Freight rates

I moved to Florida when I started my business. Very quickly I started never going back past Jacksonville and would do my reset in NYC with family. Even accounting for the insane tolls, I came out ahead instead of driving all the way down to south Miami and trying to get back out with a decent load.

Florida is a hotshot graveyard load wise.

 

It's a tough place to base out of if you are running a trucking company.

 

Well the biggest trick for me on getting out of FL is to take a short hop out. Example you have a 4 car trailer you could do pretty good IMO assuming you don't just look for single pick up/single drops. My trick on getting out of FL is usually to go from CFL to AL,MS or LA. I routinely put together $700 to $800 loads to get out and into those states. Example last time I ran out I took a a military load that was $550 from above Gainesville to Gulfport, MS. I added on a $350 car to the back of the trailer. So I pulled out of FL that trip for $900 on about 600 miles. Not it wasn't great money but it's ok to get out of state on and I still made a bit of profit..

Now if I did cars exclusivity.. I'd be doing way better than I am now with freight.. Example your 4 car trailer.. There are cars all day long running from CFL area to ATL or Mobile , LA ect.. They shorter drops are always a solid $300 but you start getting up into LA and mid to north AL, MS and they start getting into $400-500 range. A 4 car out of central FL can still get out of state with a short hop and pull $1,2k to $1,5k.

The problem is you don't want to try to leave FL with a long run, like everyone wants to go from FL to NJ or something.. You have to take the short hops then reupp in a better location.

The thing is the hop out areas vary , sometimes it's paying good out of CFL to go to LA, sometimes it's NC or SC and sometimes it's TN.. ATL always seems the same regardless.. I dunno why but that run is always $300/car at best $350.

Then some times there is the odd route like right now I just looked on central and there is a host of cars all going to MI.. They are all $750-800 on roughly 1,3k miles.. So @ $750 each that 4 car is pulling $3k for probably 1,5k miles if you figure in the pick ups and drops.

I mean $2 coming out of FL and all going to the same state is not bad IMO.. I think the problem most guys have is they only want to run a specific route and aren't willing to change up to meet the market demand..

 

Well I have a 3 car wedge. Had a 4 car for a a few weeks and would waste my whole day trying to piece 4 units and running around picking them up, then clock the miles and spend another day dropping them off. Truth be told, I think I can earn more with a 2 car trailer just saving time on my pickups and drop offs.

At first I did the short hops. Problem was I was based out of Pompano beach and constantly had to either head south into heavy traffic to pick up a car that would waste half of my day or deadhead to Orlando area to find 50 cent cars.

I try to make $700 minimum a day and take into account my time to pickup and drop off. Running around to pick up 3 cars can take half a day unless they are all really close to eachother.
Id hit my daily goal running NC,SC,VA,MD and PA pretty regularly and could always find a decent load heading to Newark NJ on the way to NYC and then stay with my father for the reset. Plenty of cars getting out of NJ/PA back towards the Carolinas. Always manage to find at least 1 unit paying $1 a mile in those areas.

I always made more on the mid-north east coast than I ever did anywhere in FL or the south east. When I got good loads out of FL going to AR,MS or LA there was never anything worth taking back.

 

Friends of mine does most of his work for dealers taking from auctions to and from dealers. He can save time off clock by transferring at auction and mainly drops at night. Now he has built these relationships over several years. Having clients calling him so he can pick and choose. Now he started out with F350, then Had that 5500 Duramax, then single axle Freightliner , and only the last couple of years running a Volvo with 6 car carrier. Now if he would have followed his brother in law’s advice and made the move to BIG truck after the Dually he could have saved a lot of money on a couple of trucks and trailers. But why would he take advice? Just look over in the car hauling section a lot of the guys also went this route. Now if you stay in the car hauling business this is where you will end up. Up there in New York as you already know by experience it is a different ballgame. Have you talked to anyone in the car hauling section?

 

I got the 3500 cause I wanted to do non cdl hotshot. After I bought my 3500 I realized I couldn't haul more than 2 units no matter how light of a trailer I got because after the upfit my truck weighed more than I thought it would.
I'm happy with my setup up and if I went to anything bigger I still wouldn't go bigger than a sport chassis style truck just for a roomier interior and would probably still stay with a 3 unit setup. Anything bigger would be a pain in places like NYC where I am often.
The only thing I want now is a low pro step deck where I can fit 3 vans or single heavy units like mini busses rather than cars where I can get my $2+ a mile loads easier and maybe even forklifts, small tractors and some freight.

Nobody pays extra for your load/unload times. Filling up 6+ car carriers looks time consuming to me and often, unless you already have a steady customer base, you end up filling some of the empty spaces with really cheap paying cars just to have a full load.

I'm happy with my setup for now and plan to stay with the 3 car for a while.

 

I am not criticizing. I wish you the best. Trying to share the information I have witnessed. I will share something else with you. Most freight that is shipped never appears on a load board.

 

I get that its not criticism. I'm still a "baby" trucker with lots to learn. I don't have the connections yet to get those loads that are not on the loadboards.
I was just saying that I don't think more cars=more money when calculated for time spent doing the job. I look less at the per mile and more on the per hour spent. It may be the wrong way to look at it but it works for me for now.

 

I hear you brother.