Owner tractor only

Look for better paying loads, leave "more miles" mentality to company drivers.
My truck sits if I think load is cheap. Im not running my truck just to get more miles and tear up my equipment hauling cheap freight.

 

Talking about this makes me ponder this question, all input welcome.......

How does everyone feel about guaranteed year round freight, even tho the rate me be lower then spot market rates during times that spot market rates are higher, but may be higher during times spot market rates are lower?

Example: I used to run IL-TX with LTL frozen. A lot of times ending up in south TX. Now during TX produce season, rates back were good, but everyone knows off season Rates suck. I found year round freight out of down there, but I needed to dedicate truck to them every week bc during produce season, they couldn't get enough trucks. During produce season you could $1.80-$2.20 coming back years ago. The dedicated freight was $1.25. Off season rates were $1.00 or less per mile. And sometimes you would sit a day or two just to get that rate.

What would you do?

 

Good comments here. I just want to say, it's not that easy finding good paying work and good customers. To demonstrate this basic truth, I point out the tremendous failure rate of truck owners and small trucking companies. Millions of drivers, only a percentage of good work left, a small percentage. I'd love to stumble into a 75K miles/year and earn my $200K, but I haven't found it yet and nobody is offering to share. I just hear these wonderful tales of high earnings and low miles. I do know the cow haulers have shiny trucks with a lot of lights.

 

Most truck owners are just that: they own a truck. That's why they fail. They don't run a business. I do over $200k a year on less miles than you've referenced: ain't happening sitting around waiting on a load board load to pop up.

 

Thanks, Ruthless, I'm glad you're so much smarter than the rest of us. You wouldn't have any thought to share your success story? Give us a few customer ideas to pursue? Thanks again, I feel so much better now.

 

I'm far from smarter: you have to want it more than the guys that are failing.

I had a truck, leased to a carrier, wanted to be home more or make more money to justify staying out. I knocked on doors and made sales pitches til I found work that was worth doing for good people.

It isn't hard, and you don't have to be the smartest.

If all the learning you do is based off what you read on "good companies to lease to" threads; you're already behind the 8 ball. You need to talk to people that are doing what you want to be doing and making the money you want to be making.

I don't know anyone that does quite what I do, so I've had no specific mentor. I've figured it out on my own, and made plenty of mistakes.
You don't hear me crying on the internet about it though, nor acting like a whiny child: because doing those things serves no purpose. Standing around waiting to get handed the answers is how people lose. They lose money standing around "waiting on a good load to pop up" they lose time in their life waiting for the right person or opportunity to stumble into their lives.

You want to be successful: go out and GET IT.
I ain't some business guru, I got nothing to sell to people that don't know. I'm pretty open about what and who I am.

There is no "one size fits all" in this industry. If I need to hold your hand and lead you to good work: you'll fail anyway. Things that are hard fought to earn are savored and held tight. I bet someone smart said something like that before.

 

I'm kinda in the same boat as you, not many people do what I do either, and when most find out, "oh, I won't do that. That's too much work". Laziness is most guys downfall. Great paying work does not involve opening doors, backing in, and sitting in truck while someone unloads you.

 

@Ruthless ; this OP needs/wants his hand to be held. What do ya think?

 

I myself average about 40k miles a year. I run locally mostly days and very few nights or both at times. When the work is available, and it's offered to me, I haul it. My primary broker requests his trailers being hauled. 98% of the time the trailers are preloaded at the customers. This is all skateboard hauls. I have my rates set with broker. He knows I will get job done no matter what. At times I end up with the sucky loads but that's because others can't figure out how to secure them, for me, just another day a walk in the park. My motto is, "I get her done". Did I mentioned I have home time every night and weekends at "HOME"?

 

Come on drivers. I slam doors and get decent work, some of it great paying. It doesn't come easy though.