Finally got my own truck

Yeah the mistake I made was not knowing what I'd absolutely be willing to do.

Similar situation happened today. Got a call PU in lville going to Cheyenne. Quoted $2.26/mi, they couldn't do it. But then they called back and gave it to me. So this time I took it. So now I'm going to be empty Thursday morning in Cheyenne with not many resources to get me out. TQL has hardly anything, USX has nothing, I'll try more tomorrow. See how it goes. Worst comes to worst I might have to dead head toward KC for a load Friday morning. But I got barely enough to make that workable if I really have to.

 

Just got through KC area, went through some hail. Pea sized. Was a little creepy there for a minute. Sky was lit up for miles like a laser light show.

Why would you try for a long load out of the south? GA and AL I been trying to just take shorter loads. 500 mile load paying $750-$850 is better than a 1000 mile load paying $1200-$1300. Rates haven't been too bad coming out of AL. Last week I got $1.50 loaded from BHam to South Bend, but getting out of South Bend was the big problem. I'm learning it's not just about ratio, it's about load volume. Brokers who have a bunch of loads to cover, they don't have time to sit and stare at the board to see exactly what the market is like at the moment. If they don't get calls soon, they start calling on trucks and then they have to start paying a little more.
TQL hasn't been so bad the past couple weeks - it's been Landstar and Coyote who are Hawking the real cheap crap as far as I've experienced lately.

I'm actually to the point now where I see Landstar and I just skip right by that load. Not since that gal offered me $.90/mi from Laredo to Knoxville. CHR has been okay too. I like CHR. Their agents are mostly polite and professional. TQL you can tell they're a bunch of young hungry recent college grads. But I still prefer the smaller brokerages.

Anyone got anything coming out of Cheyenne on Thursday that is not going west??

 

Also I notice that there are far more short loads, 0-500 miles than there are with taller miles. So competition on those shorter loads for trucks can more often bring a better rate. If they got 10 of these shorter loads to move, and they don't start getting calls quick, the rates go from $1.25 to $1.50 real quick. And sure $200 might not seem like a lot but it is.

Example, I was offered a load Mobile to WI, 1050 miles for $1500. Not too bad but still $1.42/ mi. But I was offered 530 mi loads going north for $800-900. Two of those and you're at $1600-$1800 to WI for the same number of days. So this kind of thinking got me to start exploring all available options. At first I was like no, I need all of 600-700 miles, or 1200-1400 miles. I have to first determine where I want to go, or at least where I want to end up on a Friday, form a strategy and fit in the pieces from there. For example I don't think I'd ever take a load to Florida to del Friday morning knowing my weekend load is gonna be $1100 for 1100 miles.

 

Yeah I know it. We'll see what happens. I was hoping you wouldn't read today cuz I knew how you'd react. But Cheyenne ain't that far west. Nobody gonna pay $3 to go there. Pretty sure they took a loss on it. Guy said something about a loss leader, something about they do all their loads so when ones like these pop up 3 or 4 times a year they move it to keep customer happy.

I'll be fine weather is good.