California and Arizona, Very cheap freight!

i have asked them brokers if they want the reefer unit running or not for some of the rates that they offer at times. Phone goes silent for abit then guy says its going to cost more to run your reefer i say yup unless you think my trailer can mantain temp for duration of trip without it on. And i have no problem running empty outa bad area done many a time got into better area and made up for it and didnt waste my time on cheap load they never load or unload a reefer fast.

 

Your family won't starve and the bills will get paid as long as you saved during the spring, summer, & fall.

###### rates in January/February shouldn't come as a big surprise:

 

Shippers and brokers could not care less if your rig is brand new or a 15 year old duct tape wagon. or if you have 20 years or 6 months driving experience. The price is the only factor in the equation. If you won't move it someone else will. It's a race to the bottom.

 

you have 3 options

1)take the cheap freight
2)deadhead to a better place
3)sit parked at the truck stop empty and complain about how you aren't making moneh

 

True, price is the only real consideration for 99% of van freight. But if you have a <10 year old trailer, tanker, hazmat, twic, fast, are trilingual, have an excellent on time record, & provide good communication -- you can make quite a lot more on that 1%

 

Actual posted Refrigerated load - Lula, GA to Anaheim, CA is $3300 for 2238 practical miles. That's less than $1.48 / mile! The broker wouldn't post the rate if he/she didn't think they could get it. Wow.

 

refuse ! for how long ? my driver need miles, other ways he quits.

 

Don't know how many times this has to be discussed.....if you are bound&determined to run around...taking anything you think pays well...not payin attention to where u r going...you ARE always going to end up in this boat....&if you r going to play the spot market game...for the love of god....learn sumthin bout the biz&pay attention to where&when things grow.....

And meanwhile develop your OWN customer base...

I know many of you may think I'm being mean spirited....but the simple fact is...."You have no Clue how this biz works.....all those fancy large units you see...think they're taking load board freight?

C'mon....you devooe customers where you are from...you haul some of those folks freight to places your other locals need to get freight from&those that do go thru brokers for produce(if that's what you r set on doin)Need companies they can RELY ON&Will sign year long contracts at a guaranteed rate.....itll b lower than the highest rates the few time the spot mkt blows up...but it will be higher the other 40-45 weeks a year&they'll even pay fuel surcharges......

 

Fairchild?

 

This time of year, spot produce rates out of the desert SW are traditionally not good --- and it's gonna be several weeks until they get much better. Competition is what generally determines what happens with the rates unless you have a steady haul, and even then it plays a big, big part...the buyers, brokers and everyone else knows there are more available trucks than loads and they can't help but take advantage of that -- human nature. Some particularly demanding customers who have been around for a while will pay their regulars a premium rate in order to keep truckers they know they can depend on, but even they don't want to pay unknown quantities those rates until they have proved themselves. Long and short of it is that if you are doing spot market stuff this time of year and find yourself in an area where the rates suck, you can essentially take 'em or leave 'em because there's always somebody else they can get to do it at those depressed rates You can turn 'em down thinking you will do better in a few days, but most times you just sit those days and then take a load that's essentially what you could have gotten originally. They almost certainly won't be enough better to offset what you're gonna spend sitting. The only thing that's different is that now you have a few days of zero revenue that will come back to bite you down the road because your fixed daily costs are still accruing while you are sitting. Essentially you have to work through the rough spots until it gets better.