Rates continuing to go up?

Hey Boywonder, good for you trying to keep abreast of issues affecting our profession. I've found Transport Topics to be beneficial as well in educating myself as well as being able to relay data to shippers when bidding on freight. It's important to have some factual basis to present when you're trying to sell your services. Makes you look like you know what you're talking about (wether you do or not,lol). One thing I don't give too much credit to is the rates given by a load board. As I understand it (might be wrong) their figures for rates for any type or lane comes from data off their respective load boards. That data is rates that some brokers post for loads being offered. Those rates are not what's being billed to the shipper (retail) but wholesale (rate to truck). So that might not prove to be a total bell weather for how rapidly pricing is escalating to shippers. Sometimes brokers my be taking smaller margins to get capacity but not pushing on their clients just as yet. Now if we get a real capacity shortage you'll see retail pricing going up, but by how much, who knows? I think that would be just a guestimate as I don't know of too many companies that tell what they are charging to do something. Hope someone can follow my thinking on this. I've subscribed to the so called rate indexes from loadboards in the past just to find out that the rates suggested were below what shippers typically were paying on a lane. I've subscribed to one pricing tool that's performed the best and has gotten the most business for us but it's still not the end all. I've called them and tried to get how they were coming up with their rates averages but of course they wouldn't reveal the source (worth a chance). I only have my theories and the other voices in my head to contend with.
In short, I like reading these articles as well boywonder, but I like to understand who is stating these things and where is this data coming from. Can their observations be skewed by any underlying interests. I constantly look at our own company numbers and see if I find any similarities to what an article writer is professing. Anytime you're in a penny business like this, knowledge is power.

 

Outstanding post Grumman

 

For the most part neither party to a contract are going to let that information out, as to the financial particulars. A lot of time you will hear drivers boasting about a good rate that they got from so and so, and if you just sit back, you will find out that "for some unknown reason", that carrier is no longer handling that account. No one gives away the golden goose, much less lets anyone know that it is in their possesion. Like you Grumman I have enjoyed the reading, but you must never forget who wrote it. A good business person will never divulge sensitive financial information about their customers or vendors, that is another area that separates the men from the boys.