Run my numbers or sign on?

Your own authority 100%

It’s not to get signed up with brokers, you’ll learn quickly what all you need and can put your own “packet” together to send them. They approve you and send you a rate con. You do the load and then invoice them. They pay in 30 to 45 days.

 

If you’ve already been watching what’s available for loads and need to be flexible then run your authority.

 

You're in one of the best flatbed markets in the country so you should do well. The problem running those short loads though will be time. For example the Menards DC next door to you in Holiday City will think nothing of taking 6 hours to load a truck. I got $1000 on a 200 mile last minute run for them, but they took all afternoon and into the night loading it.

You'll need to figure out who to avoid (or charge enough to cover the loading/unloading delays) and who will load/unload in a timely manner to make this work well. Running that small of an area it won't take too long to figure it out.

 

You have a business, the farm, so that takes priority. Running for someone else, they won’t like not being your priority.

Run for yourself. Run when you want, how you want.

 

I have had my own authority for many years, that being said I hauled many loads for a certain carrier and they offered me to lease on with them like an idiot I did. I have no issues with this company still pull some loads for them but I’m back under my authority. Their customer I was hauling for changed stuff and there were times they could not load me. Went from 2 or 3 loads a day to 1 then sometimes 1 a day only 3 days a week. Now being leased I could not haul for any one else or if I did find something I had to give them their cut. So just run your own numbers and live happily ever after.

 

Your gonna have a hard time getting that second load off the truck the same day.....

 

So with say tql, coyote, ch rob, etc you can make your own packet for them to fill out instead of you filling their's out to be an approved carrier?
Or when you send them a packet is it to the smaller brokerages only?
Still thinking about that authority y'all, insurance is the main thing that keeps me back.

 

Are you able to get an insurrance quote before paying the 300 for authority?

Makes me think, i pay the 300, then i can see what the insurrance would be, see where i am at etc.


also does anyone here haul for scneider or swift or werner or other carriers as an outside carrier on their boards?

I see some of the boards but you don't know what the rate is so i assume you call on it. As oppossed to someone who is leased to schneider or LS where they can see what the rate is.

Or if your on dat or its or 123 or whatever other board their is if you pay more for the 15 day average to get an idea of the rate.

 

Well since he already has his authority, he probably is going to have the insurance deal figured out.
When I got my own authority I was in kind of the same situation, the thing is I would have had to pay the carrier I leased to to haul my own product. I never got so far as to find out how flexible I could have been.
You have your farm, you have your own authority, you don't need steady work, as you can't run every day anyway, running your own numbers will work well for you, and real well once you get the load board figured out, there is a learning curve, and you will get an education, but it don't hurt much or long. lol

Now all that said, do not do what a lot of farmers do and haul cheap freight, especially just to get back home. A lot of them consider it as a part time extra money gig and destroy freight rates with their thinking.