Prime's lease deal. The math gets done.

Cheap freight is a relative term....For someone with a $3000 payment, and $15,000 in chrome, that runs 80 mph between trucks stops getting 4.5 - 5 mpg, plus credit cards out the wazoo, $2/mi is cheap...For someone with a 'work truck' that keeps his/her costs down and runs their business smart, $1.25 makes money with plenty to spare. So who's to say what the meaning of cheap freight is? If we all need to sit to get freight rates up so that these drivers that don't watch their bottom line won't fail, it's the same as being in favor of the government bailing out these companies that are paying these CEO's millions even when their companies are going broke. The simple thing is, haul what you make money on, don't haul anything that only makes you break even. So if you want to let that load sit, and deadhead out to get the other load...fine...my 'Big' company will haul it and make money in the process. These big companies didn't start out big, they ran an efficient business and built themselves up. I mean the Schneiders and Swifts of the world didn't go into business with 15000 trucks. It's a dog-eat-dog world, running a truck is running a business, if you don't run it 'financially' smart, then you'll fail. I know, because when I owned my own, I ran it wrong, and I failed. My fault - no excuses...so you're talking to the horses mouth. What killed me at Prime is the high lease and extras they charged, along with what the market was willing to pay to move freight during a recession. I tried to run slower, and to cut costs, but didn't have enough in reserve after losing my own truck to hold out until the economy picked back up. And I tried to move the best paying loads that were available.(so my FM said, I didn't have access to the freight board to check up on him) In hindsight could I have run more efficient, probably... So my failure at Prime is not entirely on their shoulders, I have to take some of the blame.

 

If you know your TRUE per MILE operating costs , divide that by .79 and that is = to the " LOWEST AMOUNT " you can operate for.

There are times you need to take a lower rate ( not losing $ ) to get relocated for a high paying load , I have 1 tomorrow pays $1.55 / mile gets me to my $2.20+XTRAS / mile load without having to run empty for 350 miles.

 

Absolutely right-on! So many folks think all they need is a CDL, and that's a ticket to the big-time. Leasing a truck to run freight is very much a business, and if you don't know how to run a business chances are you're going to fail. Sorry about your bad luck dude!

 

This is probally the best thread that I have read from begining to end. very educational in the l/o o/o, company driver opinions and views. I appreciate the good effort and MATH that was in this thread.
Drive safely and have a GREAT day

 

I would be wary of the fleece right now -not enough freight to support the Fleece. Die-hard fleecers will make it and live it out in their truck or maybe even team it out to make it. 2009 will be hard for fleecers.

I would be even more wary of a fleece with another company besides Prime. -With Prime you can actually make it where with others you will not.

I would refuse as an O/O to go fleece -why? Support a company that would force you into an unproven and unpaid truck. =Your truck is too old -you must enjoy a new truck and fleece thru us. Prime = Fleece's-R-Us (but more and more are going fleece = somebody is making the money off it)

 

I agree. With freight the way it is, it's really tough for the lease ops. There's got to be enough revenue to support the lease... or the truck payment for owner ops. Badsey doesn't mention how he's connected with Prime, so I'm assuming that you're just blowing smoke.

This is a bit hard to follow, but I assume you've applied at Prime with a junker, and they told you to buzz off, yes? That's because they want some assurance that the junker tractor you're running will actually get a hundred feet past the outbound inspection bay. BTW, I assume you have some hard numbers to back up your claims?

 

I have to disagree with you on the big companies, for example we used to haul out of Alcoa, Massena Ny back in the early '90s for 1.85 mile plus $50 per stop. Swift and Werner came in, and agreed to haul same loads for 1.20(give or take a few cents) and $15 a stop, naturaly they pushed us owner-ops out, however during the first winter, swift and werner lost the contracts because due to in-experienced drivers and bad weather they could not deliver on time, so Alcoa came back to us, but most of us had moved on, so they were forced to pay more to get us back, a few years later we went through the same thing when metal and tmc came in. the reason why they can haul so cheap is they drive cheap equipment and employ cheap in-experienced drivers that they can replace quick because they are subsidized by U.S. Gov to train and hire cheap in-experienced drivers. that is why rates are less now then they were in the '80s. So keep working for thr big guys for peanuts while they themselves make incredible profits on your work if you want. I have a choice and I choose to get paid for my work

 

That was very well said (and informative), but sometimes you must say "if you cant beat em, join em". It must be hard finding freight that pays that well when you have the big boys under bidding. Good Luck and Drive Safe

 

Well... you're preaching to the choir over here.

Don't have a lot of time to respond to this since I have an 8AM drop, but here goes - I pull reefer, so this is generally what they tell me that applies to both sides of the house...

Prime sells it's service and nothing else. Management claims that we have the figures to prove a 99% ontime delivery rate -- so that's what we sell. We do it through the use of experienced crews, and we give our trainees a much longer training and apprenticeship period than just about anyone else in the business. That being said, Prime also suffers a high turnover, just like everyone else, so it's impossible to field 100% experienced operators... like you, the individual owner operator can.

We pay a percentage of linehaul revenue and 100% fuel surcharge, stop pay, detention, etc, - and our sales department regularily turns down "cheap freight." Prime does support a good reputation, and we demand to be paid if you want our guys to haul your freight. The lease op guys look for better than $2/mile as a "good" load in an area that will support those rates. In an area that won't, they'd rather get us a lower paying rate to pay the fuel bill than support a long unpaid deadhead. So if you're on this thread claiming that we're undercutting you, then you're in the wrong place. I'd say if you start seeing Prime flatbeds hauling out of somewhere you are, you're probably justified in getting a little higher rate yourself. As it was once said, "A rising tide floats all boats."

 

Thanks Boone...

That's the business model, to bring them in off the street, younger, and with very little "overhead" such as mortgage, and family.

Structure the system to the point where they will need to live out of the truck for 90% of the year.

Give the bare minimum of information and training, let them run their 3 or so months on average.(till they quit broke and fed up)

Combined with the government subsidies for "training", makes for a profitable business model.