I have some question for O/O that have their own authority

And then you need to know where you are going. And when I say where you are going, is their freight on the other end. And not a backhaul.

Mike

 

I had to make two posts to show you a pick of my truck and trailer. Newbie here.

I just parked my own authority which I have had for roughly 4 years. Right now I am leased onto a carrier, went great for the first 10 days, now no freight. One load a week if I am lucky right now, and usually wind up dh home. Easier to go broke on my couch, and the beer is colder. Same with my friends, leased to various carriers, all pulling flats with conestoga kits. Out of four of us, one guy is running the dollar freight and living in his truck. Single guy with no home. Not my cup of tea.

Not to discourage you, but if you plan on flatbedding, find your own accounts. Mine are gone, Michigan is sinking fast. I rely on the auto biz, and we all know how that is. Even general flatbed freight like steel is paying peanuts. And if you do get a load, you need to be real careful as to where you go. Odds are you will dh quite a ways, or wind up with freight that won't even cover your expenses.

Been out here 19 years, and have never seen it like this. $3+ loads were the norm, very hard to find right now. This was one of the last high dollar loads I pulled, $3.55 to the truck. Loads that I have looked at in the past 2 months aren't worth backing out of my driveway for, $1.50 or less going to areas that have little to no freight.

And my truck and trailer are paid for.

Mike

Good luck!

 

Well please do not take this as a negative but rather as education and all things to concider. I started my company from scratch 6 months ago and am doing OK. It is not all fun and games. You have to consider the fact that if you are going to look for freight you are at their mercy right now. Economy is in the crapper so it is a shippers market. When fuel prices jumped, freight prices followed but several weeks behind, now fuel prices are falling and freight prices are falling faster. As long as some tool is willing to DH 300 miles for $1.00 loaded, freight is going to get tough to get them to budge on their rates as I have persanally seen. Now you need to figure startup. I ran 1 truck for 4 months and between all of my start up costs, insurances etc. it set me back over 100k. Now I have 3 trucks and they are chipping away at the initial startup fees etc. Also part of that start up is fuel, a huge part. To get a good fuel card to secure lower than posted price you need to open an account and prepay the account. I have 3 with 10k a piece in them that I never take out. When a driver fills, the bill comes in and we replace the funds. This is getting us around 4 to 5 cents below cash price so that is our savings. Second, you can bid on all of the lanes you want but unless they are only requiring one truck a week garanteed, they will pass you by simply based on the ability to handle all of the freight in house. I just made a huge move for my company and partnered with Prime in the same manner as Wil-Trans has. It is my fleet, my employees, authority etc, but we pull Primes trailers and they dispatch us. Freight is hard to come by and unless you can afford to run for the next 3 years at a break even at best, you nee to secure freight in one way or another. This is why we made the move. Prime is treating us very well and it has given me the opportunity to expand. Now this is my experience, do not take it as gospel, it is just what has worked for me. I am where I wanted to be 10 months from now and I have had to revise everything. Call it luck or just plain grit but you can make it, it is not going to be as easy as it may have been in the past is all. Times are changing and we have to adapt just as quickly and not get stuck in the rut of this is how it has been for the past 20 years or so. You have to look at things as no longer business as usual and you have to pioneer new strategies that will work for you and the present times. With the current slump of freight prices the only way to be successful is to watch you fuel economy. Those that can keep it above 6 will skate by. Keep it above 7 and you will see a profit at the end of the year. When you build your budget, set your sights low and aim high. In other words figure your fuel at 5mpg, etc and plan fortires once a year. These little things now will keep you from getting caught off gaurd in the event they happen and when you get a year without tires and avg your mpg above 6 you will start to build a surplus fund. Leave it be and keep building it till you have enough reserved to run off of for at least 12 months, then you can start to pull profit. I will not take a dividend check untill I am in my 5th year. By then the economy should be clammering back up and we should see some stability, untill then it is all about survival of my income and my company.

 

you pulling for them yet Todd? Hows it going?