I’m a dispatcher, AMA! (Not a dispatch service)

What are the best lanes for Dry van currently, in your opinion? (East of the Rockies only)

 

Performance bonus... A few cents extra for over 2500 miles and more for 3000+/week. Do you get a performance bonus for keeping the drivers under 3000 ?

 

What is the best lease op program out there?

Can I get rich being an owner operator?

How much will it cost me to operate a truck?

Is $0.90 a mile plus 100% fuel surcharge a good rate?

Will I get home every night?

Are brokers honest? If so, which ones?

Where can I buy the cheapest insurance?

Landstar or Schneider?

Do emissions trucks really suck?

Who has the best factoring rates?

Can I buy an old iron long nosed Pete for for under 20K?

Do emissions trucks suck? Oh wait, I already asked that one!

Are those thingamajigs that hang from the windshield called dingleberries or monkey balls?

 

I even have no idea what the fuel surcharge is today. Is it even something universal or something that is strict and specificly designed to a contract?
The way I see it in the spot market, which is loadboard booking, you agree or don't agree to a rate. There is even no fuel surcharge discussion when you negotiate a rate. However, it may be seen in the rate confirmation from such brokers as CH Robinson, or Coyote as a part of the rate e.g. you agree to a rate of $800 and they will write down something like - Linehaul: $550 and Fuel Surcharge: $250, where linehaul is their flat rate per mile and FS is the "manipulatory" variable which they increase when you agreed to a rate higher than what their linehaul rate was calling for. I am not sure why they do this way. Maybe for tax manipulations.

 

DAT trend lines

 

They are completely driven by profit motive.

Ive had several brokers speak with me specifically because of two things, they needed someone to talk to and second I am not a licensed broker anything. If I had tried to hide as one who is part of that industry I would have been detected really quickly.

Once in a while I must question our entire industry. IF they want 10 trucks today of say books going to Canada, they can #### well pick up the phone and call a motor carrier capable of furnishing 10 trailers to do it.

 

Here is a bit I saved from the DAT website for reference.
Figuring out fuel surcharge – from DAT

Fast forward to 2018. Diesel prices are up to $3.24 per gallon, and today's fuel surcharge would have almost covered the full cost of a gallon of gas in the early '70s. So why is it still relevant?

The surcharge works pretty well for large fleets. They negotiate with shippers, and set rates for six months or a year at a time, based on the line haul amount. The fuel surcharge is calculated separately, and then it's added to the freight bill for each haul, depending on the price of diesel at the time of pickup or delivery. Fuel prices tend to change over the term of the contract, and so does the surcharge.

Spot market rates are typically quoted for a single job, so there's no need to adjust the rate every time there's a change in the price of diesel. That's one reason the freight broker doesn't break the fuel surcharge out from the total rate in the rate agreement.

At DAT, when we analyze spot market rate and contract rate trends side by side, we usually deduct an average fuel surcharge from the spot market rate. That way, we can compare the resulting spot market line haul rate to the actual contract line haul rate on an apples-to-apples basis.

Here's how we calculate the fuel surcharge at DAT:

Baseline fuel price, or peg, as a starting point - $1.25 per gallon (That's a common standard, probably based on the cost of fuel in the 1980s.)

Current national average diesel price - this week, it's $3.24 per gallon

Average fuel mileage (using low numbers to account for miles driven empty)

• Van, at 6.0 miles per gallon
• Reefer, at 5.5 miles per gallon
• Flatbed, at 5.0 miles per gallon

​

Fuel surcharge = Diesel price - $1.25, divided by the mileage

• Van FSC = ($3.24 - $1.25) / 6.0 = 33¢ per mile
• Reefer FSC = ($3.24 - $1.25) / 5.5 = 36¢ per mile
• Flatbed FSC = ($3.24 - $1.25) / 5.0 = 40¢ per mile

​

Fuel efficiency is key. If your truck gets between 6 and 7 miles to the gallon, instead of 5 to 6, the surcharge could cover all of your fuel costs, including that $1.25 baseline price.

Timing is important. If the price of fuel is rising quickly, the carrier is at a disadvantage. You're getting a surcharge based on today's fuel price, but you don't get paid until 30 days from now. By then, it costs more to refill your tank. That's one reason why a lot of small trucking companies

 

Strangely enough, the last common standard I recall was $2 a gallon. Which would make the surcharge less. But things would balance out pretty close.

Most are individually negotiated by the carrier anyway. So this leans more to the O/O broker relationships