Current Van rates dropping, is there an end to this?

Hit them at $3.50

 

Since fuels up about $1.00 a gallon. I compare today’s rates with rates from a couple yrs ago. The net increase isn’t really much. Considering the recent inflation report on top of that,.06% in one month. How much is that a year? I don’t even know how to calculate that. 72%? It’s hard to calculate in today’s money, the real amount that rates are still up. Considering some costs will be paid in the next few months, with money earned now. I won’t be surprised if some Larger Companies start competing more trying to get more Contracts. Leaving the spot Market with less freight. And the same Loads being Brokered out for less. The old saying, Whoever can cover the Freight gets it comes to mind. Shippers are tired of the uncertainty. Prime time to get a Direct Shipper, if you can cover the Freight. Inflation, even if Equipment is paid off, is quickly eating up the real increase in rates. I just figured one lane, up 50% over old rates. Factoring in higher fuel cost alone, equals only a net 20% increase over the past rate. Which I should say was competitive to begin with.

 

Food isn’t rotting on the docks, stores are full. Part shortages are mostly due to the manufacturing has been sent off shore.
Host of issues.

 

I’ve got my business expenses down and personal down. Sold 2 trucks and trailers. down to 1 car for wife and payed off debt. My truck and trailer payments are not bad
If I have to I can make it at $1.60 a mile
And maintain my equipment and household. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that but who knows.

Experts say good thru 2022 but we will see

 

I'm not sure I want a contract with a shipper...there's so many advantages to just using the spot market. Sure, rates fluctuate but they always will. A healthy spot market will always provide freight and there must be a spot market because no company, no matter how large, can cover 100% of their contracted freight...unless we're talking small carriers hauling small contracts. I also use all the big guy's load boards...JB hunt, Werner, Landstar, TQL, Amazon, Schneider, XPO, etc... Even the rates they are offering is low.

 

This would be my advice to any new owner operator. Pay cash or start as small as possible and build your equipment as needed. I started my company twice with cash and thankfully I don't have to worry about hauling cheap freight because not having payments allows me to be patient in selecting higher rates.

 

After 30+ years? having employees suck
So back down to just me myself and I.
have A year left on my trailer and 2 on my truck. Going run my star car till the wheels fall off. starting out keep costs low for sure.

I sold other equipment to family members. They just took over payments. Should of took advantage and bent them over

 

Same here. Don’t want Customers. I’d rather be free. With so many one Truck O/Os running the Spot market, not only are We working for the Big Trucking Companies through their Brokerages, but we are more and more at the mercy of all the Big 3 pls with big profit margins. It’s not a good trend. Better to have more small Brokerages that a relationship can be built with. Companies like Coyote, and Convoy, May pay good now, but won’t when Trucks outnumber Loads. Like dealing with CH Robinson, in the past. No one wanted to, but sometimes had to. Rates are whittled to the lowest possible, simply because they had so many Carriers set up, willing to run mainly just for them, mainly out of convenience. Basically all the Freight being controlled by Big Business, and We get peanuts.

 

My equipment is all paid for and anything that my truck needs I have the skills to repair it and a place to do it.

With that being said, I'm not sure that I can earn a good living when the rates drop.

And probably a better question is, is it worthwhile and where is that cut off and what will the rates drop to?

So you have paid off equipment. Is it worthwhile to run that if you make $400 a day? Is it worthwhile to run that if you're making $200 a day?

That might sound extreme but we have seen within not quite a full year yet, no limit to the stupidity.

So in my opinion that translates to there being no limit to how low the rates can go, how bad the supply chain can become, and how high the price of fuel will go.

And by the way they have just said there's nothing they can do about it and it's going to continue to rise along with home heating costs and inflation.

When there is no limit to the stupidity, all bets are off. I'm sure there are others more optimistic than I am, but I just see this getting really ugly and maybe being something worse than we've ever seen before.

I'm not ready at the moment, but I'm planning the exit strategy.

At least we are united in let's go Brandon.

 

$1.60 a mile based on current fuel costs, I assume. $3.50gal at 6 mpg. .58 cpm fuel cost. Leaves $1.00 pm. I’ve ran for less. Actually bottomed out at .90 after fuel, in 2010. Only ran out of absolute necessity. It was so tight, even doing my own maintenance and repairs, I barely made it on dumb luck. It wasn’t enough back then, certainly isn’t enough today. At those rates, theres nothing left for maintenance/repairs. At that point, it’s coming out of your pay, or personal savings. I won’t do it again. Not worth it. But others will, till they can’t.