hey brokers, has elogs changed business/rates etc?

I think 2018 will stay very hot until late 2018. This is typically my slower time of year and it hasn't skipped a beat yet. Last summer the demand for trucks was very tight. This summer should be even tighter. The question is how hard do I squeeze my direct customer for my daily run for August Sept Oct? I want to do this run as a matter of routine for years to come. They are good people and don't cut me off when demand slows at the end of the season when they could save a bit. The same I don't ask for even more when the demand is at its peak. Steady as she goes, all season. I also trust this customer to remember me year over year cuz it works well for both sides.

 

To be fair, most of us out there are having to pull that "extra" grand straight from our customers pockets. These last two weeks have seen a lot of, "let me find you a guy, amd I'll let you know what it's gonna run."

 

The same customers who have been screwing the small operator out of the extra grand he/she should of been getting in the first place.

I mean how many times have I heard, "my customer isn't going to pay that...there's just not that much in the load...I'm giving you all there is in the load...I've been running these loads for that amount forever...take it or leave it." etc, etc, etc.

If as the broker, you have to go back and tell the customer it's going to cost them an extra to move the load, what sweat is that off your back? You're just the go between in that case? You're mark-up is still the same in that case, isn't it?

Now, if a brokerage firm "buys" a certain amount of loads for a price and gets stuck having to eat that extra grand in cost for whatever reason, that's just business. You win some, you lose some

 

Oh, no skin off my back. Mostly, pointing it out. It almost always gets passed on to the end customer, and then to the consumer eventually. Depending on what I'm brokering depends often on what I shoot for, margin wise. I have some customers with very high value, high margin freight... and some which while valuable, doesn't leave them a lot of wiggle room. Oddly enough, I wouldn't have figured lawnmowers of all things would be low margin, but apparently it's the competition there.

I'm just glad I'm not sitting on a pile of contract freight bid at last year's prices. I'd be hating life right now...

 

I was a roofing contractor for many moons.

Back in the day I bid on a cedar shake roof install on this really large (cut-up) barn that a Portuguese farmer built. I gave gave him a CONTRACT price based on degree of difficulty, size, etc. Because the roof was quite complex in angles and such, I added additional materials and labor to the bid.

When finished, I had about 5 squares (25 bundles) of cedar shakes left over. As myself and employee were loading the material onto my truck, the farmer said to me (in a very strong Portuguese accent):

"The material is mine."
"What's that George?"
"The material is mine."
"No, George, it's mine."
"I paid for that material, it's mine!"
No, George, I paid for the material, it's mine!"

So, to make it easy for him to understand, I asked him if he would of paid me for the extra 25 bundles (including labor) if I were short?

He cracked a smile and said, "the material is yours." LOL

 

Haha, that's a great story. It also illustrates why I moved away from shooting for contract freight. The world has too much variability for me, as the contractor, to go say to the customer, "I guarantee I will have it done for this prive every time, on time without fail." These past few weeks have more or less reinforced that.

 

I'll give you that part...that's fair and understood indeed. The second part however in my mind (and many more of the same mindset's thought process,) is a GOOD and fair way to actually recoup the many years of abuse and losses. In any business typically, the service provider sets the price and the consumer (in your case, you or your client are those individuals,) or end user gets the brunt of the cost. Like the mechanic, plumber, electricians, etc. etc...

Now for once at least, the "MULES" or service providers can temporarily present their rates based on their services, not accept what is handed to them, until this "corrects itself". A nice break in the "standard operating procedures" I might add. Sure is nice to be able to present a price to a client and have it be what you are happy with, than to have a bunch of options all not be exactly what it should be but still have to accept it if you want to make the mortgage this month. That's a FAIR assessment coming from a "mule" I will have to say.

My opinion in a nutshell, not an attempt to undermine anyone's character or degrade anyone's station that they are in. It's just the perspective of a man that's watched it for so many years be so lopsided that it's actually a bit joyous to see a little movement in the "right direction" for a little while. Truckers should be able to earn a livable wage and not constantly be up against it, with normal cost increases worked in to meet increases on us. That's not being unreasonable. This is a tough way to make a living if you've been at it long enough to know the difference in how the costs have skyrocketed.

 

Let's say you won a year's worth of contract freight back in September, but now you can't move it. If you move it at the market rate, you will lose too much money.
I assume you just have to cancel your contract? How much is the typical fine for canceling a contract?

 

Here I was thinking I was the only man who ever heard these words, LOL^^^^^...

My sentiments exactly. If the broker is the "go between" from the shipper to the carrier, then it would be my opinion that the broker should be negotiating the best rate for both parties, not just the shipper. After all, it needs to get off that dock somehow and there's a live one on the hook, so why not get the best rate possible instead of spewing this "that's all they're willing to pay/all we got in it/I'm losing money at that" nonsense. I see it time and time again, and realize it's not ALL of them, but a good charge of them that play this stupid game.[/QUOTE]