Rates???

You and I have talked about thus stuff before. You have to be a salesman and have good people skills to really get in with shippers that are worth getting in with.

Not everyone can do that, and some people's demeanor just plain screws themselves. Which isn't necessarily intentional on their part.

 

While I have my own trucks, they are mainly for hauling our own equipment. Therefore I hire a lot of trucking. I refuse to deal with lying brokers. I've got one guy that's my "go to" and another if he can't cover it. I don't care what it cost and never compare prices. I know he will treat me fairly and be there when he says he will.

Customer service is way more important IMO than the rate. It cost me way more money paying guys to wait on a truck than any savings I might get from a bottom barrel rate. All our stuff is time sensitive, it's not that we won't work with a driver but if he says he'll be there at a certain time, he needs to be there or it starts costing me a bunch of money.

 

I would say it's either the way you have dealt with them or the service you have given them then.

I have enough customers that request me personally that I can't cover all of them. When that happens & the company has to send another driver I apologize, explain to them that I was busy on another load & ask them if the other driver did a good job for them. If he did, great. If he didn't I make sure to let the company know not to send that driver back out there. Even when the other driver does a good job for them, they will still ask for me when they call the next time. I have had them postpone a shipment until I was available if it wasn't an urgent move.

I didn't go out & solicit their business, I was just dispatched for one of their loads & dealt with them in a professional manner. Showed up early, took the time to conversate with them beyond just, "hey I'm here to pick up a load", went the extra step when needed & thanked them for the work. I treat their customer the same way as if they were my customer & quite a few of their customers have become my customers because of it.

By the way, I don't do cheap. As a former boss & successful businessman once told me, "I don't want all the business, just the good business". His theory was, if you give good service you should expect to make good money. The customers that give you the most grief trying to nickel & dime you down to the last penny won't ever be happy customers, so why waste your time, lose money to them & still put up with their crap.

 

We look at it from our perspective. We are covering 99% if not 100% of expenses delivering the load so we should get 99% of what the load pays. I've never been a broker, but they may be thinking " I secured the customer, I should get 50%"
I don't fault the broker for making as much as they can as I know I'm going to try and make as much as I can. If their cut is too big, the freight moves slow and the shipper works with a new broker.

I have a love/hate relationship with negotiating rates. (and I'll try to negotiate the rate 9 times out of 10 on brokered loads) Most times, I enjoy the challenge of getting more $$, but sometimes, I just want know the price to book the load and go.

 

Thanks, but your situation is a little different. I am an Independent Owner Operator. You work for a company and that company found that load , not you personally. It is a great reflection on your work ethic that they requested you but it's not the same as a independent O/O finding a direct shipper.

 

I believe I said " I hope someone else has some good advice ". Did not say it was impossible. Just stated how it has been for me, one single Independent Owner Operator. I don't have a company to look around for me, I don't have a fleet to offer a shipper.

 

Actually my truck is leased to a company, using their authority, set our own rates on our customers & run their customer loads/rates when we are available & the rate is worth it. It also gives us the ability to field a fleet when needed. We do a lot of crane moves for a customer we have had for 8 years & having enough trucks to move one efficiently in a timely manner is a big plus.

Regardless of running under your own authority or leasing to run under someone else's, the principles are the same. The driver that shows up to do the load has an impact on the outcome of the meeting. My getting dispatched is no different than you choosing to take a broker load, the company is my middle man. Either way you have a chance to make a positive impression, win over that customer & have them calling you direct.

I have switched companies my truck is leased to when necessary & taken my customers with me when I did, some I had before & some I got to know while leased on there. That's actually the first concern we have when looking at different companies, getting our customers approved for credit with the new company so there is a flawless continuation/transition for the customer. The ability to bring customers with me actually gets me a better lease deal, generally a better percentage split.

We are currently looking at other options as the current company we are leased to has problems in their billing department & one of our long term customers is tired of dealing with it. But our relationship is strong enough with them that they called & let us know so we can make adjustments so we don't lose their business. They are going to quit using the company but want to keep us as their trucking partner.

Not trying to be a jerk but all I can add is that you came asking for people's advice on what worked for them to be successful in the business. People, myself included have tried to impart some wisdom. Choosing to listen or not is your choice. But obviously doing what you have been doing, using brokers, hasn't been working too great.

 

Most off the time I spend at home looking for a good paying load with the thought that if worst comes to worst i can dead head to the next paying load and evan then I don't weight more than 36 hours burning fuel waiting then just head home wait for the next good paying load' my equipment is payed for and I just can't bring myself to haul at a loss break evan for me as I pay myself 45c per mile Is $1.65 all mile and refuse to run my initial run for less than $2.45 long miles I'm paying the bills thats all and loooking at other ways besides this for a living I'm not going to run e log nor have my truck limited .

 

I'm a single independent owner operator as well-
You can say that success is impossible and give every excuse for why: won't change that what YOU are doing doesn't work.
Life is tough; it's tougher if you don't learn from your own mistakes.

I heard this once, n strive to abide by it:

An average man learns from his mistakes.
A smart man learns from other people's mistakes.
A fool makes the same mistake over and over and never learns from it.

 

I'm new to posting on hear but have been reading for quite a number of years'I can only give my opinion to Rates and like others have said Its between people that don't know the cost over time of running a truck and those that run from pay ck to pay ck with big payments that don't know when to quit theres not a lot off freight out there' 5 to 10 brokers trying to move one load' same number off trucks want to haul It' I have just the one rig and Its payed for I wait at home for a good paying load because every thing out there to me is a back haul when I leave I need dead head money for my back haul' I leave and return as soon as I can, unless I get lucky with another paying load My cost before profit is $1.65 all miles and don't head out for less than $2.45 + tolls and some time I wait over a week looking for it, If you haul a cheep load you set the market at that number and brokers always' want to go down from there,Wait for a good paying load if you can or you're going to take it for less next time you can't win the long term hauling cheep freight .