freight pays

In a word. Yes.

 

Yes, even if the trailers are the same it will vary. I.e. A dry van delivering general goods vs a dry van delivering time sensitive freight(expedited) will be different.

Then you have all kinds of different trailers with different functions & purposes i.e Dry Van, Flatbed(different styles here as well), Reefer, Tanker, Dry Bulk, Hopper Bottom, Side Dump, Belly Dump, Car Hauler, Cattle/Livestock trailers, Pup Trailers(Doubles/Triples), Beverage trailers,and there's plenty of variations of these trailer types(i.e food grade tanker vs crude oil tanker) and more types I am forgetting at the moment. Then each of these trailers can be used for different types of deliveries.

Best to figure out what type of hauling you may interested in and just go for it.

 

National Motor Freight Traffic Association, this organization maybe your place to begin.

 

supply and demand

number of load vs number of trucks

if there's one 1 truck and 20 loads guess who's got the upper hand

 

Don't forget how bad a broker needs to get freight off a dock... if it's still sitting as the absolute limit for getting the load to it's destination approaches, the rate for the load will start climbing very quickly in order to get it moved.

OTOH, if there's a boat load of empty trucks, and not much freight, the rates are going in the dumper.

Supply and demand.

 

If you pull a flat or step the national guard pays a lot for hauling their machines.