Business Plan/ Mentor Needed

Discussion in 'Freight Broker Forum' started by haider99, Jan 17, 2016.

  1. haider99

    haider99 Medium Load Member

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    In about 45 days. Once we start running we will be buying another truck and a reefer most likely.

    I been asked to bid rates on lanes going from Montreal to NJ, OH, GA. I dont have the equipment at the moment to service them and also dont know the rates. How can I handle this situation and keep them in a loop and not get them to black list me by rejecting?
     
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  3. boredsocial

    boredsocial Road Train Member

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    NJ and GA are both places you want decent money to go to... OH is significantly easier to come back from and should be bid cheaper. I can't speak to exactly what you should charge because I don't know the commodity, the particulars of the loads (loading and unloading time is very important), or how long the contracts are supposed to go.

    I will say that doing contracts in the first quarter of 2017 based on 2016's rates is probably a pretty big mistake.
     
  4. haider99

    haider99 Medium Load Member

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    Here are the rates a broker gave me. They are so terrible, i had to share

    Mtl to Neptune = 1200$-1250$ = $2.88CAD/ Mile

    Mtl to Zanesville,OH = 1200$-1250$ = 1.70/mile

    Varennes to Atlanta 2000$-2050$ = $1.65

    To Terre Haute,IN 1500$ = 1.60

    Thoughts?
     
  5. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    My thought is you found a broker to not do business with.
     
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  6. haider99

    haider99 Medium Load Member

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    A couple of pages ago I mentioned about my driver hitting the snow scraper. The bill came in at $6.5k + tax.

    Here are some facts about this case.
    - We are leased on to a bad but subsidiary of a large carrier
    - The trailer was not the subs but their carrier.
    - The scraper was in the customer yard.
    - There was snow under the scraper which caused the trailer to shift up.
    - The carrier did not keep us in loop when getting the work done I could have saved around 2k getting the same work done. I was surprised with the invoice today.
    - I dont know whose responsibility is it to clean snow under the scraper.
    - The driver was not provided training to operate the scraper.
    - We have about $2700cad as a hold back with the carrier.
    - I dont care if we loose the work a d the driver doesnt care either.

    Now, I know this is a business expense but payinf 6500cad without doing any investigation to try to save some monry is foolish.

    What are some options I have?
    Do you want pictures of the damage?
     
  7. not4hire

    not4hire Road Train Member

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    Why should they be concerned about how much it cost; you are paying the bill.

    You just got an education.

    .
     
  8. haider99

    haider99 Medium Load Member

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    I am now loosing my sleep over this.

    Looking at a bill of $7500 for small driver negligence is a nightmare
     
  9. LoudOne

    LoudOne Medium Load Member

    That's the joys of owning a transport company with drivers.........
     
    spyder7723 Thanks this.
  10. spyder7723

    spyder7723 Road Train Member

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    Do you now understand why i said you need to hire a better quality of driver? Even a good driver will screw up on occasion, but striking an inanimate object is never excusable.

    One more thought on the issue. If a 6500 dollar bill is such a big deal you are losing sleep over it you need to take a look at your operation. If you aren't running with a profit margin high enough to easily absorb a one time hit of 6500, them you need to get your rates up.
     
  11. CJndaTruck

    CJndaTruck Road Train Member

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    Maybe I don't understand Canadian laws at all. But why not let insurance pay for this? That's what it's for. Sure your rates might go up, but I doubt they will go up by $6500 a month.

    Sorry, all your issues just are not adding up. This sounds more and more like a poor me thread. Sell everything, get out of trucking all together and flip hamburgers at McDonald's. You will sleep at night. Good luck.
     
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