down the truck revenue for each one. Especially with WG, there is a lot of extras you can get but they seem to not disclose everything or want to.

I understand that most don't have an issue with using it, that isn't the problem. The problem is that when the company charges the customer and you do it for free, no matter if it is one pallet or ten, you are doing it for free. That lift gate is an investment, a tool to make money, not a freebe for the company to just make money. The pump for it costs between $500 and $1000 just to replace, the cylinder is about the same price and has a life expectancy involved. Yes it is one pallet but if you do that three times a month, then that is a cost to the truck. One reason why I said if there a need for a lift gate, $300 is a good starting point for payment for the use of the lift gate.

Most don't have humidity control, that is usually with some special ordered unit. I have one, it isn't easy to use nor easy to fix. I would rather not have it on the truck but it is there with the truck so I have to deal with it. ALL of them have heating ability, right now the truck is sitting in Lexington with it heating to 80 degrees some special circuit board that is going to LA.

My while point is that all of this stuff costs money to run and maintain. When you take loads that don't pay for either, you are cheating yourself if you own the truck. The company will make the money no matter who gets the load, if it is internal, inter-divisional or outsourced to a 3PL, most of the time they have the latitude to add money into the mix and do not ever believe them when they say they can't give more, they can.

 

Ridgeline,
All of you're points are well taken. I do have a few comments though.
None of this equipment makes a dime if you don't get the load. I am well aware of the costs involved but unfortunately the teat on the good ol days cow is getting harder to pull milk from. I have spoken with many people who have relayed to me the decline of the business model into what it is now. I have found that if you hold you're ground and ask for the proper amount for what is provided by the truck, you will loose the load. A five hundred dollar decline and counter offer on a load leaves alot of money to pay fuel to another truck to deadhead into you're express center and take you're load and thats how they keep the rates down in my humble opinion. I know what it should pay and I know what they will pay and the two are steadly groeing further apart. I used to be able to talk to a dispatcher and get my extra pay when I showed up and the load required a pallet jack,liftgate, was not adacent, ect. Now you call and have a clerk answering the phone who is a barrier to communication and this I think was done to keep you from catching dispatch in their mistakes. I turned this into a comentary really did not mean to but here it is.
Although youre numbers are skewed a little high in my opinion the theory behind the margin analysis is solid.