What rate per mile when dealing direct with shipper w/o Broker?

Distance, weight, tolls, available reload to come back or deadhead back. There are lots of variables. You can't just charge one flat rate per mile on everything

 

Can you service all the shippers needs? How many units are you offering?

 

Dune T is correct, but it generally needs to be above $1.80 to be profitable. Or have multiple LTLs at lower rates on the deck.

And yes some of these rates brokers are offering for hotshot are absurd (.70 - 1.00 for 15k lb+ loads), I don't know who is taking them at those rates other than illegal drivers/operations.

 

You need to negotiate when calling these brokers. Some won't budge on there and price and that's fine let someone else move it for nothing.

On some loads I've gotten double and sometimes triple the amount originally offered. I refuse to take cheap freight. If it's not at least $3/mile I'm not interested. I can't tell you guys how many times a broker will laugh when I tell them what I need to move a load. I say ok thanks for your time and an hour or so later they call back saying they are willing to pay it.

Negotiate, be patient, and wait for the good paying loads. Let the other guys take all the cheap stuff out there. They won't be in business long.

 

I like this guy⤵

 

For starters when your looking on the load boards make sure when your selecting equipment you select flatbed, flatbed or step deck, hot etc...all of them

Anything that you can legally haul weight wise is freight you can take. Just because it doesn't say "hotshot" doesn't mean anything.

Like I said in my earlier response you might not see $3/mile posted but that doesn't mean there not willing to pay that.
If there posting $2.50 call up and say you can do it for $3.25. Start high and work your way down if necessary. Remember if the load has been sitting there for hours there's a reason for that.

 

Midwest is giving some great advice about negotiating but realistically, if you're just getting started, and you're asking for $3.25 a mile you will likely be sitting around a lot more than you'll be driving. And that's ok, if you can afford to do that. Just be prepared to have Brokers and Shippers hanging up on you a lot.

It's critical that you know your true operating cost. It's also critical that you take multiple loads that you've hauled and divide the total pay on them by the total miles that you've ran. That's how you'll come up with the average rate per mile that you're earning. A smart Owner Operator is going to be constantly checking those numbers and making adjustments as operating cost increases and decreases. Yes op cost does fluctuate some. For instance look how fuel prices change from day to day, and from area to area.

What should you be willing to haul for? At the very least the rate per mile needs to cover operating cost, a decent driver paycheck, and a modest company profit. And that figure, it only works if you're working that truck consistently. If you're sitting around a lot between loads, it's likely that the rate per mile that you'll need at that point, it won't even be obtainable.