Cheap Freight Doesn't Exist

the pay of the driver has to be figured in, if not its a unrealistic plan. that way its not a estimate for survival, its an estimate for profit.

it will actually help you stay after it, it does get old when you work and don't seem to make any for yourself. it seems ok at first, but it wears on a guy not to draw a check.

I have found it works best to figure in driver pay and also profit for the owner even though you are one and the same, it will help in not taking loads that meet the threshold of mere survival.

one theoretically survive picking up aluminum cans beside the road, but the true is to survive , its to thrive.

 

I get ya. My plan was paying myself .40 paid cpm which would bring me to 1.52 cpm total operating cost. Have email? Pm me I'll show ya my paperwork. It's messy. Having pro making it look professional this weekend. PM me with email add. thanks

 

From experience, I absolutely agree with this!

 

Well, the whole purpose, or point, in calling on a load is to make $$$, bringing up $$$ is inevitable.

I'm not overly quick to discuss price, but we're sure as hell going to talk about it fairly quickly....I don't have all day to waste on a call about a load, if the broker's rate is in the realm of the ridiculous I want to move on without wasting any time.

When I call, I've already got a price in mind. The only reason I won't throw my number out there first is in case the initial offer might be higher than my number, which is highly unlikely...but, I am prepared to drop a price on them when asked, and if they ask me first I don't hesitate to let it out. This is where we want to remember our "statement" strategy. I won't ask, "can you?". I'll ask for some specifics, I want to make sure that I know all of the load details before quoting a price, then I'll take a moment to consider how I priced the lane and if any of the load details need to be figured in and the rate adjusted accordingly, and then I drop the number in a statement.

I don't blurt it out, I don't waiver, I don't hesitate, I just state it.

Depending on the time of day, or day of the week, I'll state it differently.

But I've got no problem dropping numbers. Whether I do it first or not doesn't really matter to me. I've dropped heavy rates on ATL to FL loads, and I base my number on all miles....DH to pu, loaded miles, DH back to ATL. I tell them my rate is for all miles on the round trip, I don't have to explain why, they already know why.

 

I have to disagree with that Bill. Driver pay is a cost of operating the truck. I agree that we are not talking a lavish lifestyle...just what it would cost....ab fair market value if you will...of what it would take to put a driver in the truck and perform the level of service that is expected. I suggest it's between .40 and .50.

 

I disagree with this one too but like you say everyone looks at it differently. I find it impossible that a 1 truck only operator can't include their living wage inside with every other cost. It's a cost to operate. A company doesn't exclude driver wages in their costs. You have to live and it costs to live. Why in the world would anyone run a truck if it didn't pay for their cost to live? I've had people hammer me on this before but I stand beside it and the only point you can talk about profit is above all of that. And I don't believe a one of these guys that says they can operate for $1.12 a mile or whatever lowball number that selectively leaves out paying themselves a wage.

I saw a post by Flatbed that I found interesting. If you take all of your costs. That would be TRUE cost including a living wage - you divide that number by .79 and come up with a number that you should be at to make a good profit. For example, and I just throw $1.70 out as an example from your example, if it cost you $1.70 for every mile you roll down the highway then $1.70/.79=$2.15 a mile. That's what you need to average every mile you roll, including unpaid deadhead miles, if your cost to roll is $1.70. Now where that .79 comes from I have no idea maybe he or someone could explain that one?

To take that even further, it does not mean freight paying $2.15 a mile per loaded mile is good to go for that operation (I put that comment in there for any brokers out there in the audience who thought they had an ah-ha! moment)