Cheap Freight... What would you do?

When your good paying freight lane turns into just a $1.00 or so a mile and you want to blame some.............................. Look in the mirror!

 

Usually 'cheap freight' is light freight...not always but one benefit I guess haha

 

Prior to accepting a load into the twilight zone the rate should be good enough to get the rig back into the lanes that pay.

 

You must be a broker...

 

And, as an "after-thought" - if I had PLANNED to take that load, GOING INTO the area - in order to get OUT OF the area - that would be one thing.

But, not KNOWING I was going into a weak spot market (where capacity is way greater than available freight) and being COMPELLED to take that rate - just to get out - would constitute POOR PLANNING on my part.

So - while there's "no excuse to carry cheap freight as a POLICY", per se', there could be limited instances, where it is a PLANNED OCCURRENCE and factors into the "long game" - not necessarily the "short game".

If you can "get in and out" quickly, it's "less cost INEFFECtTIVE" (i.e.: a light load that doesn't cost much more in fuel and equipment wear than just dh'ing out) and the load puts you to where you WANT TO BE (versus, where you "hope" you can pick up at a better rate), then grabbing one of these, on a rare occasional basis, might not be as "sinful" as doing it on a regular one...

Rick

 

Maybe I'm spoiled but I did an $1,100 load on 106 loaded miles a few weeks ago where I deadheaded 180 miles to pick it up. There wasn't time to bridge that gap with something and in the unlikely event a load would have I have to say unless it was paying $700 it's cheap and a waste of my time. There's no way I'll ever put a buck a mile freight on my truck and I'm also not taking a cheap $3 a mile load a thousand miles away to a dead area. It either goes somewhere with profit in and out, or has a rate to deadhead out, or I pass. Those are the parameters I've set for myself the last few months, I'm sticking to them and it's working.

 

Really? 99% of the cheap freight I see is over 40k.

 

Hate to see it go down that way for you.

Keeping a driver paid for all miles - ends up being the largest fixed expense (next to fuel) of keeping a rig on the road - and probably the most restraining variable in having to make break-even/loss decisions in dead markets. An owners that OPERATES, can make the decision for himself (a loathsome position to be in, no doubt), and the "loss" of a "bad freight run" doesn't sting as bad (cause you have to get the equipment to where the freight is).

Wow - wish they were '10's with 13's & I-Shifts - I'd be booking my plane flight in another browser as I type - though I would try (were I you) to advertise them at current market - and leave the $10-15K as your "negotiating space".

Just my $.02...

Rick

 

I work for a small carrier (2 trucks) that pays us on percentage of line haul. It's been working well for all of us so far. Obviously we're not paid for d/h miles, but the drivers get to choose what loads go on the truck as well.