How do you o/o for ~$1/mile?

Its NOT about having to make $2 p/m and up to stay in business. Its about how much u feel u, your company and your time is worth. Its called "A BUSINESS". Attornies set their rates, execs set their rates, unions set their rates, auto-makers set their rates...Shall I go on? Simple enough? Dont owner operators with their own authority have the same rights? We DO live in America. Be safe out there drivers.

 

I see your points. It is well taken on a couple of them. But I don't really put much time into worrying about whether someone hauls "cheap" freight. They will soon be out of business, or the DOT will sideline them because they couldn't maintain their equipment up to par. And the customers, or brokers, that want to pass off the cheap stuff are usually customers I want nothing to do with in the first place, even at a better rate. The customers I like dealing with are not playing the cheap freight game. They want quality and reliability, and they are willing to pay for it. Sure, like any good business, everyone will haggle on the price, but even the customers know that cheap also means problems. Conagra learned this when they wanted to lower rate and went to someone else. Well, a few months later, and we are hauling their stuff again. We didn't chide them with "see I told you so" kind of comments. We welcomed the business back and negotiated a fair rate we could all live with.

 

Correct on the first point, but from then on it was an apples to oranges comparison. Even attorneys can only set prices based on who they are dealing with and how good they are. Most of the really high priced attorneys have made a solid name for themselves and people come to them. While on the surface, true, O/O should, and can, set their own price. But just like choosing the bait YOU want on a hook, does not mean any of the fish in the pond will bite at it. It is a different kind of market. Execs do not "set" their own rates... they negotiate compensation. Again, it is based on a proven track record on what you can deliver to the company. It is the same for pro ball players. You may want to play ball and think you should get paid $5 mil a year, but if the ball club doesn't know of you, your track record, and have a desire to put you on, then you probably will not get what you want, and will be nothing more than a fan in the stands. Auto makers do NOT set their rates. The put out a "suggested retail price". Negotiation at the dealership changes all that. Unions do not set their rates either. Ask any of thousands of out of work union folks if they probably just tried to set the bar a little too high and stand their ground a little too long! Everything is based on negotiation. Either both parties agree, or they both walk. And you can only leverage from a position of strength. You have to have something that the other party needs that they cannot get at a lower price elsewhere.

 

Where is it different, in what u said, from what goes on in negotiating what u will haul the load for? Brokers, buyers, and sellers give a (if u want to call it) suggested price, and we negotiate. We negotiate our compensation that we want. Look how many o/o have gone "belly-up" for the same reasons that u stated. I used each one of those examples for their "similarities" to which those of us that run with their own authority. So, its not so much like apples and oranges. Also, nothing wrong with "pushing the card" to see where u stand with some in order to see where u stand with them. Too many dont know their limitations because they refuse to be honest with themselves.

 

Must have been how I understood your wording in the previous post. I took it differently than you now elaborated on it. I think I have a bead on what you are getting at now, and I would agree. Say, for instance, a load comes up. The way it is being approached now, the broker or customer is stating a rate to haul and the negotiation goes from there. A O/O should not even take that into consideration. They should analyze the situation and the load, and state up front the cost to do the load without even acknowledging the rate that might have been put out there by the load originator. Then the negotiation can begin. I would contend, along with your reasoning, that the shoe needs to be on the other foot. Instead of letting the originator set the start of the negotiation, the O/O should set the starting point. Now that would be in keeping with lawyers, execs, and others you state. But, it has to be within reason, in that the leverage is not the same as those guys, again, because the negotiation is not based on them coming to you, but you coming to them. Ideally, the startup of the discussion would be an outright rate quote on what you would haul the load for and make it clear that you did not even look at what they thought it should be hauled for.

Did I get on the same sheet of music yet? LOL

 

LOL...U got it. Just some might not like that song tho. But, through time, some will come to u if u run your business right.

 

You know what the difference is between a large pizza and an owner operator?





A large pizza can feed a family of five.

 

not in my house

two pie minimum

 

I ran a steady rounder for a flat rate from Vancouver BC to Seattle WA for several years while the rest of their O/O ran for $1.03 + an entirely inadequate FSC. At one point they started brokering the load to outside cartage and told me to run Vancouver- Calgary for the mileage rate.

I said it it couldn't be done for that price but apparently I was wrong because there is no shortage of people willing to do exactly that. I quit on the spot.

 

I guess what it really comes down too is, everyone has their own opinion, ways of doing bussiness, and whats important in their lives. I again runout loaded, come back empty and get paid for more miles than I drive. I work average 11 hours a day, 5 days a week, home everyday and weekends. I NET 1800/wk and have no problem making it work. HOWEVER!!!!! Time at home PRICELESS!!!!! To me God, Family, and then work, works for me very well. As far as everything else on this thread.......well if what ever your doing isn't working for you.....then maybe is time for a change or even a career change. Bottom line you need to know when to cut your losses. Reading the posts on this thread spells it out clearly. There's no shortage of of people willing to take cheap freight. So instead of scratching your head and wondering why, should be concentrating on what you need to do to change with the times to make your bussiness work for you.