$1.03 a mile

Well I use a factoring company for my shippers and I get paid the same day or the next day with fuel advances.
But yes, sometimes brokers are easier to deal with

 

To the brokers using this site as a learning curve for 0/0 about negotiations and being a preferred carrier or o/o . I be more than happy to learn direct from a agent who treats me right and not lie to me. As I am sure you be the same about a o/o.

 

Shipper always had more money in my situation an I factored half of my loads an billed the rest which came in the mail like clockwork.
i understand that the broker has to eat too but taking anywhere between $500-$800 bucks off the top of the load then "telling" me what you're gonna pay me to do it instead of "how much do I need to do it?"

 

So from reading this...you guys Might do cheap freight just to cover fuel to go back into better freight areas huh?
Hmmm...brokers are reading this now and saying CHACHINGGGG!!! See mom! Truckers can work for free!!

 

Thanks man! Good info! Cut that broker off, lets make some real money!!

 

If an Independent needs fuel advances & to be paid at delivery, you shouldn't (won't) go direct. Talk about having doors slammed in your face. When I talk to a shipper I make it clear immediately that isn't the case, then I can usually get past the front desk.

Wouldn't mind having that shipper, my 30-60 & 60-90 aged invoices get pretty expensive. I'd be pretty wary though if the customer continued this trend (with direct or a broker), might be an indication of cash flow problems. I did have one customer that the front office told me the owner never paid under 90 days if the invoice didn't have penalties for being over 30 that were more than he could make keeping the money invested.

Agreed. If you offer decent rates, advances, & 24hr pay with POD you are one of the good guys and have a place at the table. I would assume you take a percentage for those services, otherwise you are just a really great guy and going to be unceremoniously kicked out of the brokers club! I don't need those, so that percentage plus the broker cut goes in my pocket. I'm not competing with other trucks for cheap freight, I compete with brokers to provide better service for less cost.

 

Believe it or not, a somewhat decent broker knows the lanes just as good as a driver does...one thing I've learned with dealing with brokers..."it's the brokers job to KEEP as much profit as the DRIVER is crazy enough to allow that broker to keep!"
It's a game of poker at the end of the day.
I've held out on loads several times an the broker knows exactly what I'm doing.
Sweating him out until he ups that pay.
On some occasions I have even called about a load an the broker wasn't talking right with numbers...so I waited 2 hours an I called back an said "now are you ready to get that load covered for some decent money?!"
Surprisingly he says, ok driver what are you gonna need to move it?

 

If you don't know the lanes extensively I feel like u don't even have any business negotiating Anyway

 

If Im sitting in Phoenix and have a $4 per mile load from Sacramento to Atlanta, Im taking the $1.03 to get me from Phoenix to Sacramento. It would be a bad business decision for me to deadhead 800 miles with zero pay just on principal. If someone is willing to buy my fuel to get me to my good paying load, I'm doing it.

 

Bad mentality. The time you spent on that buck a mile freight, you would have loaded the good paying stuff at least a day earlier.1 day may not seem like a lot, but a day on every load pulled over the course of a year ads up to a lot of cheap loads and much less good paying loads.