questions about central dispatch and my log book

as far as logs go... there are logbooks out there in the 5"x7" varity with the 7 day recap on the right side ... and there are daily inspection books availible.. i had one of metal holders with a compartment to hold papers in the 5x7 size....i removed the staples form the logbook, the curent day was on top under the clip, blank under a piece of cardboard to prevent writing on blank logs and the pervious 7days below that inside the holder... that's all i gave inspectors same wih inseption reports ... the 9th days paper work went into an envelope in one of those plastic hanging file back in the bunk with the rest paper needing to be retained... all were moved the house when the month was done ie the first time i got home after the 8th day of the month... bottom line don't hand a inspection officer more info than required...(i know you don't do creative writing when it comes to logs, buttt, remember that it takes 8 days worth of corrected logs to do it right )

 

i think a lot depends on the location and route you are on .
i run chicago-nj with 2 trucks weekly for several years . + one more truck running south
at the moment any car small- midsize suv will fly away from central at $300 in less than a minute (its 840 miles) .... not sure where you see cars sitting at .46X4 for 5 days ...
year ago no one even looked at $350 ..... from east you can get all the way from 400 to 700(rare case ) , most likely $450 average and again these cars don't sit on the central even for 10 min.... i see cars at .60cpm or more , but most likely they are PITA (30 miles out of way both pick up and delivery) . i don't position myself as an expert in car hauling industry , i just try to do my best as newbie(4years) and make decent living due to busting my ### 24hours . don't tell me about dragging the rates down - i am not the one , if i don't call to grab that cheap load , it will be picked up by someone else the very next 25seconds .
as experiment you can post a load on central : toyota camry from elgin il to newark nj at $300 and count how many people will call you while you will be talking to the first reached carrier .
as far as hauling for some dealers straight without central dispatch i will tell you some one story :
i was moving cars for several dealers at $425 flat for some time (phone answered any time they call me , cars delivered in time (sometimes faster even than they expected) , no damages or issues at all . later they stop giving me car - another great car hauler offered $400 flat .... now someone moves these dealers cars at 375.
i appreciate if someone can give me valuable advice on how to succeed instead of BS about me dragging the rates down .

 

Simple, find another route. Heck even buffalo to Chicago pays a whole lot better then that.

 

a agree buffalo 400-450 average ..... just find me 9 cars fast to buffalo .... i mean me driver normally loaded in 6-10 hours

 

i believe you have to wait to some loads to pop up to buffalo for maybe 2 days ... just guessing

 

normally we leave monday 8-9am from 60060 mostly or fully loaded and back on the yard mostly unloaded 1-2 left for WI delivery by 2-5 pm thursday (summer months) ... winter 7-9pm

 

Maybe you have the wrong equipment. Why run a 9-10 car on a ####ty route when you could run a 4-5 car on different route and take home the same or more $$ . You need to readjust your whole outlook.

 

Why are you running off central for a dedicated route?

 

thats why i would like to hear some valuable advices or different business approach .
i think there are plenty of routes to choose from , but we pick this one because we have same schedule every week , drivers home every weekend .....
i think a lot about doing some changes ... just not sure yet which direction . biggest problem for me - find drivers , no one was fired , most likely most of them very soon wants to become OO ...

 

to be honest i don't have answer for you on this question .... we tried to establish good relationship with several shipping companies we deliver salvaged cars for , but so far its not working out . they usually call you within 2-3 hour notice and ask if we can pick up the car same day ..... not at $400 ... same $300 - its not really worth to go 60 miles round trip for 1 car to bring it on yard ... i try to get 2-3-4 at once or from auctions close by from each other