Hotshot rates are horrible

I have mostly my own customers so this might be different than most, but over the years I have proven myself to them, and I get great rates. I run about a 700 mile max circle from home( usually less) and average over $2.00 a mile for All miles. but remember it has taken me years to do this. I usually get calls from shippers, very seldom use load boards, Hang in there and go talk to local manufacturing plants and get your name and face known, and always keep your word on load.

 

sarcasm much

 

No, Fact

 

I don't even know how you guys stay in business. Pick up trucks are not built to deal with abuse for 5 days in a row for 500k miles. No place to sleep in the cab, no microwave, no fridge. Loaded mpg is not better than a semi has. I truly don't get it

 

Yelp mine has 689488 miles and avg. dollar per mile is the best it has ever been. Only do work that pays. Now if you do the dollar a mile thing I could see where it you would have trouble in seeing how we say in business. I see the dollar a mile thing as a race to the bottom. I don’t care to enter that race. Been in business since 2008 and wanted to do something different. So I had this one ton DWD truck and seen these trucks carrying stuff on their gooseneck trailers. I agree most guys fail at this. But I started in my early 50’s truck and house paid off and kids in the military. And I listened to everyone but believed few. I found people that was successful and tried to follow their example. I started out using my own numbers to operate under. I am no expert at this. I treat every load as if it was my first.

 

My truck that is new to me now has 181,000 miles on it and I take a load every other week while turning down at least two loads a week. Turned down 2 loads today because I am taking 3 weeks off. My usual round trip per mile rate is usually about 2 dollars per mile, yep I come back empty by choice and it works well for me. I don't have to do this but only use it for a retirement supplement, I recently hauled 165lbs. of pipe and bid it at 2,500 dollars...money in the bank on that trip, another small pipe run 2,000 dollars in a total of 14 hours of driving.

The truck that I have gets 13-14mpg with about a 3,000lb load but the mountains can kill it to 9 mpg periodically, usually round trip mileage will be 14 mpg for the whole trip. My grocery box in the back seat feeds me on the road and when I overnight I eat a good meal where ever I stay and I don't sleep in my truck unless it is an absolute necessity.

Back to the pickup truck not holding up. A friend of mine just turned a million miles on his Allison and finally had to have the transmission rebuilt, don't drive it like a race car and a little TLC with fluid and filter changes makes a difference. This same friend went to 600k miles before doing a rebuild on the engine but his truck has to have injector service every 80-100k miles.

Not knocking anyone about anything, my experience has been very profitable in my journey so far.

 

Good deal!!

 

How we stay in business is actually pretty simple. We typically earn a higher rate per mile than most big trucks on the road, and at the same time we have a lower operating cost.

I got a call out of the blue to move a RV trailer on Saturday morning only went 430 miles. Beings it was the weekend I took it. The guy paid me $3.26 per mile, cash on delivery. Hooked on to it at 7am and unhooked from it at 3 pm. RV park to RV park. I brought my brother a long with me and we got back home around 1 am after doing some sight seeing on the way home. Averaged 11 mpg pulling this trailer, and 17 mpg bobtailing home.

 

So you did 860 miles for $1400? Even with good mpg I still don't see how it's a profitable business.
Cost of operation is not that much lower with a pickup vs semi