Flatbed o/o

I mean everybody kind of has a different way of doing it. But. Basically the rate you agree upon is with tarp included.

 

I think $2 a mile is a little low for CO. Lately, I have been making no tarp runs with the average closer to $2.50+ for CO, UT & NM.

 

You won't charge additionally for tarps, but negotiate the rate. I normally say "I could take this load for $." Or "can you make it $?"
What I don't like in Loadboard postings that often they don't mention of its tarp load or not. I don't care of other details as I could discuss them, however I don't deal with tarps lately. Also, rates went kind of very low last week (lower then dry vans).

 

I ask a lot of questions and if I here over 6' tall or the word machine I get kinda nut$!

 

Check out runs in and out of SLC, Denver & ABQ. I've seen quite a few tarp loads lately paying decent.

 

Where in CO are you based?

 

I base my pricing off of the DAT 15 day average for the lane along with my profit goal.You can get access to this information with the $100 plan.

For example my cost of operation is about 1.50 per mile if you count my salary and company paid health ins/retirement match. I aim to be at 2.5 all miles doing long hauls. I've been more around 2.35 as of late, but such is life. If doing short haul I just want to profit $500 per day under current market conditions. So if they want me to bounce 50 miles,load 100 miles then I'm going to need $225 to cover cost. I want my $500 profit for the day so I tack that on and the 100 mile load needs to pay $725.

If they want a load tarped I'm not even talking about going lower than the DAT average. 4 ft tarps I want another 10%. To pull out my 8 ft tarps I have to be desperate and I want another 20% at least.

I also consider where I'm going into. If I'm taking a load into Colorado I'm not even talking about less than $4 a mile because theirs a good chance I'm going to deadhead all the way out or a long distance out at least. This often times means I don't go to Colorado and that's fine with me. If you live there you may need to adjust your strategy.

Pricing is really more of an art form than a simple mathematical equation. The price customers and brokers will pay changes by the hour. You have to take all these factors into account and more to try to get the best price.