cheap freight vs dead head

Some people don't have a clue how to run a business. You can usually find them complaining about this or that and the other. They'd be better off asking their dispatcher to please, please send me to Florida cause if you've been a company driver for 2 years and still think of your dispatcher as a travel agent there is no hope for you at all.

 

To the original question-- Deadhead or Cheap--

Say your life and business needs to produce $1 a mile to eat and live, but you're in Miami and they have a 600 mile load out for $0.9 42,000 pounds. So you're down about $300 bucks on the day's work if you accept it.

Deadheading the same 600 miles at 11 miles per gallon would cost a little over $100 bucks in fuel.

 

you own the truck right?

if you want to deadhead X miles at a loss you have that right, it economically probably doesn't work but its YOUR right. your wife will have issues with a profit of $-X for the week.

BUT, if you commit $200 in deadhead to get a $3000 load (in revenue of course) you'd be crazy not to do it

 

Good points. Never thought of that. I'm sick of my wife cleaning her dirty catheters in the dish washer. If I made more she could buy new ones.

 

you can't only view trucking in $ per mile, it also has a time element. Most flatbed loads are a 7 a.m to 3 or maybe 4 p.m window to load or unload . If you take cheap freight, you have to pick it up and deliver it in these windows. I would rather run deadhead out of Miami to Savannah and pick up a good load rather than waste 2 days picking up and delivering cheap freight and still have to deadhead a couple hundred miles. I only have so many hours in a week, I try to make them count.

 

Take it back to the lunch counter champ, that's the only place your opinions hold weight. Leave the business talk to businessmen.

 

Lol that's like an Internet version of fingernails across the chalk board.

 

I also wanted to mention that every load is a back haul for someone! I hate the term back haul. It does not apply in the world of O/O. If I manufacture widgets and haul them with company trucks to my stores then I could pick up a back haul to my factory with my trucks. But if my business is trucking then every load needs to be as profitable as possible.

 

It applies if you go out and back. That's how I roll most times. It's just words, however, at the beginning of negotiations I don't start off with "this is my back haul" immediately eliciting an offer hundreds lower. Really though one look at caller ID and the game is up. But if you play it right back haul rates are subject to the exact same market conditions as head hauls. Head hauls are always winners but back hauls can be too sometimes. If they are it is a bonus. If you are constantly hauling cheap backhauls you are either in a lane where that's all there is or need to rethink your approach to booking returns. Brokers are not super humans who always win and make zero mistakes. They have the same human weaknesses and tendencies as drivers. If you listen to a broker they will tell you if they need your truck - same as any driver who foolishly says "I want this load to go home". Whether or not you hear it, and manage to capitalize, is up to you.

 

Very informative thread. I finished my numbers for 2014 last week,,yeah I am slow sometimes, and I found that for the 1st 6 month's of my business I earned $1.76 pm and expenses were $1.28 pm,,,this is ALL miles folks, every single mile my truck rolled, empty or loaded. Don't get me wrong in my last statement, I am NOT bragging by no means, trust me on that. Sure, I paid all my bill's (business), and made $.48 pm on top of that but, in reality I am not much better than a company driver making $.48 cpm with no benefits, and who doesn't go home much. I made it through the 1st 6 months, now I need to pick it up and find direct freight!

I don't like to take loads paying less than $3 pm but, when your pulling loads off load boards,,,good luck in finding $3 freight every time.... BTW, I don't pull lumber much because it doesn't pay enough but, I pulled a load the other day, 320 miles for $3.67, I enjoyed tarping that load..lol