Freight Rates Dropping for O/O's?

In August, it seems like rates took a nose dive . Flatbed in the SE.

I went from running $3 and $4 mile loads to feeling lucky to find $2.50 mile loads.

So, I hooked up directly with a local shipper. I should be booking their loads going out of my home starting next week. Looks like $3 is going to be about average staying in the south.

But coming back to the house is going to be a challenge.

 

yes, this summer was insane, and that's why everyone is pissed off now. post party depression. hope you kept some of that bank!

 

Yep, rates are down in my racket too... We are running some dedicated lanes until things pick back up. And they will, this is pretty normal.

 

Sooner or later, the increase of the truck sales has to manifest itself somehow. Maybe we start seeing it. After the labor day everything was supposed to be speeding up again. Not yet.

 

My rates in August averaged right at $3.00 a mile.

This is a snapshot of my revenue in September thus far.

I took a break from Thursday 08-30 thru Monday 09-03 (5 days off).

Went back to work on Tuesday morning. Was home on Tuesday & Wednesday nights, and back home on Friday late afternoon for the weekend.

Mind you, this is with a dry van in OR/WA. It can be done. However, it takes a lot of planning, phone calls & negotiating, which I'm comfortable doing

I decided last year that I was going to focus on working smarter, not harder. In addition, as you can see from this snapshot, the % of DH miles are irrelevant to me, so long as I get my average.

 

That is almost identical to what I am doing right now... Dry van, dedicated run 4 days a week, 895 miles from the house, leaving in around two hours (Sunday), back to the house on Thursday.

 

I love this short haul stuff. I've been doing it for a few years now, normally only run 60,000 to 70,000 miles a year and take more than a few months off. I'll run this route for a few more weeks, supposed to be temporary, we just rebid it again for more money, it has its issues. If we get the rate increase I'll keep running it until it is out for bid again, which is every four to six weeks. Something new we are trying, as it has been a bit slow in the expedite market.

 

Yeah, short haul stuff can work out pretty good. But like I said, it requires some effort in planning, for me at least.

Since I do literally everything in my business, it took a little practice through trial and error to get to where I am now.

Learning (like the back of your hand) whatever lane one runs on, is essential. The ability to make decisions on the fly are crucial.

Over committing is a killer, and sometimes you're better off being lucky than good

 

That commit thing, sometimes it is very tempting, but something I always tried to avoid with just one truck. But like you said, once you get this figured out, it can be very lucrative freight.

 

Yes, I have seen rates fall here in the Southwest.