I'm new and quoting this run, looking for helpful input.

Good point ZVar, and this fact has made me adjust my travel schedule a bit. Thanks for the reminder.

 

id be over $2 bucks a running mile on my bid by quite a bit if i was asked to bid on that. due to being a trade show i am assuming i would be sitting there Friday sat and Sunday. my quote would probably be somewhere around the $12,000 dollar range if i was asked.

 

You'd never get it either. I doubt it will pay $10,000 to a truck or anywhere near it either. The competition for "an easy run" like that is just too high. I wouldn't even waste my time bidding it or anything "dedicated" for a dry van. Race to the bottom every time. They will toss him under the bus quick for the next best option.

Last year when it was really slow I bid something really competitive for a dry van. Or so I thought. Had it set up and the return trips too. It wasn't great but it wasn't terrible. Income. Not an "easy run" but not terrible. Thought i had a lock. Booked my week of return trips and didn't even haul the first outbound load before I got ditched for someone else.

The lesson in that is don't waste your time with that BS. There are no friends with this business especially the brokers. You're a commodity to every one of them I don't care what kind of laughable BS any of them puts out about caring for their carriers. Get as much as you can always. Relationships with them are a one way street. That's just how it is. The sooner a person accepts that as fact the better off they will be.

 

yeah i would not expect to get that run, but i wouldn't take less than i can make other wise just cause its "easy"

 

I was reviewing this thread, realized its a trade show meaning more sit than go.

I would be thinking 600 per day per sit. If it's 7 days of sitting.. well.. I guess my 10K figure has gone up a bit. Maybe too much and someone else will get a lower price.

Personally I do not like to sit. I go crazy sitting. I need rolling.

 

Right up there with those 27% 5 mile grades in Vermont. Smoking something good id say.

 

would be 14 days if you spend 5 days waiting at the tradeshow.

 

My thought process is telling me that I could do 4 of these trips in 5 weeks, and then I'd want a week off after that much running. I'd want to make $3,000 net on each week, not each run, and have my half my fixed expenses paid on that week off. After all my costs, including my boss's cut, and no trailer rental from him needed, then I'd have get no less than $9,000 per 5,000 mile trip. I'd like $10,000 but probably they won't accept $2/mi but I'd try to negotiate as close to $10k as I could but I'd accept $9,000 and MAYBE $8,750 if I was really thinking I wanted it and if they were clear that they'd pay no more.

But with the current market conditions and the state of the industry I think $9,000 - $9,500 would be a very fair rate for both parties depending on the weight and terrain. So I would have to say that the first response by @gokiddogo was right about on target.

And keep in mind this is for 4 trips in 5 weeks with a week off. If it takes 2 weeks for one run, forget it. I'd need $11,500 per trip.

 

Update to this thread. I was able to sell it better than I originally expected and just completed the trip safely! How did I pull this off? Still not 100% sure. But this is what worked for me:

First, I had to get a better handle on this customer's previous costs to do this run and then second, I had to have a better idea of my own costs. I presented the customer with his real numbers (estimated within a few %) and then explained to him what I would be comfortable with. After seeing it all laid out, he said it made sense and agreed to my price.

Without talking out of school, I'll just say that the final rate was north of $2 a mile and I was compensated fairly for my downtime. This was a challenging run and a good one to get my feet wet for big (to me) runs in general. I learned a ton about trip-planning and about managing my available time. I also learned that my truck doesn't really care for 8000 feet of elevation but will do it if I ask nicely.

Thanks again to all for the input and good information. Hope to see you all on the road at some point.

 

Then your a fool!