operation question.

Rate per mile disasters most of them. A lot of them will happily brag how they undercut something hundreds of $$$ or whatever and make money. And don't even know the joke's on them. But there's a few on there that know wtf.

 

There are companies that let you run under their authority for a percentage, usually 10% and that includes factoring. The advantage to that is they already have carrier agreements with most brokers and have established authority for the amount of time most brokers require. You would have to work the load boards on your own and decide what you want to run. I crossed paths with another o/o that worked under an arrangement like this. I don't remember the name of the company, but I'm sure with a little research you can find it or one like it. I went the hard way obtaining my own authority and working my way up through the "Bottom Feeder" brokers that were the only ones that would load me as a new MC (TQL, CHR, etc.) before any of the better brokers would touch me. (I'm on with so many brokers now I lost count.
Another advantage is that your insurance would be a LOT cheaper since you would be leased to an established carrier and not considered a "New Entrant" My insurance is over $18K per year.

 

I actually rate CHR up at the top of my list of brokerages. TQL is another matter altogether lol.

Been working with CHR for years. Get some great rates from them. Also when I need a load and can't find one anywhere else, they have one.

Get in tight with an agent at a good branch office and you are set. They call me several times a week wondering where i'm at and when I'll be empty.

 

I do well with CHR Regionally, but their cross-country rates are terrible. They offered me $2400 for a -20 load from Columbia SC to LA. I laughed at them and they asked if I would do it for $2600. Seriously? Like $1.05. I ended up taking a dry load only 23K almost the same distance from TQL for $3300. Still not an amazing rate but it got me where I needed to go to service my customer and left me with a decent amount in the plus column after all was said and done.

 

What do you expect for a cross country load? They offered you a going rate on that like any other broker would have. Guys will blow the phones up to book that load for $2,600. There's no money in cross country solo freight.

 

Well I guess I was lucky to get 3300 for a 23,000LB 10 pallet dry load. I was just trying to get out there for one of my customers that paid me handsomely for the load east. Too bad I got stuck at Donner for 10 hours before they would even let us go with chains and then another 36 hours in Evanston WY while the interstate was shut down.

 

I saw SC to LA for $2400 and thought it was good. But then I realized it was Los Angeles and not Louisiana.

 

The load I was referring to for $2400 was a -20° Frozen load @ 44000LBS. $2400 or $2600 for a dry load maybe but not for a reefer load, especially frozen.

 

What difference does it make dry or reefer? $3,300 from Columbia, SC to Los Angeles was as bad of a joke as $2,600. My point was, you were asking them for a cross country load and act surprised that they offered you $1.05 a mile.

 

You're right. Both were a joke, but $700 and 100 hours on my unit make a good bit of difference to me. Not to mention 23,000 versus 44,000 which over 2300 miles makes a good bit of difference on fuel. Either way, I still have to run the coast at least twice every 3 months for this customer and they do pay well on the trip east. I make my real money on the good paying regional work I get from them so I have to take the bad with the good. If I had my druthers I'd never go to California again. Not in a truck, anyway.