Freight Slowing?

Absolutely agree with You, but rather work with small to medium size ones, than megas.
It is better to talk to somebody that actually knows what they doing than 22 yr old ex Slurpee salesman...

 

If you run a reefer at -10 it will eat more fuel than running at a higher temperature. But I am not sure what kind of truck you run were fuel doesn't mean anything. Well let's turn that scenario around, say you are working at low fuel costs where $2 is good and suddenly fuel costs go way up. Would it still not matter?

 

If you are working the typical 1/3 fuel 1/3 truck and 1/3 driver pay and at 2.00 your fuel cost is 1/3 of your gross revenue then yes you will be in for a shock. However, if your fuel cost is down around 15 of gross revenue at 2.00 then you can sustain it when it hits 4.00 ...

Let's say rc drives fast as hell and gets 5 mpg. At 2.00 and 15% he needs 2.66 per mile. If fuel doubles to 4.00 he still gets 5 mpg and still gets 2.66 his fuel cost is still 25% of that 2.66. And if you read his posts around here he does a lot of expedite work at hours of the day nobody else is available and that's why he gets rates even higher than this example and is also why he can drive fast and get lower mpg because that's what they're paying him well for. Just a different business model is all.

 

Correct but I was taking in consideration if fuel means nothing it will mean if it hits a certain point. But yeah it is true if you are driving at different times, different load type (hazmat, etc) but still.

 

Lol gokiddo. I need one of those big belt buckles and a cowboy hat.

 

I know several of the regular customers that we haul direct for is paying us the same line haul rate and fuel sur-charge is down a little. But the brokers that are brokering out the freight out of the same place have cut what they are paying drastically. I just shake my head when I know what we make on the load and what the broker are paying outside haulers.

Like Rollin Coal said, supply and demand. If the cut throat carriers were not just jumping on a rate just to keep the truck rolling then the broker would have to come up on the rates. Like I said the shippers, that we haul for are still paying the same rate except for FSC.
I did read somewhere that brokers and large companies were having record years. Understandable since they are getting the same rate and using fuel being cheaper to cut the rate.

Fuel down about 23 cents per mile but rates down about .75 to $1 per mile. Glad we're in direct but rates going home are in the gutter.
One of the brokers we have been hauling O/D loads for wants to cut the rate by $500 on a 500 mile trip . By the time you pay escorts and buy permits it would only be about $100 more than a legal load pays. $100 is not worth the hassle at the coups and having to put up with the curfews and restrictions. We backed out. Now they only call us when they can't move it. Used to get 3-4 per week now only 3-4 per month. If we're only gonna make legal load pay then we will do it hauling legal loads.

 

Man I fell like at 2 per mile I get some calls but at 2.55 not so much. I would really like to be at 3 with expedited on demand one way flatbed service. That doesn't seem high to me.

 

The law of economics would dictate that there would be brokers springing up like mushrooms which would then drive down how much they can earn.

 

The new bond of $75,000 is slowing the start up of many brokers and has reduced the existing numbers about 20%. Just read an article in a trade journal about this.