Advice on Reefer Rates

Well you figure your reefer costs as you would the truck except you use hours instead of miles.

If you are running a load from say Detroit to Chicago (example), that would be 300 miles ----> 7 hours of drive time. Plus you have the cool down (one hour) and unloading if you need to have it on during that time (another hour) plus an hour extra - 10 hours of reefer use.

Say it costs you $21 an hour to run the thing - that includes the maintenance funding - you have $210 wrapped up in reefer use alone.

To put this into the per mile form, $210 divided by 300 -----> 70 ¢ per mile.

So if it is a $2.50 a mile load, you need to add 70¢ per mile minimal for the reefer.

OH and I left out your operating margin, that needs to be added into the 70 ¢

This is what I do.

 

Take a look at the Cass Index to understand typical regional rates for various modes of transport.

 

I don't know how to answer that because my BEP rate is going to be different from you. YOU have to look at your costs, your maintenance program and so on to determine your COST.

What I am trying to get you to go to is figuring your actual cost because you have direct customers, so you can charge them a little more for the exclusive use of the truck, driver and trailer.

However OK here is what I'm getting for regional for my few reefer trailers, to the truck is averaging $3.10 a mile. this is the average.

 

Knowing your cost is only part of the game. You have to know the lanes. For example. It won't do you any good if you think you can take a load from LA to NYC for 2.50 then find out the return loads, if you can even get one, are moving for 1.00 1.25 if you're lucky. So you gotta figure out a way to tic tac toe your way around with the good stuff. There is lots of short haul work, 500 miles and less, paying well enough you go back empty and do it again.

Another classic example is Florida inbound during the off season. Has to be fat enough you aren't at the mercy of some .75 mile load just to get to Georgia or wherever. Hint: short haul round trip stuff is where it's at. The long stuff you're always playing a game.

 

Dang nobody told me math was involved. I thought I just held the wheel in between the lines.

 

I hope that it doesn't cost you 6300.00 between every reefer service. Full service lease is less than 2.00/hour.

 

You are paying the trailer, you are paying for fuel, you are paying for maintained but you are also being compensated for the use of the trailer.

If you can't turn a profit on the trailer and treat that as part of the overall service, you are cheating yourself.

By the way, full service leases also do in house repairs, they will send you to the nearest location that they at to get it fixed, where as if you purchased the unit, it is not cheap to repair, hence the cost to the customer being what it is.

 

Sure glad that my cost for all the reefers I have don't come anywhere near that. Or have never came near that.
If you're trying to say that is total cost of the trailer and not as you implied an additional cost, maybe so.