Unprofitable O/O - Canadian

I don't think it's the weather. Shoot how long has it been going on?

Two weeks ago I left Kingston, ON grossing 88,000 and emptied near Philly. Bounced to Baltimore, MD and reloaded for London, ON approx 65,000 gross. Unloaded in London and bounced 30 miles and reloaded again grossing 72,000 and drove through a mother of s snowfall to unload in Kingston, ON. I got 6.9 CDN (5.8 US) on that 1500 mile trip. Hwy 401 is alot flatter than I-81 and US-15.

 

Pay rates in Canada are generally higher than the US. I know at that rate I probably couldn't find a driver. I pay over well over 0.50/mi where I am which has even higher wages than Eastern Canada. I don't think dropping the pay is a long term solution.

Haider - I hope you hear something from Landstar.

 

I don't see how LS can be a solution. Still might have the fuel problem and will have to hustle freight for three trucks on top of it.

 

Yeah I know. Knowing the gross would go a long way toward figuring where the fuel is going.

 

I am paying $283 /trip +HST of 13% to my driver Why are you paying them HST ?

 

First off, what kind of trucks do you have? What kind of mpg are you getting? Diesel is a huge expense and its one that can be fixed or helped by truck add on's and drivers being incentiveised to not drive like idiots. If your fuel cost is to high, thats the first thing that needs to change. Really, to help you out, we need to know all your numbers. What is your average for each of the following on each truck:

Revenue per mile
Fuel cost per mile
Payment per mile
Driver pay per mile (avenge if paid %)
maintenance per mile
insurance per mile
MPG (90 day, 30 day and current week)
other expenses per mile


Doing the hard work to find each of these number for each truck will show you where you can trim the fat. Is one truck costing way more in fuel or maintenance then the rest? You need to know mpg to see if the trucks are having problems. If you can post these number im sure other o/o can show you where to trim the fat and become profitable.

 

Do you get any fuel discounts at all? I've been getting diesel for around $3.74 us gal.

 

you need to figure this out per truck. Is one doing better then the others? this computes to 5.46 mpg (im my metric conversion is right) This isnt horrible, but is nt great either. In Canada fuel is so expensive so i think focusing on this would really help. Maybe offer a small bonus every month your drivers hit 6.5 mpg (or equivalent in metric) Things like accelerationg slowly and cruising a little slower can make a difference of .10-.20 per mile. Depending on type of truck, Pittsburgh power mufflers can make a difference to.

 

You really need to know this per truck, and not just as a whole. That being said, your revenue sucks. What % of your miles are empty? With LS, you could pull vans making at least 1.70/ average mile. Putting a driver in that truck would be better then what your doing now.