Flatbed load rates drop significant

Direct customers are your friend. I'm still getting over 2 a mile and have not been on a load board in months.

 

They're just following van rates which have been down for the last two months. That's long enough for some door swingers to get a flatbed and DEMAND $1.10/mi. They'll be gone come winter.

 

OMG!
Not that,who could run for that?

I usually do a semi-dedicated run from PA to AL and the rate has declined each week since august.
A few more drops and someone else can pull it.

 

Rates are down a bit but so is fuel. When all is said and done I'm actually making more now then a few months ago. I'm just grossing a little less.

 

$550 is a half days pay. $450 and I wouldn't bother to start the truck.

 

Thats why i wont deal with brokers. We haul 3rd party freight obviously, but we draw the line at originating carriers. Brokers are just bottom feeders. In my mind if you dont own and operate trucks, you have no business billing for freight. I've already got banks, fuel and insurance companies robbing me blind. Why add beokers?

 

with 2000 oil companies folded up. there's a lot of trucks looking for anything to haul these days.

2 years ago, the only thing you saw on flatbeds in texas was pipe. 2 months ago, i only saw 3 loads of pipe.

 

I'm not seeing bad rates at all. In fact I'm netting about 1/3 to as much as 1/2 more then I was this time last year. I'm using less fuel and the cost of fuel has a lot to do with that. But over all, I'm pretty content with how things are right now.

That might change after snow starts falling. See how it goes. (Knock on wood).

Hurst

 

Even last summer pipe was rolling out of Tex. I was with a group of guys that most were dead heading back from ND just to keep running pipe, it was paying so good. I'd run hay or rental machines back to Tex to cover fuel.