Freight Rates

IMHO, if you want to operate like RC, you should start out doing so. If you want to be the guy that charges more that people call when no-one else can be found or someone else screws up then you kind of have to make a point of being there and being available when they need you. I think you have to draw a hard line and hold to it right from the get go to make that work. And understand it's volatile, you will sit for 3 weeks at a time as he said. You will spend days on the phone with no results.

What has worked better for me is not rolling cheap, but trying to give excellent service. For me it is good business when you are the guy they actually want to call first and are willing to pay a rate that is profitable for you. To have plenty of load offers on the table you can string together into a profitable week even when others are slow. And still increase your margins when the market is up, and still get the occasional big money load.

But really you just need to get out there and look for opportunity all over the place. You may come up with a different success formula. Remember the TANG rule, there ain't no guarantees in the trucking business, keep something cooking on the back burner and keep your eyes open for new opportunities.

 

Todays cost: based on 110 K miles per year. I work 14 days, off 6-7. Mostly 6500 mile rounds Va NW.

fuel. 2.80 ppg 7.01 mpg(2014 adv) .40 per mile
Parts and Repairs last 5 years adverage 16500.00 per year. 87,500.00 for 5 years. .15 per mile
Indurance this year 1 mil lia, 2 mil gen lia, 150K cargo, 40 k comp collision, unlimited clean up, Sentry
8000.00 per year, fhut 550.00, VA IRP 1500.00, ucr, communication, accounting,PP taxes, ect, ect. 13600.00 total fixed per year. .12 per mile
i purchase fuel after deducting state tax for cheapest pump price and in 2014 paid only 123.58 in IFTA cost. I got 23.00 refund for the 4/4 2014. Please try before you claim it doesnt work.

I purchased my 1994 KW in 2013 for 12K. Transfered tires, headache rack, PP mufflers, seat, fuel ect from my 1984 Pete that then sold to a local farmer for 7500.00 ( he f in loves it)
purchased my 2000 spread axle aluminum mac for 4800.00 at auction from a ex customer after the great recession. Its has been nicely redone including microblue. Purchased my first truck in 1980. Got my authority in 1992. You dont have to spend a fortune to do this.
I Did not include equipment replacement cost. I can plenty of miles out a GOOD used pre emmision paccar truck on 16000 parts and repairs per year. I do not do dealer shops AND SELDOM use shops on the road because we do peventative and predictive maintance when at home and use only OEM parts when ever possible. Low RR tires and 61- 63 mph. I was inspected in various levels 6 times in 2014 with no violations. Just luck. Its just the luck of the draw when it come to the DOT.

At todays fuel cost you should be able to operate at .70 per mile. Add in your replacement cost as you see it.
please any construtive replies are welcome. Am I missing something?

 

I use pre pass, DAT load board and am not required to carry WC ins because I am VA Domiciled Co. With 3 or less employees. It has never been an issue.

 

I about went broke running at a $1.25 a mile leased on with them covering a few expenses. I don't know how guys can do that for years on end but a lot of them do. 70 cents a mile cost to roll is leaving a lot of expenses out. There's no way anyone is that low. My costs are high. I don't whine about it. Don't pretend the are invisible either. I just deal with it. If you aren't or can't book $3+ rates running typical open deck, box, or reefer you're going to have a hard time of it out here. Guys that can run much cheaper than that my hat is off to you. When they run out of trucks like you i'm there to pick up the slack.

Danny I don't sit around on the phone for days on end coming up empty handed. Give me a little credit. I know when to fold them. It doesn't take long to figure out if anything is going to happen or not after doing this for a while.

 

Buddy, I do give you credit. I have had people ask me about getting good loads off boards. I always tell them listen to rollincoal, go read his old posts.

I guess I just want these guys to know there's other ways you can do pretty well. You keep your costs around 1.25 and run 100,000 miles avg 2.25, you can net 100,000 yr. Doing it like that may be a good fit and more obtainable for a lot of people.

 

I have been buying trucks to drive for 35 years. Believe me I have learned a lot the hard way. I suppose i have lost plenty? But you come back wiser. We each have to find our way. I pulled buckets for years. And I have pulled decks, all types. Van a few years. My love is decks and buckets. I do run flat decks for what I say and there are no cost left out. Please let me know if you can, the ones that I have Rolling Coal.
i use quick books software for 12 years now. Very trasparant. Numbers dont lie, people can and will. My point is that you can do this without risking it all. My gross revenue per mile in 2014 was 1.74. Fuel was .10 per mile higher in 2014. Do the math, subtract my cost. Can you not agree my taxable income, ie less personal deductions, is not so bad for an ole Shenandoah Valley Mountian man. 1.74 - .78 @ 113568 reported miles in 2014. For those with equipment payments or a replacement matrix include that to the formula. I have chosen the route of Buying GOOD used 1 or 2 owner private sale tractors. My 94 KW W900 42" flat top should roll another 5 to 8 years. My 84 pete is still rolling, local now, hauling hay down the valley floor, after 31 years.