Rates?

Going to have to keep an eye out for you I'm just north of your home 20.
Sounds like you got a pretty good deal.

 

I could haul steel everyday, but refuse to haul PLS rates. They won't even negotiate out of AK right now. I actually do better not hauling steel.

 

I rarely haul steel. Rates are usually too cheap. I have found other things to haul that pay more. This should be an interesting year for freight. Even with fuel prices now rising, shippers and brokers have been pushing for lower rates. My philosophy is that if I can't make money on a load, I don't haul it. I have been doing much more deadheading this year. I have found that areas that historically have had good freight with decent rates are no longer necessarily reliable when it comes to finding freight. So, I try to get a rate going into those areas that I can afford to deadhead out, if necessary.

 

Congrats on the new rig, look forward to some photos when its all set up!

 

Macro vs micro.... Idk enough about Chinese or russian metal to let it affect my operation. If it pays I haul it. If more people are calling with loads to cover than I am able to cover: I raise my price and go with whoever has the money in it on the first try. Whoever has less money in it: waits.

 

That was my point, the producers of raw black iron are slow because of the import. I agree if it pays I haul it.

 

Everyone seems to also forget that all those flatbeds that were hauling in the oil fields are now competing for your loads. That has more to do with the rates than the price of steel.

 

I think you nailed the largest problem we have right now. Trucks running in regions and freight that they were not hauling 1 - 2 yrs ago. They were all running direct for the oil field.

I know last year I ran between 30 - 35 various loads between Tex/LA/Ok/Ala to ND that never paid under $3 mi. Then take into account all the trucks there were running local inside ND,.. or just regional between Tex and ND. I heard through various talk that ND has enough pipe up there that they can go a year with out hauling in another piece and be just fine.

So we have all those guys to compete with now. Brokers phones are probably ringing off the hook with oil field guys looking for work. Its a dog eat dog world out there.

On the up side,.. if you do get up to ND,.. I would guess due to the lack of trucks that hay to Tex dairy farms is probably paying a little more. LOL

I havent been out there since mid April and I was doing fantastic from late Feb till then. I was on a hot streak of loads. Then as I've been home,. I've been reading how rates are dropping.

I experienced some ridiculously low rates in Jan and Feb,.. I sat for days before finally settling on loads for much less than I wanted to haul for. I was getting frustrated,.. even angry at what rates brokers were expecting me to haul at. My carrier was going bonkers because I was refusing loads,.. where I had never really refused anything before that point. He'll make money no matter what rate I haul for,.. it only effects his bottom line when I sit still. When I look at my numbers, it costs me much less to park and wait for a better paying load than it does to pay for the fuel, wear and tear on my truck to haul very cheap loads where I'm only profiting $.30 cpm. My over all gross is less,.. but my net % is more. I'm slowly learning when to suck it up and move to a better lane and when/where to sit and wait for a better paying load.

Hurst

 

Their going via rail, I haul containers and I'm seeing more and more Boyd, Prime, and smaller flatbed carriers coming into the rails to haul containers loaded with steel and flat containers ....

 

I know I have been sitting in Baltimore for 3 days And it looks like maybe another day with rates at 1.40pm
I will sit. maybe deadhead out some where it sucks right now!!!!!