Can you make it running load boards

Remember to include your deadhead miles in the rate, and figure the ACTUAL miles you'll run on your route, not what the broker tells you the miles are. Most loads that you find on the load boards are quoted around $.90 to $1.20 / mile if there is no rate listed. If there is a rate listed and it's over $1.20 / mile, then the load probably has 'issues'. These 'issues' are various, and could include delivering in a dead-end freight area, delivery scheduled for more days than it takes to run the miles, pickup or delivery on a weekend and / or late at night, a heavy load combined with a mountainous route, picking up and / or delivering to customers known for exorbitant detention times, total run miles less than 300, more than one pickup and / or drop, floor loaded product, and the list goes on. Rates tend to increase to make an unattractive load more attractive, and in very rare cases to get a 'hot' load moving.

As for making a load 'worth it', plan on nothing less than $2/mile. If you have to haul for less, then you need to park your truck, hang up your keys and go drive a company truck, as you'll come out way ahead doing that.

 

I don't think it's possible to "plan on nothing less than $2/mile" - I've been reading all over this forum about getting $1.50-$1.75 per mile, so I've been accustomed to thinking that if I were going to make it as an O/O running load boards, that if I want to stay busy, then I'd be looking at rates along those lines, $1.50-$1.80, and if I'm lucky, $2, and I've learned that a lot of that has to do with where you are, supply of trucks in the area vs. supply of freight, etc.

But more specifically, if I called on a dry van load from Detroit to Phoenix, do you really think I could expect $4,000 for that load?
I've been thinking I'd be lucky to get $3,000.

The reason for asking is that I like going out west and back. And I know if I were an independent, then I'd have to go where the money is and not worry about going to a certain place, and really I have no issues with that, but just specifically, on a 2,000 or so mile load like this, is getting $3,000-$4,000 from a broker out of the question?

Thanks for all the posts, enjoy reading them.

 

You won't have any trouble at all finding $1.50-$1.60 a mile you'll go broke too. Instead of wondering how many miles you can get at such and such rate try to figure out where the money is at, establish a reputation, and then charge whatever rate you want. Don't be afraid to sit. I can go just as broke sitting at the house for a week as I can rolling up 5,000 miles for a $1.50 and have more fun with less stress that way too. You need to forget the 2,000 mile dry van loads until you establish yourself with someone cause almost every one of those loads on a loadboard for solo's are $1.20 loads. Even the team ones are usually an embarrassing low rate.

 

That's the problem. There are too many O/O's out there willing to haul cheap freight to 'stay busy', never realizing that they're actually earning less than they would be if they were driving someone else's truck. And they're slowly, ever so slowly, going broke. Once their trucks wear out or they have a major breakdown, they're done. And they won't have the resources to continue.

You won't get a rate like that from a load board. I don't understand O/Os' thinking that they can haul a 2000 mile load for the same overall revenue that a 750 mile load would bring. And that burns about 36 of your 70 driving hours. Let's not forget that it costs you around $1.25 / mile for every mile that the truck moves assuming you only pay yourself $0.30 / mile (company driver pay). Your break even rate on that load would be $2500 give or take. Why would you haul a load just to break even?

Whatever lanes you end up running, you need to make sure that your average income doesn't ever drop below your break even point. Sure, you'll have cash flow and cash to spend, but eventually the hidden costs will catch up to you. Before you ever saw it coming, you'll be so deep in the hole that you won't be able to dig yourself out.

Don't. Haul. Cheap. Freight.

 

Ok, well thanks for the response. If I did go O/O, I would try to build good business relationships with a few good brokers/agents. But it seems there are so many of them. I guess ideally, I would want to work with a select handful of 3 or 4 good agents to work with.

Honestly, it really seems kinda intimidating cold calling a bunch of different people every day that you've never spoken with before and having to start negotiations from scratch, so I guess I would hope to end up having 3 or 4 different agents to pull for, I hope that is something that is possible and that I could look forward to.

Aside from making good money, customer service and safety are my priorities, and I would try to look for and build relationships with a broker or agent that has close to the same mindset that I do - take care of the customer, treat people with honesty and respect, keep it safe, and contribute to each others' success. If I went O/O then that would be the first thing I would try to focus on, is build those relationships.

Thanks for the replies.

 

And if that's "intimidating" to you, and you have an issue "asking people for money" - then perhaps, you're not cut out for a business where YOU are your own salesperson, and YOU have to go out there and get GOOD PAYING BUSINESS ON YOUR OWN. As you get "out there", you'll "build a book" of people that run where/what you like, at rates that are profitable (and likewise, you'll have a "book of scumbags", that when they call you because you posted your truck, you'll laugh and hang up on them).

It's a while different world from the 30-some-odd-cents-a-mile, Qualcomm beeps and your next load magically appears - where your only responsibility is to get from a-2-b on time, without killing anyone.

As Windsmith & Rollin allude to - the object is not to find something that "simply exceeds" your cost-of-operation - but to get the HIGHEST RATES POSSIBLE for yourself - so that, in the rare case that you feel COMPELLED to have to take that cheep freight (because you didn't plan the deadhead out of a slow freight area into your inbound rate), you can "average it in" and not end up in the red because of it.

O/O is not a "one load at a time" business, it's a BIG PICTURE kind of operation. If you're going to let brokers lie/intimidate you into hauling cheep - you're going to be the "go-to-cheap-load-carrier", and EVERYONE BUT YOU is going to be making a profit...

Rick

 

I will say that unless you have the cash to support yourself and your business at ZERO net profit for at least 6 months, you probably don't want to attempt this. O/O is not something that is easy to do on a shoestring budget. Especially if you're just starting out. It can be VERY cash intensive.

The time I've spent at my current job has given me a wealth of insight and knowledge about the business, and I'm very happy that I took the risk and went in the direction that I did. I don't think that I'd have done any better going with one of the major players. The way things are set up here, I frequently talk to brokers, search for loads and negotiate rates. I set my own routes, do my own scheduling as the loads allow, and pretty much handle whatever challenge comes along without having to worry too much about whether there's enough cash to cover the next fuel stop.