Fuel Surcharge For O/O questions...

Corporate fuel discounts won't make or break a 1 truck operation. It's only a couple cents a gallon, maybe $6 a week.

Always pay the cash price.
If not, don't finance it or pay interest on it of course.
Buy a sensible truck.
Drive 65mph or less at all times.
Use your cruise control whenever you can.
Haul lighter whenever possible.


Also I try to manage momentum in hilly areas. 5 under going up to 5 over going down. Don't waste a good thing. That jake is a waste of what you spent getting up there. You just turn the potential energy into heat instead of distance/work.

 

That is one of the benefits on signing on with some companies. While the per mile rate may be lower than digging up your own freight, most carriers will have discounts that are sometimes far below the cash pump price. I am with a carrier and some of the fueling locations have discounts of that vary widely and sometimes exceeds .25 a gallon below cash price on top of having a fuel surcharge added into the rate. How they get good discounts on fuel, I am not concerned. My carrier even takes it a step further and has all truckstops listed by state on their website and show the current fuel discount at each one. Updated several times a day. I just log on and check the truckstops along my run and get the best price. So... having a decent fuel surcharge along with pretty good discounts below cash price can make a huge difference in costs. The actual rate for the load may be better going on your own, but a lot of carriers will have steep discounts on fuel that make getting your own loads not look so fantastic. Each case is different.

The key for an independent is to check the price of the fuel, minus the fuel tax. Illinois, for example, has a high pump price, but the fuel is cheaper than most surounding states. Even though you will pay a higher price at the pump, with IFTA, you are only charged the tax on fuel you actually use in the state. so, you will get the excess you paid at the pump back when you file fuel taxes. If you only get the cheapest fuel at the pump, you may end up paying out the pocket when you file IFTA (Indiana and Georgia are great examples). that is not the time to find out you didn't get the best deal. ProMiles online will show the current IFTA fuel tax and the daily average prices for fuel (minus the tax) nationwide listed by state. You can also bookmark the various truck stop websites. They list the current cash price on their websites for all of their locations. So... you can use Promiles to find which state has the cheapest fuel, then check the websites for which truckstops in that state have the cheapest at pump price that day.

 

ZOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooom (Pharm at the bottom of a hill)

"Gotta get that momentum" lol

just playin

 

I thought you made so much more money running your own authority that it didn't matter.