Being an O/O under a Carrier's Authority

What percentage of the load does your carrier pay? 100% fsc? What kind of freight do you haul?

 

75 of 99 of the line haul(1 percent comes off the top for the trucking insurance). 100 percent of all accessorials, such as fsc, tarping, detention, etc etc. Great fuel discounts (51 cpg cheaper than the pump price when i fueled this morning) they pay ifta and ton mile taxes(examples: ny hut, ky, oregon), not just file and charge back, they actually pay it out of their percentage. Oh, I pull a flat, so my freight ranges from basics like roofing shingles and steel beams, to more important stuff (aka better paying) military vehicles, jet engines and missile tubes.

The load i am currently on, pays me, after my carriers cut, 1.74/mile on 675ish miles. crappy pay at first glance, but it's actually well above todays average spot market considering i loaded seventy some miles from the black hole of Miami Florida and going to a pretty good area with much better paying freight for the next load. And what? A full buck a mile better than what the op got out of florida with his dispatcher trying to tell him how the other guys love that run!

4 items, 30k pounds. No tarp. Total time at shipper including the time it took to put 10 chains on, less than an hour.

The point is, while i could make due on averaging 1.30 a mile, why in the world does anyone when there are several carriers paying so much better?

 

I'm leased to a carrier but I'm also a member of a load broad I do not use the board to find freight I joined purely to research spot rates. Looking at the board I agree that his carrier could have improved on the load out of florida, that load he pulled was ridiculous. He should have that turned down nothing goes anywhere for 74cpm on my truck and I'll dead head before I do that. I believe when building a new relationship as a new driver with a carrier its important to build a good relationship and get off on the right foot, but we can diplomatic and firm. However this is also the time that boundaries are being set from both parties to each other, his fl load was his opportunity to begin this process and he failed to do so. From reading what he said afterwards(sounded like he was kicking himself over it) about that load I get the feeling he might agree with me here. I think he knows this without being told or beat up about it.

I'm not sure if its fair to compare FL flatbed rates with FL reefer rates. As I look at skateboard rates out of FL it appears that your market there maybe better than ours or it at least appears more opportune at the moment.

There's a lot of other factors involved other than just a per mile average that you didn't mention. First of all your rate per mile is great btw congratulations. I've heard from some flatbed drivers who pick there own freight that don't run many miles but they run at a high rate. I think what they do is, well sit around waiting for something better. I was the night mgr of the restaurant at Baldwin Florida TA on I 10 and 301 between 2003-2009. At times we would see the same driver eating every night for 4 nights, and they would tell us and the rest of the counter why were waiting. Some of those drivers would also start fights with the other drivers who took a lessor load that was immediately available just to get out of florida. I think they thought that a driver who pulled a badly paying load rather than sit for days if needed was doing other drivers a disservice. I can remember even one occasion when two drivers got into a lunch counter agreement over this and both requested to see the manager (me) and both requested that I throw the other out. I'm sure when the drivers I would see waiting finally left that some of them were able to wait long enough for that good load to come along. Were they able to do better that way? Idk. Also don't know how many miles a driver that operates this way can turn 1000/wk, 1500, 1800, 0, beats me.

I can't suggest that this is describing you and I'm not doing so, and I do see that your reload was 70 miles so it sounds like you were in and out of FL. I ask about your carrier because you're telling us that your definition of doing fine is 50cpm higher than the OP's($1.34). That puts you at 1.84 all miles? From your contract I would have to guess that your carrier would have to be getting $2.70 on loaded miles. If fsc is 10 cents and your loaded say 90% of the time, then 2.70 × .90 = 2.43 - fsc = 2.33 × 75% = 1.75 + fsc = a final rate to the truck of $1.85. I bringing this up because that rate is 35% better than DAT contract rates which look at about $2.00. To be beating the market by 35% is pretty stout. There's a lota dogs after them bones so its no easy accomplishment I'm sure. I'm not trying to be rude to you or call you a liar, but this is the internet where every fish everyone catches is ten feet long and their girlfriends are supermodels too. If you're getting decent miles in at that rate is there some way that you can prove it to us?

At the end of the day all that matters is net if we have a great rate but little miles at that great rate well all this sudden its not so spectacular anymore. You've gotta look at all the details if the OP is running the tires off at $1.34 he might actually net more than another with 50cpm more revenue and little miles at that revenue. Regardless sounds like your doing well.

 

You make good point. Some guys prefer to run 3000 miles to net $2000. Some guys 1500 miles to net $2000 with some sitting in between loads. Different strokes for different folks.

By the way, do you know where I can find one of those Supermodels? After almost 30 yrs I might trade the old lady in.

 

The secret is very simple, lease to a company with access to better paying freight. Most of the freight i pull only ever goes on the public load boards when the contract carriers can't get a contacted truck to the load. Not all my freight is exclusive, about 30 percent is brokered, but when it is, its still at a much better rate than todays spot market. Big brokerage firm xyz is going to be willing to pay a landstar or mercer more than small carrier abc they've never done business with because 25 plus years of business relationships get better rates.

As far as how many miles i run, it averages out to about 2500 a week. And would be more if i wasn't so picky about the loads i pull.

Side note: to clarify my posts in this thread, it is not my intention to bash or beat up the op. I'm trying to express to him and others like him, that there is much better paying carriers to lease to. There simply is no reason to settle for a 1.35ish average when the option for 1.70+ is there.

Edit:you mentioned proof. I will not post settlements on the internet, I'm fairly certain my carrier would frown on that. But if you read in the carrier sub sections here on ttr you will see the numbers are in line with what others are stating. And if someone was seriously considering making a switch i would show settlements in person, it shouldn't be that difficult to meet in the middle on a load. Mine get emailed with in an hour or two of delivery so can access them either on my phone or laptop,

 

Well if you're paying a maintenance escrow and paying another escrow per something per mile for truck depreciation/truck replacement/fund, and still netting the same $2, 000 both ways, I guess its the same. I'm sure there are some guys out here that may sit 3 days a week and what do you do to pass the time? Me personally I'd rather stay busier, but like you say different stokes.

Lol. I think if could just turn the $2, 000 weeks into $3, 000 weeks it may help with this. If I just had a dollar for every perfect 10 that didn't find me attractive, I figure they would eventually find me attractive.

 

Though I've been told repeatedly not to, I still compare what I was making as a company driver (70cpm) , to everything I do.

This load, was considered "cheap" last year - but I picked it this year after a years experience as a leased on O/O - because it was

• Close to home
• Light - 6,000 lbs
• Known freight, not "miscellaneous "
• No tarp
• 1,000 mile run.
• Known agent
• Assisted load

Lazy, I know, and for my laziness I get $1.55 to the truck, including dead head, or driver pay of .76 cpm - still better than my company job.

Lost my train of thought, or point - mainly backing up @spyder7723 on his point.