Rate negotiation as an Owner Operator. When to ask for more?

That is something you have to figure out for yourself. It really all depends on how much you make per mile and how many deductions out of your check you have.

You must be feeling shorted on hilly routes and ok on flat routes. Versus, ok on hilly routes and getting ahead on flat ones.

 

Exactly how I do it. Multiple stops cost more, and tarps cost more. I buy the cheapest fuel I can, and I don't figure my MPG into my rate. My goal is to haul for the most money I can get anyway, so none of that stuff matters to me. I'm either profitable and keep trucking, or I'm not and I get out of the business. My business plan is the same as my budgeting has been my whole life: "Make more than I spend." Not "spend less than I make."

 

My opinion, that's the big drawback of mileage pay lease. The company has a major incentive to send you on good paying mountain loads and multistops and pocket all the extra. Minimizing that behavior will always be a battle. Percentage pay is where it's at. Just my $0.02.

 

There is a desired rate and the market rate. The desired rate should reflect an o/o's costs, ambitions and overall income aspirations but it is often hindered by what the market rate dictates. You can beat it to some extent with luck and cunning skill but forget about running consistent 4 dol per mile on a lane that everyone else runs for 2.5 per mile on average. Nobody ever cares what someone's rate formula is. Ultimately, everyone is limited to what the market says the rate is.

 

Yes, and wind also. Wind has the biggest impact on my MPG. I do it very similar to what Ridgline said. I figure what my truck costs to run in a worst case scenario and then figure the extras for the particular load, tolls, stops, the area the load is going into, etc...I even know how much detention time I want to sit around getting unloaded and have that number in my head. I then ask the broker where the load is delivering and if I think there's a chance I will be held up I add that number to the rate up front.

I used to get told no a lot. Oh well, next...

 

You would have to post all of the details for us to give an assessment. What you are paid per mile, if it’s loaded or hub, and what all the company pays for and what you pay for.

 

I had a broker last year actually make the mistake of telling me "I can't find a step deck within 300 miles of you who has availability for the next 3 days" Needless to say I did VERY well on that load, even made enough for new shoes!!!!