Does freight pay better after 5pm

Typically yes. This is the reason the better independents that play the spot market have learned to never take a load in a market they aren't familiar with before they get unloaded or the day they are getting unloaded.

Supply and demand. And as the day goes on the options decrease. Brokers will have to weight the option of if they can get a better deal and chance that you get another load if they can't. When you are trying to cover something that has to move all it takes is getting burned once to never take the chance again.

 

Fright always pays better after 5 PM... it's easier to scare people in the dark! LOL!!

 

Unless it's a hot market I don't even bother posting the truck or looking before noon. Freight will always be cheaper in the morning even in a hot market. Just how it is. 5pm or later then all bets are off. You've slept til noon so you're rested and good to go. They can't cover until that late make them pay well above average. That's how it goes and they expect it. You will quickly find out, if it REALLY had to be there next day. Most times not... Don't worry about that let them keep the cheap stuff and waste their dinner time making calls trying to cover it. That's another good way to ice a broker. They might call you back and meet your price.

 

If it is freight that is from a mega fleet then the answer is more then likely yes. The mega fleets will try and find a driver up until 3 pm and then they will try and broker it out and the sooner the delivery deadline the more willing they are to pay a good percentage of the load rate to the company that will haul it. Desperation drives the rates especially if it for one of there better customers.

Maverick519

 

I book 95% of my loads after 4pm... $2.75/mile avg on all miles last year... 105,000 miles on I-95... All you gotta do is hold FIRM on YOUR NUMBER... You ever notice, all day long, a broker says "i can get you an extra $50, and i'm all in"??? thats BS.... I give the broker my price, which is USUALLY 500+ on top of their offer, and they hang up.... Almost always, an hour later, I get a call back asking if my truck is still available, and they've come up with an extra 100-300... I hold firm on my original 500+ offer, and tell them thats my price and i'm sticking to it.. keep your poker face/poker voice, and you'll get somewhere with it... if you start caving in, i'm sure somewhere, they make notes of that in their system, just like the notes that say you will haul cheap freight....

TQL and CHR both, dont really even argue with me over price anymore...unless i'm in florida... BUT, i dont go to florida unless the load down pays for me to deadhead back home to SC....

 

There's a reason why the load was booked late.

Good things come to those who wait....

A lot of people in this business are unaware of how the time of day, and day of the week, affect the rate.....

Drivers frantically trying to book a load, brokers love em'

There's no leverage in negotiations at 0900 Monday

May as well sleep in...

Getting up early on Mon and trying to pull a rate will just screw your mind up.

I can hear the broker now, "It's 45,000 lbs and we're paying $1.10 per mile"

Now, there are a couple ways to react to this....

You can let them beat you down with their lowball tactics, or you can wait until the situation favors you....

I've pulled some really good rates late in the day on a Friday.

#1 rule in this business......

Never be in a hurry to book a load.

The only way to know what an area is capable of paying is by investing some time in it.

Now, I'm not saying you should sit from Monday to Friday.

But what I am saying is that you should be prepared to sit as long as it takes. (or, start looking at how far you'll have to go to get somewhere that's paying better...)

Spot market broker boards are a tough way to make a living.

Direct customers are the key to this business.

 

Here, this will help clarify what I'm saying...

At 0900 you're saying, "I'd like to be at yada yada yada"

at noon, "I normally haul that for yada yada yada"

after 1300.....

"I'm going to need to be at yada yada yada"

Now, the only thing that's changed is the strength of the language.

I went from an invitation, at 0900, to a statement at noon, to a command after 1300....

You want to command your rate, and the only time you can command a rate is when you're in the strong position.

The broker has the strong position early.

The transporter has the strong position late.

 

I wake up in the early afternoon. it sounds like maybe I need to wait another 2 hours before messing with the brokers and see how well it works.