How can anyone afford to move from East to West for only 3-3.5k? Fuel alone will be just under 1,600-2,000..minus driver pay you find someone driving for 1k round trip(East to West and back). Is my thinking off?
You are correct in your thinking. Here is the problem with California. There is often loads and loads of produce coming out of there. So much so that trucks will go empty from very far out to get a produce load ... it is crazy. Anything that can be loaded into a reefer will be and it will be hauled for these low rates because everyone tries to play the same game when they get there and hope that there will be a lot of loads for few trucks moving back east. The problem is, say it rains in the area for a couple days and the workers can't get in the field to pick. Well you either take a cheap load or wait 2,3 days, however long then it goes BOOM for a day or two then it slows again. It is wild how far the rates swing out of that state. One day it may be 6,000 for a produce load back to say NYC the next day it might be 9,000 or even more. It could drop to 5,000. No matter what way you cut it, freight going IN to Cali will be cheap, and then you will gamble to get a good paying load coming back. You would do much better to stay to the eastern half of the country where things are much more stable.
KW600, I dont think your wrong for thinking like that. I think the same way you do. But the problem is only a few of us in the industry think this way, therefore we have rates like that going back west. As gokiddogo stated, I learned very quickly that I can make just as much money with less miles if I stay away from cali. While it good to head that way for a nice tan and beautiful scenery, unfortunetly it not paying what I would like it to pay. Most people make their money on the outbound and take what ever they can get going back. If you wanna make anything decent you will probably have to bounce around going back. Some of this freight out here is not worth looking at for the rates, Thats the stuff I don't even entertain. When a broker ask why? I simply explain that no business in this world operates at cost. walmart doesnt sell products at cost, even when they place items on clearance, you better believe they're making a profit. With that said i rather move my truck on my dime than pull something for nothing and contribute to the foolishness of the industry. Some will agree with my thinking and some won't. Its ok, because at the end of it all, i'm the only person that matters when it comes to this business. Only time I care about a customers/ brokers freight is when it loaded on my truck. When it still sitting on that dock waiting for a truck. I can careless, Not my concern if it needs to move asap. If they need it moved they will pay accordingly! No two truck operations are alike, while we all do the same thing, each of our cost are different. My point being. you just have to find a lane that going to work for you. Not all freight going back west pays like that. Some brokers will actually pay something, you just have to find them. Might have several stops on it, but it will get you back west at a decent rate!
We live in the east coast, and are pulling vans. When we were leased to a carrier and needed a load it would have to be from chrobinson. Most loads were between 3-5k which was decent. I'll try the tick tac toe game say something from NJ to ohio Ohio to Texas and Texas to Cali and see how that works. I initially thought point a to b nj to California and back would be simple and quicker. Is it "bad" to quote such a high number? On its sometimes the price is posted for 4k+ clearly I quote higher but never just through the 8-9k figure at the broker
