Rates Double

In the southeast and midwest reefer is still smoking. Van was pretty hot last week. Not sure about this week. I can't imagine flatbed being mediocre or having cooled off much. It has been trending better than reefer and vans all year. Demand for building materials and open decks has surely surged even more from the recent storms. 90 days old info is worthless. You can get 15 days info from the pricier versions of DAT. I'm booking loads a lot higher than the 15 days average. I use that info more for a ballpark idea on potential backhaul rates.

 

Yeah, I'll probably upgrade to DAT power from member's edge soon. I figured the 90 day would be lower than the 15 day considering the demand from the storm, so at the very least they should be close to the 90 day figure.

 

Let's assume you don't have any customers yourself .. for a minute - pretend you do.. and your customers still have business to conduct - or emergency relief loads to FL - you going to tell them you cannot help but yet keep sending me the good freight? This is why it is safe to assume you do not have any customers yourself.

 

At times like are being described, I have picked up some very good, reliable customers. Doing ' favors ' for shippers / brokers can pay off in the long run.Help them , and they remember you (hopefully).
Now while this will not be true of many shippers / brokers, the trick is to find those who value a dependable source of transportation, and that is usually the smaller ones.
Over the years I have gotten more freight by doing something nobody else would do, than offering constantly cheap rates.
But that's just me.

 

My customers have literally been priced out of the market and are nervously discussing what to do. I suspect we're near a peak here. Remember that high prices are caused by there being more loads than there are trucks... If some of the loads go bye-bye the math changes.

 

They risk losing market share in the long term by not losing some money in the short term. That's the worst possible thing that could happen to them. They surely have competitors some of them may even be willing to lose money short term. People add trucks when rates are high and it will reset again. Every Joe blow is getting in now give it time. The angst your customers feel is sort of like the shoe on the other foot what carriers and o/o felt when freight and rates were depressed.